Employee refuses to sit at desk with rest of team, sits in common area instead












51














I have a low-performing employee who refuses to sit at their desk. I’ve asked twice if they have issues with the chair or table — because we can make accommodations there — and employee said no.



This person sits in a common area and the rest of the employees sit at their desks and work great together, conversing during the day and being very efficient. When they need to connect with the other employee they have to walk to find them or wait for an email back, not efficient.



Is there any reason why I can’t require this person to sit at their desk?



Edit: Yes, I have asked them why, and they have refused to answer. And we are in the US. The common area is probably louder all day than their assigned desk area.










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  • 43




    conversing during the day Could it be the case the noise generated by the conversation bother that employee? Did you ever ask them?
    – scaaahu
    yesterday






  • 77




    Have you asked the employee why they don't sit at their desk? Not "is there a problem with A or B", but getting them to say what the problem is.
    – Philip Kendall
    yesterday






  • 24




    @Janine00 Any chance this employee might be harassed or bullied when they sit at their assigned desk, and this is an attempt to stay as far away from the perpetrator(s) as possible?
    – njuffa
    yesterday






  • 12




    I really feel like there's some information missing here. Refusing to sit in a quieter area, and refusing to explain why, just doesn't make any sense. It sounds to me like you might be dealing with an autistic individual, in which case tread carefully.
    – Ian Kemp
    22 hours ago






  • 13




    @Janine00 distracting is subjective; in my case, I work fine with plenty of noise/movement, but not if someone is purposefully trying to get my attention. If the coworkers converse by interrupting each other, I can understand the person who tries to escape that.
    – André Paramés
    18 hours ago
















51














I have a low-performing employee who refuses to sit at their desk. I’ve asked twice if they have issues with the chair or table — because we can make accommodations there — and employee said no.



This person sits in a common area and the rest of the employees sit at their desks and work great together, conversing during the day and being very efficient. When they need to connect with the other employee they have to walk to find them or wait for an email back, not efficient.



Is there any reason why I can’t require this person to sit at their desk?



Edit: Yes, I have asked them why, and they have refused to answer. And we are in the US. The common area is probably louder all day than their assigned desk area.










share|improve this question









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  • 43




    conversing during the day Could it be the case the noise generated by the conversation bother that employee? Did you ever ask them?
    – scaaahu
    yesterday






  • 77




    Have you asked the employee why they don't sit at their desk? Not "is there a problem with A or B", but getting them to say what the problem is.
    – Philip Kendall
    yesterday






  • 24




    @Janine00 Any chance this employee might be harassed or bullied when they sit at their assigned desk, and this is an attempt to stay as far away from the perpetrator(s) as possible?
    – njuffa
    yesterday






  • 12




    I really feel like there's some information missing here. Refusing to sit in a quieter area, and refusing to explain why, just doesn't make any sense. It sounds to me like you might be dealing with an autistic individual, in which case tread carefully.
    – Ian Kemp
    22 hours ago






  • 13




    @Janine00 distracting is subjective; in my case, I work fine with plenty of noise/movement, but not if someone is purposefully trying to get my attention. If the coworkers converse by interrupting each other, I can understand the person who tries to escape that.
    – André Paramés
    18 hours ago














51












51








51


5





I have a low-performing employee who refuses to sit at their desk. I’ve asked twice if they have issues with the chair or table — because we can make accommodations there — and employee said no.



This person sits in a common area and the rest of the employees sit at their desks and work great together, conversing during the day and being very efficient. When they need to connect with the other employee they have to walk to find them or wait for an email back, not efficient.



Is there any reason why I can’t require this person to sit at their desk?



Edit: Yes, I have asked them why, and they have refused to answer. And we are in the US. The common area is probably louder all day than their assigned desk area.










share|improve this question









New contributor




Janine00 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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I have a low-performing employee who refuses to sit at their desk. I’ve asked twice if they have issues with the chair or table — because we can make accommodations there — and employee said no.



This person sits in a common area and the rest of the employees sit at their desks and work great together, conversing during the day and being very efficient. When they need to connect with the other employee they have to walk to find them or wait for an email back, not efficient.



Is there any reason why I can’t require this person to sit at their desk?



Edit: Yes, I have asked them why, and they have refused to answer. And we are in the US. The common area is probably louder all day than their assigned desk area.







management seating






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edited 15 hours ago









Kat

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asked yesterday









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  • 43




    conversing during the day Could it be the case the noise generated by the conversation bother that employee? Did you ever ask them?
    – scaaahu
    yesterday






  • 77




    Have you asked the employee why they don't sit at their desk? Not "is there a problem with A or B", but getting them to say what the problem is.
    – Philip Kendall
    yesterday






  • 24




    @Janine00 Any chance this employee might be harassed or bullied when they sit at their assigned desk, and this is an attempt to stay as far away from the perpetrator(s) as possible?
    – njuffa
    yesterday






  • 12




    I really feel like there's some information missing here. Refusing to sit in a quieter area, and refusing to explain why, just doesn't make any sense. It sounds to me like you might be dealing with an autistic individual, in which case tread carefully.
    – Ian Kemp
    22 hours ago






  • 13




    @Janine00 distracting is subjective; in my case, I work fine with plenty of noise/movement, but not if someone is purposefully trying to get my attention. If the coworkers converse by interrupting each other, I can understand the person who tries to escape that.
    – André Paramés
    18 hours ago














  • 43




    conversing during the day Could it be the case the noise generated by the conversation bother that employee? Did you ever ask them?
    – scaaahu
    yesterday






  • 77




    Have you asked the employee why they don't sit at their desk? Not "is there a problem with A or B", but getting them to say what the problem is.
    – Philip Kendall
    yesterday






  • 24




    @Janine00 Any chance this employee might be harassed or bullied when they sit at their assigned desk, and this is an attempt to stay as far away from the perpetrator(s) as possible?
    – njuffa
    yesterday






