No, the company has over 25 employees. Three people share this particular office.
Since you’re not sure about him, I would have told him to wait.
I wouldn’t have an issue with the chair, but I’d ask him to label it so that there were no issues later on.
That’s called compromise.
Seriously, no, it doesn’t have to be something everyone hates equally, just something that everyone can commonly use without issues. You guys have some real chips on your shoulders, which were probably put there by shitty managers and I do sympathize. But a workplace can have rules of conformity without being soul-crushing.
A car doesn’t matter as much, because a car’s not part of the workplace like chairs are. And chairs do matter, since you’re sitting on them for 8 hours a day.
I guarantee you there are plenty of people who wouldn’t care if the chair was purchased by the coworker and not the company. Oh, intellectually they might know it, but it would still grate at them and foster a certain level of resentment that someone who’s supposed to be equal gets to have something nicer at the office than them.
I have no idea if Foxy’s people are like that, but it’s hardly far-fetched.
I must be out of touch with what constitutes reasonable accommodations, because, unless there is actually a space issue (i.e., the new chair takes up enough space to make other people’s work more difficult), i really don’t understand why someone wouldn’t be allowed to bring his own chair to work.
I think you should ask them to make sure that they also wear clothes of similar quality. I mean, if one guy can afford a $200 business shirt, and the next guy pays $30 at Loehmann’s, won’t the latter feel left out? And that worker with the $400 Italian loafers? He should be told to get his shoes as DSW like everyone else. Also, make sure no-one brings his or her own writing implement to work, because not everyone can afford a $250 pen.
In other words, why the fuck does it matter if his dad gave him the chair, or what the other employees’ dads do?
I tend to agree with this.
As i suggested earlier, if the chair causes actual space issues, reducing the ability of people to get around the office and do their jobs, then of course that’s a problem. But if the only consequence is that it doesn’t match the other chairs aesthetically, then big fucking deal.
Nobody hates the environment. I don’t even think this new guy has a problem with it. He just wants a nice comfy big chair for his tushy. The “so what” is the grumbling that new guy thinks he is so special with his big executive chair despite the fact that senior employees have task chairs. They can drive and live where ever they want but once they enter the workplace, it is less conflict if everyone has the same work area. Do I let people bring in big cherry wood desks if they want them? What about faster computers and special telephones? What about the folks in the office down the hall that can’t fit big chairs?
Rather than draw the line the line it is much more practical and simple to direct people to use what is provided by the company.
They do. There is a dress code. They are in the same uniform provided by the company.
There’s also the fact that big fancy expensive {whatever}s have a tendency to sprout legs and walk away, at least in some of the offices I’ve worked in. I’d never bring in a big fancy expensive chair from home because I’d like to actually continue sitting in it for years to come instead of wondering where it rolled off to …
So i guess i mistook what kind of office this is. I assumed it was a place where there was a general dress code (business; business casual, or whatever), and that the employees didn’t interact with the general public.
Do these employees wearing the uniform interact with the public, or is this largely a closed office where only employees work?
I think I would’ve replied, “I don’t think you’d better bring in the chair - we’re not sure yet if you’re going to work out…”.
StG
Hmm. You posters who think he should be allowed to bring in his own chair must never have worked in offices. You are going to have an office full of envious and resentful co-workers. How long until someone sabotages it or ‘borrows’ it? In my office, people can have special chairs in certain circumstances (OH&S issues) but these chairs are bought by the firm and no-one would be allowed to bring in their own furniture. I remember working with a special snowflake once who thought it would be a good idea to have an evaporator filled with lavender oil. I have hated the smell of lavender since. I think you were right Foxy40.
We are a fairly large specialized health care clinic and treat over one hundred patients daily. Clinic employees, such as this tech, wear scrubs with the company logo that are provided to them. They must buy their own approved footwear.
I dare you to show this thread to your employee and not be embarrassed. Not because of the matter it addresses or the decision you had already made before creating it but because of its style; it makes you look unbelievably small. Just look at your own thread title, does that reflect the kind of relationship you want to have with the people you have a business agreement with?
I haven’t encountered an attitude like this in years and wouldn’t bet a penny that it spells anything less than doom for the cooperation between you and the people you’re supposed to work with.
(1. I tried nice 2. I care because I feel sorry for your employee)
The special circumstances is why I asked about this employee’s medical issue. I have provided staff with back issues with special padding for their chairs.
Maybe I will make a poll about a similar issue. I wonder if it is younger people that think bringing furniture from home is no big deal. This guy is the youngest professional I have hired, practically right out of school, and I wonder if it is what I have to look forward to with the next generation of clinicians.
If he is extra large, I would say ok to the chair for that reason only.
I’d say okay, but only if I get to bring in my leopard-print beanbag.
I am sorry but I really did laugh out loud at your post. I don’t mean to be nasty, but you’re are presuming a great deal from a simple post. Just to clue you in a bit, I helped get this company off the ground 16 years ago, we have grown, expanded and are extremely successful and when someone gets hired on here, they only leave if they get terminated, retire or they are forced to relocate due to a family issue. I receive regular calls from employees of my “competitors” asking to work for me. I rarely have anything but the lowest spots open because when I hire someone, I take care of them as they grow and take care of my business. Just this month, I had calls from two people that moved and have moved back to the area and have requested their positions back. I know what my number one greatest resource is, my staff and I make sure they know it. Doomed is not the word I would use to describe my relationship with my people.
Would I show him this? Of course not. I am venting to strangers and getting opinions. He may be facebooking right now on how I am a bitch and won’t allow him a special chair and sneakers. I don’t expect him to show me that either.
I love it here. You folks crack me up.
Is there something special about your office chairs? Antibacterial upholstery? Ergonomic?
Is his chair velour or something equally potentially icky?
Chair, yes, but goofy shoes, no.
If it was a special orthopedic chair and he could document that he had orthopedic problems, then I would say he should have the chair.
But otherwise, no. And I’m pretty laid-back about things (like, if people want to wear tennis shoes, I wouldn’t have a problem with it).
In some workplaces, chair constitutes status. An executive chair, by definition, connotes high status.
If it swivels or rolls or does stuff that the other chairs do not do, it will engender bad feelings towards New Guy, which is not good for overall morale. I don’t think it would invite other people to ask for their own chairs, but it might be used as excuse to ask for other concessions (“Why can’t I bring my mini trampoline to use during my break*? New Guy brought in that big-ass chair and you didn’t say anything!”)
Can I bring in a mini-trampoline? Pleeeeeease?