# What Would YOU Do? \[Co-working napping on job\]
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 9, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998 "2014-09-09T19:18:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/61 "2014-09-11T17:02:48Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#):
>
> I’d rather employ a dozen napping kindergarteners than 1 insufferable busybody.
Well, that’s one dumb-assed response.
Are you paying each of those kindergarteners $90K per year, and then not getting anything out of it? Is the “busybody” doing all the work that the napping kindergarteners should be doing, as well as his own? Are deadlines not being met?
Because that’s the situation we had here a while back. It took a long time to dismiss the napping kindergartener.
But you’d get rid of the “busybody”. That’s your sound business policy? What is this, high school? Is “snitches get stitches” in your company handbook as well?
---
### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/62 "2014-09-11T17:17:24Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#):
>
> Well, that’s one dumb-assed response.
>
> Are you paying each of those kindergarteners $90K per year, and then not getting anything out of it? Is the “busybody” doing all the work that the napping kindergarteners should be doing, as well as his own? Are deadlines not being met?
>
> Because that’s the situation we had here a while back. It took a long time to dismiss the napping kindergartener.
>
> But you’d get rid of the “busybody”. That’s your sound business policy? What is this, high school? Is “snitches get stitches” in your company handbook as well?
Yes. Look, a ten or 15 minute nap doesnt waste any time, they are just taking their break. And studies have show it significantly increases productivity and quality.
Now, a dude sleeping at his desk for hours? Sure, \*that’s \*a problem. This isnt.
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### Author:  [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/63 "2014-09-11T17:17:55Z")
If I had to guess I’d say she is probably pregnant. When I was in my first trimester I would nod off at my desk almost every day and wake up when my drooping head hit the side of my cube. If it has never been an issue before wait a few weeks and you might find her awake and wearing an all new maternity wardrobe.
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### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/64 "2014-09-11T17:41:26Z")
> [@DrDeth](#):
>
> Yes. Look, a ten or 15 minute nap doesnt waste any time, they are just taking their break. And studies have show it significantly increases productivity and quality.
>
> Now, a dude sleeping at his desk for hours? Sure, \*that’s \*a problem. This isnt.
Ah, a “perception” issue. I’ve complained to myself before when posters let their own biases cloud their perception of the situation in a thread, and let it affect their replies, and now here I am doing it as well!
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/65 "2014-09-11T17:42:53Z")
> [@pbbth](#):
>
> If I had to guess I’d say she is probably pregnant. When I was in my first trimester I would nod off at my desk almost every day and wake up when my drooping head hit the side of my cube. If it has never been an issue before wait a few weeks and you might find her awake and wearing an all new maternity wardrobe.
See? You guys are picking on a poor, pregnant woman.
Oh, the shame!
:rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Fallen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fallen)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/66 "2014-09-11T17:58:55Z")
“In the US, everyone is allowed a 15-minute break for every 4 hours of work.”
I don’t know where the frack you got this notion. Uhm, incorrect.
“If the person is salaried and merely responsible for meeting deadlines rather than performing x hours of work, then the only criteria that matters is whether deadlines are being met.”
It’s unclear how you’d know what matters to her employer (if you are speaking in a legal sense, this is incorrect; an employer’s free to care about it).
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/67 "2014-09-11T18:06:27Z")
Every job I ever held had a 15 minute break for every four hours. Perhaps there are state laws.
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### Author:  [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/68 "2014-09-11T18:10:28Z")
> [@MandaJo](#):
>
> If it’s a sudden new behavior, I would advise waiting. Once she gets out if the first trimester, it will be better.
\
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### Author:  [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/69 "2014-09-11T18:11:02Z")
> [@dracoi](#):
>
> In the US, everyone is allowed a 15-minute break for every 4 hours of work. So if her nap is conforming to that standard and company policy permits breaks to be taken at the worker’s desk, then I see no problem.
It could be required by state law, but not at the federal level. Not every state requires said breaks, nor does it always apply to all employees. Salary employees are generally exempt from any sort of rules regarding hours worked/days off/breaks, etc.
---
### Author:  [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/70 "2014-09-11T20:14:34Z")
> [@dracoi](#):
>
> In the US, everyone is allowed a 15-minute break for every 4 hours of work. So if her nap is conforming to that standard and company policy permits breaks to be taken at the worker’s desk, then I see no problem.