  • 12




    I really feel like there's some information missing here. Refusing to sit in a quieter area, and refusing to explain why, just doesn't make any sense. It sounds to me like you might be dealing with an autistic individual, in which case tread carefully.
    – Ian Kemp
    22 hours ago






  • 13




    @Janine00 distracting is subjective; in my case, I work fine with plenty of noise/movement, but not if someone is purposefully trying to get my attention. If the coworkers converse by interrupting each other, I can understand the person who tries to escape that.
    – André Paramés
    18 hours ago








43




43




conversing during the day Could it be the case the noise generated by the conversation bother that employee? Did you ever ask them?
– scaaahu
yesterday




conversing during the day Could it be the case the noise generated by the conversation bother that employee? Did you ever ask them?
– scaaahu
yesterday




77




77




Have you asked the employee why they don't sit at their desk? Not "is there a problem with A or B", but getting them to say what the problem is.
– Philip Kendall
yesterday




Have you asked the employee why they don't sit at their desk? Not "is there a problem with A or B", but getting them to say what the problem is.
– Philip Kendall
yesterday




24




24




@Janine00 Any chance this employee might be harassed or bullied when they sit at their assigned desk, and this is an attempt to stay as far away from the perpetrator(s) as possible?
– njuffa
yesterday




@Janine00 Any chance this employee might be harassed or bullied when they sit at their assigned desk, and this is an attempt to stay as far away from the perpetrator(s) as possible?
– njuffa
yesterday




12




12




I really feel like there's some information missing here. Refusing to sit in a quieter area, and refusing to explain why, just doesn't make any sense. It sounds to me like you might be dealing with an autistic individual, in which case tread carefully.
– Ian Kemp
22 hours ago




I really feel like there's some information missing here. Refusing to sit in a quieter area, and refusing to explain why, just doesn't make any sense. It sounds to me like you might be dealing with an autistic individual, in which case tread carefully.
– Ian Kemp
22 hours ago




13




13




@Janine00 distracting is subjective; in my case, I work fine with plenty of noise/movement, but not if someone is purposefully trying to get my attention. If the coworkers converse by interrupting each other, I can understand the person who tries to escape that.
– André Paramés
18 hours ago




@Janine00 distracting is subjective; in my case, I work fine with plenty of noise/movement, but not if someone is purposefully trying to get my attention. If the coworkers converse by interrupting each other, I can understand the person who tries to escape that.
– André Paramés
18 hours ago










5 Answers
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93















Is there any reason why I can’t require this person to sit at their desk?




No, there isn't. They already indicated there is no problem with their workspace, therefore you can require them to use it. I'd also be talking to them about their performance. Both refusing to use their desk and low performance are getting into disciplinary action zone.



It's obviously not a valuable employee so no issue if they quit in a huff. And at best it will make them tell you what the actual issue is and you can move forwards with more information.






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  • 6




    Sorry, but team work and availability is important. From the question, this is an employee who is no performing and is creating problems for other employees. The employee in question may be better off at a different employer, but the manager's obligation is to the company, not an uncooperative employee.
    – Julie in Austin
    22 hours ago






  • 4




    @MichaelK but this isn't "Don't know, Don't care". This is "We tried many reasonable attempts to understand what was going on and you refused to cooperate, Don't care anymore".
    – bruglesco
    20 hours ago






  • 6




    @bruglesco No, that is not good enough. "We asked once, got no answer, did not give a hoot after that" is not good enough. If anything, not getting an answer raises even more warning-signs... so to then start ignoring the issue and just resort to strong-arming is setting themselves up to be smacked in the face with a civil suit.
    – MichaelK
    20 hours ago








  • 20




    I'm not okay with "obviously not a valuable employee". It might be a culture fit problem. Maybe something happened between this guy and the other coworkers. The performance may get him fired but you can't just judge him on that, imho.
    – Pierre Arlaud
    19 hours ago






  • 3




    @PierreArlaud Nobody is judging him - only how much value he can provide to the company. He's obviously not a valuable employee doing what he does now where he does it. That doesn't mean he cannot be useful doing something else or in a different company, it just means that there's not a lot of value lost to the company when you fire him, and he's probably easy to replace.
    – Luaan
    9 hours ago



















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Find the root cause, you may be legally required to



TL;DR



These are warning signals. An under-performing employee, that does not want to sit close to their colleagues, and does not even dare talk about it with you? This may be a case of workplace harassment.



You are legally required to act on that!



Long answer to follow...



Is this really a problem?



First you need to find out why do you consider this a problem? Other than that this rubs you all the wrong ways, what are the downsides of this person doing this?



If you cannot answer this question — and I am not saying that there is no valid answer, nor that you need to give us an explanation here; you need to answer it to yourself — then there is no problem other than that it ruffles your feathers a bit, but you can put up with that, can you not?



If you find that this is a problem — in that you can point to actual negative effects that your employee's behaviour causes — then at least one of the following two questions must be answered:



a) What is the root of the problem?



Ask your employee again: why are they doing it that way? If they feel they do not want to answer, ask "Why do you not want to answer, is it a sensitive issue? Do you want to talk in private about it? Would you like to have a confidential representative talk to you about it and bring your wishes to us?".



The person has a reason. If you think their behaviour is a problem you need to find out if their behaviour stems from a trivial non-important reason, or if it is caused by an even bigger problem. Maybe the person has some kind of issue they are embarrassed to talk about, like a phobia for germs and one of their colleagues is being messy in a way that sets it off. Maybe there is some kind friction between them and another employee; their personal chemistry being volatile for some reason. Or maybe they are the victim of bullying, or even worse: some kind of blackmail.



It their behaviour truly is a problem, you cannot just attack the symptom (them sitting in the common area); you need to find out why this is happening, or you might very well be squeezing your employee between a rock and a hard place, or worse: failing to fulfil your duties as an employer (see more below).



Once you know the root cause, you can start working on a solution.



b) How can we work around the problem?



If their behaviour truly is a problem, and the root cause for this cannot be found or it is of no interest to you as long as they perform well, try to find a solution around this problem. Can they work in another part of the building? Can they telecommute? Would they consider another assignment? Tell them that this is a problem for the employer, and that a solution must be found... and tell them that you welcome hearing solutions from them.



Why not just make them go back to their place or kick them out?



Because by US federal law, employers have a duty to act against discrimination, bullying and harassment.




The employer is automatically liable for harassment by a supervisor that results in a negative employment action such as termination, failure to promote or hire, and loss of wages. If the supervisor's harassment results in a hostile work environment, the employer can avoid liability only if it can prove that: 1) it reasonably tried to prevent and promptly correct the harassing behavior; and 2) the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer.



The employer will be liable for harassment by non-supervisory employees or non-employees over whom it has control (e.g., independent contractors or customers on the premises), if it knew, or should have known about the harassment and failed to take prompt and appropriate corrective action.




There is obviously something unusual going on with this employee. It may be that they are just being eccentric. But if they are not, and this is indeed a symptom of a bigger problem — such as workplace harassment, bullying or discrimination — the employer has a duty to act.



If the employer fails to act, and this comes back to haunt them in the form of a civil suit, they will be asking around. They will be asking "Did anyone notice anything out of the ordinary with this person?". Well you obviously did; you noticed something very out of the ordinary; you noticed something so much out of the ordinary that you went on The Workplace SE to ask about it.



The question itself is now evidence that you noticed something was off with this employee.



When the court then asks the employer "Why did you fail to act on this signal?", I guarantee you that the answer "Well... anonymous people on The Workplace Stack Exchange said we did not need to but could instead just force the employee to go back to their place" will not suffice as an answer.



Summary: yes, there are reasons



You ask...




Is there any reason why I can’t require this person to sit at their desk?




Yes, there are such reasons, in that you have three very strong warning signals going off here: 1) the worker is under-performing 2) they do not want to be around colleagues 3) they do not dare talk to you about it. Something may be wrong here, and now that you have picked up on this unusual behaviour, you are then duty-bound to act.



Most likely this is a symptom of something. You need to find out what that something is, or at least find a way to work around it. It may be innocuous, but it may also be a symptom of a problem that you as an employer are legally required to deal with.



Hence, simply nagging or forcing your employee to comply without seeking to know why they do what they do, is setting yourself up for a bad ending of this story.






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  • 21




    I am not a lawyer but I am pretty sure an employee who wants to seek accommodation has to proactively ask for it. And that the employer does not have an obligation to drag it out of a reluctant or recalcitrant employee.
    – stannius
    20 hours ago






  • 28




    -1 this answer is 70% based on the assumption that the employee is being harassed. If the OP doesn't know about any harassment, and the employee won't speak up, they aren't going to be held liable for it unless it was blatantly negligent, which is quite an assumption to base the majority of your answer on. I rarely see someone who doesn't have a few colleagues they'd rather not sit by.
    – Clay07g
    18 hours ago






  • 41




    @Clay07g The fact that it is a possible case of harassment is enough to compel the employer to act. Because no court will accept as an answer that anonymous people on WP SE told the employer to not act since these anonymous people thought it might not have been such a case... since have had non-harassing friction in their workplaces. There is nothing in what you said that releases this employer from their legal responsibility.
    – MichaelK
    18 hours ago






  • 36




    @Clay07g Yes there is. 1) Under-performing 2) actively seeking to move away from colleagues 3) unwilling to talk about it. HUGE warning signs. Sure, it could be innocuous. But if it is not, they will never be able to claim "We saw no signs", and that gets them in trouble, especially if it was a supervisor that was the cause.
    – MichaelK
    18 hours ago






  • 10




    @MatthieuM. And this not even mentioning the humane/compassionate component of such an issue... that a colleague may be suffering, in their workplace. If one would respond to allegations of not acting on suspected/possible harassment with "We did not see we were legally required to act so we just told them to get in line, let their underperformance affect their salary, and eventually kicked them out when the situation did not improve"... what kind of image does that give out?!
    – MichaelK
    11 hours ago



















23














First, if you are a manager-type person you want to get HR involved. If you aren't a formal manager -- for example, a "team lead" or "group supervisor" -- you should get someone who's formally a manager involved.



Assuming that you can justify the claimed lack of productivity or performance through some set of metrics, and the person has refused to correct their behavior, you should have a valid reason to separate ("fire") the employee -- assuming there is nothing going on otherwise. Insubordination is usually a valid cause for separation.



The reason I strongly suggest you get Human Resources involved is because employees can have issues which they do not want to share with their manager. Bullying and subtle forms of harassment come to mind, along with cultural differences which are creating friction. I've had "how to be a manager" courses in the past and "my co-worker smells bad / talks loud / make off-color jokes of non-protected classes / etc." are common topics. If the co-worker who's creating the issue is a well-established or favored employee, going to the manager with the complaint can be perceived as career limiting.



It is important to keep in mind that seemingly silly reasons for not wanting to sit in a specific location can be very real. At one employer the lighting was so bright it was seriously impacting our performance, so we removed tube lights to make our area more hospitable, but some people on the team liked the bright lights, so they wanted to sit where there was more light. At another job, my position required that I interact with a lot of employees from other departments and my office mate asked to be moved to another office -- in that case, I was moved to my own office so I could have side chairs for visitors when they came.



What's most important is that you dial-down the strong-arm techniques and as another responded said try to find the cause of this behavior. If after getting HR involved there is still no resolution you have to decide if they really are causing a problem and not simply rubbing you the wrong way. Once you have all those answers you should have either the information needed to correct the problem (for example, move to another location with better lighting, away from an A/C vent, away from a "busy" co-worker) or the documentation needed to separate the employee.