>
> If the person is salaried and merely responsible for meeting deadlines rather than performing x hours of work, then the only criteria that matters is whether deadlines are being met.
>
> If she’s taking long naps, or they’re interfering with her work, then I’d start (assuming you are a co-worker and not a supervisor) by letting her know that this would be a problem if her supervisor were to discover it. Offer it in a helpful way.
>
> I would probably not report it to a supervisor except to the extent that it affects my work or to the extent that my job duties or company policy would require me to report it. (For example, lots of companies do 360 reviews where you’d be asked for your opinion about a co-worker.) Otherwise, it’s probably not worth stirring up the office by reporting it.
This.
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### Author:  [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/71 "2014-09-11T20:35:55Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#):
>
> I would take her aside and let her know that, even though she may be on break or lunch, sleeping at her desk looks unprofessional and may have a negative effect on her career. Why would anyone not share careeer advice with a young person?
Because I’m not their parent or their boss, and they didn’t ask me to give them career advice.
I see coworkers breaking professional decorum all the time. As long as they are not disruptive to me, it is not my place to police them or narc on them. I stopped being a goody-two-shoes in the seventh grade.
Of course I would warn a newcomer if getting caught sleeping was a serious offense. But I wouldn’t tell them it’s unprofessional. I’d just say, “You may want to be more discrete so you don’t get fired like the last guy.”
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/72 "2014-09-11T22:42:01Z")
One of the best people who ever worked for me took naps often. During the time he was taking naps he became a world famous expert on his subject. So, unless it causes performance problems, I have no problem with napping.
On the other hand one famous company I worked for said during their employee orientation that napping was forbidden, and was a fireable offense - even if you had been there until 2 am the night before and came back at 8 am the way you were supposed to. I don’t know if they ever enforced it, but they were assholes in several other ways. The people this was being told to were high level engineers, not people right out of high school. I didn’t stay there all that long.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/73 "2014-09-11T23:32:05Z")
If there is a dude working near her who is willing to play along, get a pic of her asleep with him in the same frame also sleeping. Then start a rumor that guy and girl were caught sleeping together, and there is photographic proof.
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### Author:  [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/74 "2014-09-12T00:10:02Z")
I often take a nap at my desk around 1 pm. So you can guess my answer.
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### Author:  [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/75 "2014-09-12T00:31:23Z")
> [@Staggerlee](#):
>
> I don’t see how it’s none of the OP’s business if the co-worker is literally working for the same business. This would piss me off no end, and I’d engage the sleeper in annoying conversation to keep them awake, until they furnished me with a decent excuse. Which wouldn’t include ‘I need my healthful, mindful power-nap’ - unless I was working in the Google offices or somewhere similarly filled with precious, self-absorbed arseholes.
>
> I admit the OP situation may have touched a nerve…
This is how I feel. Sleeping on the job is completely unprofessional!
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### Author:  [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/76 "2014-09-12T00:36:54Z")
I think I would put their hand on the keyboard and put a fake window on their computer screen:
"You have requested to delete all files on all servers.
Delete process is 28% complete"
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### Author:  [@Cryptic\_C62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cryptic_C62)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/77 "2014-09-12T02:28:59Z")
This happened to me during an internship. I was sharing an office with the marketing intern, who was a very lazy, unprofessional individual. He fell asleep on a bean bag chair in the corner of the room one day, so I texted his boss, “Approximately one half of the people in this room are awake.”
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/78 "2014-09-12T03:06:11Z")
If you want a worker to stay awake, the Iron Throne is a much better choice than a beanbag chair.
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### Author:  [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/79 "2014-09-12T03:08:07Z")
> [@Cryptic\_C62](#):
>
> This happened to me during an internship. I was sharing an office with the marketing intern, who was a very lazy, unprofessional individual. He fell asleep on a bean bag chair in the corner of the room one day, so I texted his boss, “Approximately one half of the people in this room are awake.”
It’s funny to me that you are calling him unprofessional when I would consider you incredibly unprofessional if I received such a text from you.
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-co-working-napping-on-job/697998/80 "2014-09-12T03:57:29Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#):
>
> It’s funny to me that you are calling him unprofessional when I would consider you incredibly unprofessional if I received such a text from you.
It’s a real world example of junior modding.
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