Best of luck.






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  • 10




    Maybe HR can get to the bottom of the employee's non-answer when asked why they don't want to sit at their desk. And maybe HR can tell the employee that it's a good idea to answer questions in the future.
    – Joe Strazzere
    21 hours ago



















6














You fire them.



There is a limit to personal expression in the workplace. If the employee refuses to use tools provided and has low productivity, they gladly can work - for the competition.






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  • 9




    That was my first thought, but if the OP wants to do his DD, find out if the work environment is noisy which would certainly lead to low performance. The whole open office concept is fairly awful for productivity workers (programmers, etc).
    – Tombo
    yesterday






  • 27




    Bad advice, DO NOT FOLLOW!!!. I am sorry but this advice could land the employer in very hot water. If the employee's behaviour is due to harassment, bullying or a hostile work environment in any way, the employer is opening themselves up to a lawsuit if they just fire the employee. Federal US law requires employers to act on such things.
    – MichaelK
    20 hours ago






  • 10




    @MichaelK They're only liable if the employee actually responds to inquiry about the issue. This particular individual is refusing to cite reasons why he is in the common area. At some point you can fire them for performance issue if he never raises any harassment concerns.
    – Nelson
    15 hours ago








  • 4




    No but he suggests that if you are harrased you open your mouth. Refusing to answer even questions means it IS your responsibility. Not deplorable, simple reality. You interpret a lot into a person too stupid to actually say he is harassed.
    – TomTom
    11 hours ago






  • 5




    @TomTom I will simply assume you are trolling or have never had to manage people, because that attitude is wrong in all possible ways. Boorish machismo only inflates egos, it does not build healthy nor successful teams in the workplace.
    – MichaelK
    9 hours ago



















-5














Firing a person would be the easiest part, but finding a replacement will be difficult and time taking.



Your decisions could be based on multiple factors.




  1. If he is a long term employee - You might want to check with him reason for his poor performance. He might be going through a rough time in his life and sitting at common area might help him find time to deal with his personal issues.


  2. If he is a new joinee - Is he finding it difficult to interact with his team members? Does he have the correct skill set for the domain he work on?


  3. Some people use common area to prepare for interviews.



A working lunch with the employee might be helpful in your situation.



If nothing helps, finding a replacement for the employee would be the wisest option.






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  • 6




    If the person do not do anything anyway, do you really need a replacement?
    – Bent
    yesterday






  • 1




    This might depends on the domain. In a software industry, the task would be assigned among team members. Poor performance from one can slip the schedule or overload other members. A manager would definitely look for replacement and would try to close the open position asap. I am not sure how the other industry works. My comment was based on my experience working on multiples MNC's and having coming across similar situations in my career.
    – Ajeeshklr
    23 hours ago










  • @Ajeeshklr In software too, if the company is used to the low performer, getting rid of them should have no effect. If others are already compensating for the low performer, then that's already a problem regardless of whether or not the low performer is fired
    – Lightness Races in Orbit
    23 hours ago






  • 8




    One of the things to consider with low-performers is the net impact to the entire group. I had a co-worker I supervised who was such a drag on the =entire= department that getting rid of him improved productivity. This doesn't mean he did no work, but it did mean that after he was terminated everyone else was able to pick up his work using the time which was saved not dealing with him.
    – Julie in Austin
    22 hours ago











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5 Answers
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active

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93















Is there any reason why I can’t require this person to sit at their desk?




No, there isn't. They already indicated there is no problem with their workspace, therefore you can require them to use it. I'd also be talking to them about their performance. Both refusing to use their desk and low performance are getting into disciplinary action zone.



It's obviously not a valuable employee so no issue if they quit in a huff. And at best it will make them tell you what the actual issue is and you can move forwards with more information.






share|improve this answer

















  • 6




    Sorry, but team work and availability is important. From the question, this is an employee who is no performing and is creating problems for other employees. The employee in question may be better off at a different employer, but the manager's obligation is to the company, not an uncooperative employee.
    – Julie in Austin
    22 hours ago






  • 4




    @MichaelK but this isn't "Don't know, Don't care". This is "We tried many reasonable attempts to understand what was going on and you refused to cooperate, Don't care anymore".
    – bruglesco
    20 hours ago






  • 6




    @bruglesco No, that is not good enough. "We asked once, got no answer, did not give a hoot after that" is not good enough. If anything, not getting an answer raises even more warning-signs... so to then start ignoring the issue and just resort to strong-arming is setting themselves up to be smacked in the face with a civil suit.
    – MichaelK
    20 hours ago








  • 20




    I'm not okay with "obviously not a valuable employee". It might be a culture fit problem. Maybe something happened between this guy and the other coworkers. The performance may get him fired but you can't just judge him on that, imho.
    – Pierre Arlaud
    19 hours ago






  • 3




    @PierreArlaud Nobody is judging him - only how much value he can provide to the company. He's obviously not a valuable employee doing what he does now where he does it. That doesn't mean he cannot be useful doing something else or in a different company, it just means that there's not a lot of value lost to the company when you fire him, and he's probably easy to replace.
    – Luaan
    9 hours ago
















93















Is there any reason why I can’t require this person to sit at their desk?




No, there isn't. They already indicated there is no problem with their workspace, therefore you can require them to use it. I'd also be talking to them about their performance. Both refusing to use their desk and low performance are getting into disciplinary action zone.



It's obviously not a valuable employee so no issue if they quit in a huff. And at best it will make them tell you what the actual issue is and you can move forwards with more information.






share|improve this answer

















  • 6




    Sorry, but team work and availability is important. From the question, this is an employee who is no performing and is creating problems for other employees. The employee in question may be better off at a different employer, but the manager's obligation is to the company, not an uncooperative employee.
    – Julie in Austin
    22 hours ago






  • 4




    @MichaelK but this isn't "Don't know, Don't care". This is "We tried many reasonable attempts to understand what was going on and you refused to cooperate, Don't care anymore".
    – bruglesco
    20 hours ago






  • 6




    @bruglesco No, that is not good enough. "We asked once, got no answer, did not give a hoot after that" is not good enough. If anything, not getting an answer raises even more warning-signs... so to then start ignoring the issue and just resort to strong-arming is setting themselves up to be smacked in the face with a civil suit.
    – MichaelK
    20 hours ago








  • 20




    I'm not okay with "obviously not a valuable employee". It might be a culture fit problem. Maybe something happened between this guy and the other coworkers. The performance may get him fired but you can't just judge him on that, imho.
    – Pierre Arlaud
    19 hours ago






  • 3




    @PierreArlaud Nobody is judging him - only how much value he can provide to the company. He's obviously not a valuable employee doing what he does now where he does it. That doesn't mean he cannot be useful doing something else or in a different company, it just means that there's not a lot of value lost to the company when you fire him, and he's probably easy to replace.
    – Luaan
    9 hours ago














93












93








93







Is there any reason why I can’t require this person to sit at their desk?




No, there isn't. They already indicated there is no problem with their workspace, therefore you can require them to use it. I'd also be talking to them about their performance. Both refusing to use their desk and low performance are getting into disciplinary action zone.



It's obviously not a valuable employee so no issue if they quit in a huff. And at best it will make them tell you what the actual issue is and you can move forwards with more information.






share|improve this answer













Is there any reason why I can’t require this person to sit at their desk?




No, there isn't. They already indicated there is no problem with their workspace, therefore you can require them to use it. I'd also be talking to them about their performance. Both refusing to use their desk and low performance are getting into disciplinary action zone.



It's obviously not a valuable employee so no issue if they quit in a huff. And at best it will make them tell you what the actual issue is and you can move forwards with more information.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered yesterday









KilisiKilisi

113k61250434




113k61250434








  • 6




    Sorry, but team work and availability is important. From the question, this is an employee who is no performing and is creating problems for other employees. The employee in question may be better off at a different employer, but the manager's obligation is to the company, not an uncooperative employee.
    – Julie in Austin
    22 hours ago






  • 4




    @MichaelK but this isn't "Don't know, Don't care". This is "We tried many reasonable attempts to understand what was going on and you refused to cooperate, Don't care anymore".
    – bruglesco
    20 hours ago






  • 6




    @bruglesco No, that is not good enough. "We asked once, got no answer, did not give a hoot after that" is not good enough. If anything, not getting an answer raises even more warning-signs... so to then start ignoring the issue and just resort to strong-arming is setting themselves up to be smacked in the face with a civil suit.
    – MichaelK
    20 hours ago








  • 20




    I'm not okay with "obviously not a valuable employee". It might be a culture fit problem. Maybe something happened between this guy and the other coworkers. The performance may get him fired but you can't just judge him on that, imho.
    – Pierre Arlaud
    19 hours ago






  • 3




    @PierreArlaud Nobody is judging him - only how much value he can provide to the company. He's obviously not a valuable employee doing what he does now where he does it. That doesn't mean he cannot be useful doing something else or in a different company, it just means that there's not a lot of value lost to the company when you fire him, and he's probably easy to replace.
    – Luaan
    9 hours ago














  • 6




    Sorry, but team work and availability is important. From the question, this is an employee who is no performing and is creating problems for other employees. The employee in question may be better off at a different employer, but the manager's obligation is to the company, not an uncooperative employee.
    – Julie in Austin
    22 hours ago






  • 4




    @MichaelK but this isn't "Don't know, Don't care". This is "We tried many reasonable attempts to understand what was going on and you refused to cooperate, Don't care anymore".
    – bruglesco
    20 hours ago






  • 6




    @bruglesco No, that is not good enough. "We asked once, got no answer, did not give a hoot after that" is not good enough. If anything, not getting an answer raises even more warning-signs... so to then start ignoring the issue and just resort to strong-arming is setting themselves up to be smacked in the face with a civil suit.
    – MichaelK
    20 hours ago








  • 20




    I'm not okay with "obviously not a valuable employee". It might be a culture fit problem. Maybe something happened between this guy and the other coworkers. The performance may get him fired but you can't just judge him on that, imho.
    – Pierre Arlaud
    19 hours ago






  • 3




    @PierreArlaud Nobody is judging him - only how much value he can provide to the company. He's obviously not a valuable employee doing what he does now where he does it. That doesn't mean he cannot be useful doing something else or in a different company, it just means that there's not a lot of value lost to the company when you fire him, and he's probably easy to replace.
    – Luaan
    9 hours ago








6




6




Sorry, but team work and availability is important. From the question, this is an employee who is no performing and is creating problems for other employees. The employee in question may be better off at a different employer, but the manager's obligation is to the company, not an uncooperative employee.
– Julie in Austin
22 hours ago




Sorry, but team work and availability is important. From the question, this is an employee who is no performing and is creating problems for other employees. The employee in question may be better off at a different employer, but the manager's obligation is to the company, not an uncooperative employee.
– Julie in Austin
22 hours ago




4




4




@MichaelK but this isn't "Don't know, Don't care". This is "We tried many reasonable attempts to understand what was going on and you refused to cooperate, Don't care anymore".
– bruglesco
20 hours ago




@MichaelK but this isn't "Don't know, Don't care". This is "We tried many reasonable attempts to understand what was going on and you refused to cooperate, Don't care anymore".
– bruglesco
20 hours ago




6




6




@bruglesco No, that is not good enough. "We asked once, got no answer, did not give a hoot after that" is not good enough. If anything, not getting an answer raises even more warning-signs... so to then start ignoring the issue and just resort to strong-arming is setting themselves up to be smacked in the face with a civil suit.
– MichaelK
20 hours ago






@bruglesco No, that is not good enough. "We asked once, got no answer, did not give a hoot after that" is not good enough. If anything, not getting an answer raises even more warning-signs... so to then start ignoring the issue and just resort to strong-arming is setting themselves up to be smacked in the face with a civil suit.
– MichaelK
20 hours ago






20




20




I'm not okay with "obviously not a valuable employee". It might be a culture fit problem. Maybe something happened between this guy and the other coworkers. The performance may get him fired but you can't just judge him on that, imho.
– Pierre Arlaud
19 hours ago




I'm not okay with "obviously not a valuable employee". It might be a culture fit problem. Maybe something happened between this guy and the other coworkers. The performance may get him fired but you can't just judge him on that, imho.
– Pierre Arlaud
19 hours ago




3




3




@PierreArlaud Nobody is judging him - only how much value he can provide to the company. He's obviously not a valuable employee doing what he does now where he does it. That doesn't mean he cannot be useful doing something else or in a different company, it just means that there's not a lot of value lost to the company when you fire him, and he's probably easy to replace.
– Luaan
9 hours ago




@PierreArlaud Nobody is judging him - only how much value he can provide to the company. He's obviously not a valuable employee doing what he does now where he does it. That doesn't mean he cannot be useful doing something else or in a different company, it just means that there's not a lot of value lost to the company when you fire him, and he's probably easy to replace.
– Luaan
9 hours ago













136














Find the root cause, you may be legally required to



TL;DR



These are warning signals. An under-performing employee, that does not want to sit close to their colleagues, and does not even dare talk about it with you? This may be a case of workplace harassment.



You are legally required to act on that!



Long answer to follow...



Is this really a problem?



First you need to find out why do you consider this a problem? Other than that this rubs you all the wrong ways, what are the downsides of this person doing this?



If you cannot answer this question — and I am not saying that there is no valid answer, nor that you need to give us an explanation here; you need to answer it to yourself — then there is no problem other than that it ruffles your feathers a bit, but you can put up with that, can you not?



If you find that this is a problem — in that you can point to actual negative effects that your employee's behaviour causes — then at least one of the following two questions must be answered:



a) What is the root of the problem?



Ask your employee again: why are they doing it that way? If they feel they do not want to answer, ask "Why do you not want to answer, is it a sensitive issue? Do you want to talk in private about it? Would you like to have a confidential representative talk to you about it and bring your wishes to us?".



The person has a reason. If you think their behaviour is a problem you need to find out if their behaviour stems from a trivial non-important reason, or if it is caused by an even bigger problem. Maybe the person has some kind of issue they are embarrassed to talk about, like a phobia for germs and one of their colleagues is being messy in a way that sets it off. Maybe there is some kind friction between them and another employee; their personal chemistry being volatile for some reason. Or maybe they are the victim of bullying, or even worse: some kind of blackmail.



It their behaviour truly is a problem, you cannot just attack the symptom (them sitting in the common area); you need to find out why this is happening, or you might very well be squeezing your employee between a rock and a hard place, or worse: failing to fulfil your duties as an employer (see more below).



Once you know the root cause, you can start working on a solution.



b) How can we work around the problem?



If their behaviour truly is a problem, and the root cause for this cannot be found or it is of no interest to you as long as they perform well, try to find a solution around this problem. Can they work in another part of the building? Can they telecommute? Would they consider another assignment? Tell them that this is a problem for the employer, and that a solution must be found... and tell them that you welcome hearing solutions from them.



Why not just make them go back to their place or kick them out?



Because by US federal law, employers have a duty to act against discrimination, bullying and harassment.




The employer is automatically liable for harassment by a supervisor that results in a negative employment action such as termination, failure to promote or hire, and loss of wages. If the supervisor's harassment results in a hostile work environment, the employer can avoid liability only if it can prove that: 1) it reasonably tried to prevent and promptly correct the harassing behavior; and 2) the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer.



The employer will be liable for harassment by non-supervisory employees or non-employees over whom it has control (e.g., independent contractors or customers on the premises), if it knew, or should have known about the harassment and failed to take prompt and appropriate corrective action.




There is obviously something unusual going on with this employee. It may be that they are just being eccentric. But if they are not, and this is indeed a symptom of a bigger problem — such as workplace harassment, bullying or discrimination — the employer has a duty to act.



If the employer fails to act, and this comes back to haunt them in the form of a civil suit, they will be asking around. They will be asking "Did anyone notice anything out of the ordinary with this person?". Well you obviously did; you noticed something very out of the ordinary; you noticed something so much out of the ordinary that you went on The Workplace SE to ask about it.



The question itself is now evidence that you noticed something was off with this employee.



When the court then asks the employer "Why did you fail to act on this signal?", I guarantee you that the answer "Well... anonymous people on The Workplace Stack Exchange said we did not need to but could instead just force the employee to go back to their place" will not suffice as an answer.



Summary: yes, there are reasons



You ask...




Is there any reason why I can’t require this person to sit at their desk?




Yes, there are such reasons, in that you have three very strong warning signals going off here: 1) the worker is under-performing 2) they do not want to be around colleagues 3) they do not dare talk to you about it. Something may be wrong here, and now that you have picked up on this unusual behaviour, you are then duty-bound to act.



Most likely this is a symptom of something. You need to find out what that something is, or at least find a way to work around it. It may be innocuous, but it may also be a symptom of a problem that you as an employer are legally required to deal with.



Hence, simply nagging or forcing your employee to comply without seeking to know why they do what they do, is setting yourself up for a bad ending of this story.






share|improve this answer



















  • 21




    I am not a lawyer but I am pretty sure an employee who wants to seek accommodation has to proactively ask for it. And that the employer does not have an obligation to drag it out of a reluctant or recalcitrant employee.
    – stannius
    20 hours ago






  • 28




    -1 this answer is 70% based on the assumption that the employee is being harassed. If the OP doesn't know about any harassment, and the employee won't speak up, they aren't going to be held liable for it unless it was blatantly negligent, which is quite an assumption to base the majority of your answer on. I rarely see someone who doesn't have a few colleagues they'd rather not sit by.
    – Clay07g
    18 hours ago






  • 41




    @Clay07g The fact that it is a possible case of harassment is enough to compel the employer to act. Because no court will accept as an answer that anonymous people on WP SE told the employer to not act since these anonymous people thought it might not have been such a case... since have had non-harassing friction in their workplaces. There is nothing in what you said that releases this employer from their legal responsibility.
    – MichaelK
    18 hours ago






  • 36




    @Clay07g Yes there is. 1) Under-performing 2) actively seeking to move away from colleagues 3) unwilling to talk about it. HUGE warning signs. Sure, it could be innocuous. But if it is not, they will never be able to claim "We saw no signs", and that gets them in trouble, especially if it was a supervisor that was the cause.
    – MichaelK
    18 hours ago






  • 10




    @MatthieuM. And this not even mentioning the humane/compassionate component of such an issue... that a colleague may be suffering, in their workplace. If one would respond to allegations of not acting on suspected/possible harassment with "We did not see we were legally required to act so we just told them to get in line, let their underperformance affect their salary, and eventually kicked them out when the situation did not improve"... what kind of image does that give out?!
    – MichaelK
    11 hours ago
















136














Find the root cause, you may be legally required to



TL;DR



These are warning signals. An under-performing employee, that does not want to sit close to their colleagues, and does not even dare talk about it with you? This may be a case of workplace harassment.



You are legally required to act on that!



Long answer to follow...



Is this really a problem?



First you need to find out why do you consider this a problem? Other than that this rubs you all the wrong ways, what are the downsides of this person doing this?



If you cannot answer this question — and I am not saying that there is no valid answer, nor that you need to give us an explanation here; you need to answer it to yourself — then there is no problem other than that it ruffles your feathers a bit, but you can put up with that, can you not?



If you find that this is a problem — in that you can point to actual negative effects that your employee's behaviour causes — then at least one of the following two questions must be answered:



a) What is the root of the problem?



Ask your employee again: why are they doing it that way? If they feel they do not want to answer, ask "Why do you not want to answer, is it a sensitive issue? Do you want to talk in private about it? Would you like to have a confidential representative talk to you about it and bring your wishes to us?".



The person has a reason. If you think their behaviour is a problem you need to find out if their behaviour stems from a trivial non-important reason, or if it is caused by an even bigger problem. Maybe the person has some kind of issue they are embarrassed to talk about, like a phobia for germs and one of their colleagues is being messy in a way that sets it off. Maybe there is some kind friction between them and another employee; their personal chemistry being volatile for some reason. Or maybe they are the victim of bullying, or even worse: some kind of blackmail.



It their behaviour truly is a problem, you cannot just attack the symptom (them sitting in the common area); you need to find out why this is happening, or you might very well be squeezing your employee between a rock and a hard place, or worse: failing to fulfil your duties as an employer (see more below).



Once you know the root cause, you can start working on a solution.



b) How can we work around the problem?



If their behaviour truly is a problem, and the root cause for this cannot be found or it is of no interest to you as long as they perform well, try to find a solution around this problem. Can they work in another part of the building? Can they telecommute? Would they consider another assignment? Tell them that this is a problem for the employer, and that a solution must be found... and tell them that you welcome hearing solutions from them.



Why not just make them go back to their place or kick them out?



Because by US federal law, employers have a duty to act against discrimination, bullying and harassment.




The employer is automatically liable for harassment by a supervisor that results in a negative employment action such as termination, failure to promote or hire, and loss of wages. If the supervisor's harassment results in a hostile work environment, the employer can avoid liability only if it can prove that: 1) it reasonably tried to prevent and promptly correct the harassing behavior; and 2) the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer.



The employer will be liable for harassment by non-supervisory employees or non-employees over whom it has control (e.g., independent contractors or customers on the premises), if it knew, or should have known about the harassment and failed to take prompt and appropriate corrective action.




There is obviously something unusual going on with this employee. It may be that they are just being eccentric. But if they are not, and this is indeed a symptom of a bigger problem — such as workplace harassment, bullying or discrimination — the employer has a duty to act.



If the employer fails to act, and this comes back to haunt them in the form of a civil suit, they will be asking around. They will be asking "Did anyone notice anything out of the ordinary with this person?". Well you obviously did; you noticed something very out of the ordinary; you noticed something so much out of the ordinary that you went on The Workplace SE to ask about it.



The question itself is now evidence that you noticed something was off with this employee.



When the court then asks the employer "Why did you fail to act on this signal?", I guarantee you that the answer "Well... anonymous people on The Workplace Stack Exchange said we did not need to but could instead just force the employee to go back to their place" will not suffice as an answer.



Summary: yes, there are reasons



You ask...




Is there any reason why I can’t require this person to sit at their desk?




Yes, there are such reasons, in that you have three very strong warning signals going off here: 1) the worker is under-performing 2) they do not want to be around colleagues 3) they do not dare talk to you about it. Something may be wrong here, and now that you have picked up on this unusual behaviour, you are then duty-bound to act.



Most likely this is a symptom of something. You need to find out what that something is, or at least find a way to work around it. It may be innocuous, but it may also be a symptom of a problem that you as an employer are legally required to deal with.



Hence, simply nagging or forcing your employee to comply without seeking to know why they do what they do, is setting yourself up for a bad ending of this story.






share|improve this answer



















  • 21




    I am not a lawyer but I am pretty sure an employee who wants to seek accommodation has to proactively ask for it. And that the employer does not have an obligation to drag it out of a reluctant or recalcitrant employee.
    – stannius
    20 hours ago






  • 28




    -1 this answer is 70% based on the assumption that the employee is being harassed. If the OP doesn't know about any harassment, and the employee won't speak up, they aren't going to be held liable for it unless it was blatantly negligent, which is quite an assumption to base the majority of your answer on. I rarely see someone who doesn't have a few colleagues they'd rather not sit by.
    – Clay07g
    18 hours ago






  • 41




    @Clay07g The fact that it is a possible case of harassment is enough to compel the employer to act. Because no court will accept as an answer that anonymous people on WP SE told the employer to not act since these anonymous people thought it might not have been such a case... since have had non-harassing friction in their workplaces. There is nothing in what you said that releases this employer from their legal responsibility.
    – MichaelK
    18 hours ago






  • 36




    @Clay07g Yes there is. 1) Under-performing 2) actively seeking to move away from colleagues 3) unwilling to talk about it. HUGE warning signs. Sure, it could be innocuous. But if it is not, they will never be able to claim "We saw no signs", and that gets them in trouble, especially if it was a supervisor that was the cause.
    – MichaelK
    18 hours ago






  • 10




    @MatthieuM. And this not even mentioning the humane/compassionate component of such an issue... that a colleague may be suffering, in their workplace. If one would respond to allegations of not acting on suspected/possible harassment with "We did not see we were legally required to act so we just told them to get in line, let their underperformance affect their salary, and eventually kicked them out when the situation did not improve"... what kind of image does that give out?!
    – MichaelK
    11 hours ago














136












136








136






Find the root cause, you may be legally required to



TL;DR



These are warning signals. An under-performing employee, that does not want to sit close to their colleagues, and does not even dare talk about it with you? This may be a case of workplace harassment.



You are legally required to act on that!



Long answer to follow...



Is this really a problem?



First you need to find out why do you consider this a problem? Other than that this rubs you all the wrong ways, what are the downsides of this person doing this?



If you cannot answer this question — and I am not saying that there is no valid answer, nor that you need to give us an explanation here; you need to answer it to yourself — then there is no problem other than that it ruffles your feathers a bit, but you can put up with that, can you not?



If you find that this is a problem — in that you can point to actual negative effects that your employee's behaviour causes — then at least one of the following two questions must be answered:



a) What is the root of the problem?



Ask your employee again: why are they doing it that way? If they feel they do not want to answer, ask "Why do you not want to answer, is it a sensitive issue? Do you want to talk in private about it? Would you like to have a confidential representative talk to you about it and bring your wishes to us?".



The person has a reason. If you think their behaviour is a problem you need to find out if their behaviour stems from a trivial non-important reason, or if it is caused by an even bigger problem. Maybe the person has some kind of issue they are embarrassed to talk about, like a phobia for germs and one of their colleagues is being messy in a way that sets it off. Maybe there is some kind friction between them and another employee; their personal chemistry being volatile for some reason. Or maybe they are the victim of bullying, or even worse: some kind of blackmail.



It their behaviour truly is a problem, you cannot just attack the symptom (them sitting in the common area); you need to find out why this is happening, or you might very well be squeezing your employee between a rock and a hard place, or worse: failing to fulfil your duties as an employer (see more below).



Once you know the root cause, you can start working on a solution.



b) How can we work around the problem?



If their behaviour truly is a problem, and the root cause for this cannot be found or it is of no interest to you as long as they perform well, try to find a solution around this problem. Can they work in another part of the building? Can they telecommute? Would they consider another assignment? Tell them that this is a problem for the employer, and that a solution must be found... and tell them that you welcome hearing solutions from them.



Why not just make them go back to their place or kick them out?



Because by US federal law, employers have a duty to act against discrimination, bullying and harassment.




The employer is automatically liable for harassment by a supervisor that results in a negative employment action such as termination, failure to promote or hire, and loss of wages. If the supervisor's harassment results in a hostile work environment, the employer can avoid liability only if it can prove that: 1) it reasonably tried to prevent and promptly correct the harassing behavior; and 2) the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer.



The employer will be liable for harassment by non-supervisory employees or non-employees over whom it has control (e.g., independent contractors or customers on the premises), if it knew, or should have known about the harassment and failed to take prompt and appropriate corrective action.




There is obviously something unusual going on with this employee. It may be that they are just being eccentric. But if they are not, and this is indeed a symptom of a bigger problem — such as workplace harassment, bullying or discrimination — the employer has a duty to act.



If the employer fails to act, and this comes back to haunt them in the form of a civil suit, they will be asking around. They will be asking "Did anyone notice anything out of the ordinary with this person?". Well you obviously did; you noticed something very out of the ordinary; you noticed something so much out of the ordinary that you went on The Workplace SE to ask about it.



The question itself is now evidence that you noticed something was off with this employee.



When the court then asks the employer "Why did you fail to act on this signal?", I guarantee you that the answer "Well... anonymous people on The Workplace Stack Exchange said we did not need to but could instead just force the employee to go back to their place" will not suffice as an answer.



Summary: yes, there are reasons



You ask...




Is there any reason why I can’t require this person to sit at their desk?




Yes, there are such reasons, in that you have three very strong warning signals going off here: 1) the worker is under-performing 2) they do not want to be around colleagues 3) they do not dare talk to you about it. Something may be wrong here, and now that you have picked up on this unusual behaviour, you are then duty-bound to act.



Most likely this is a symptom of something. You need to find out what that something is, or at least find a way to work around it. It may be innocuous, but it may also be a symptom of a problem that you as an employer are legally required to deal with.



Hence, simply nagging or forcing your employee to comply without seeking to know why they do what they do, is setting yourself up for a bad ending of this story.






share|improve this answer














Find the root cause, you may be legally required to



TL;DR



These are warning signals. An under-performing employee, that does not want to sit close to their colleagues, and does not even dare talk about it with you? This may be a case of workplace harassment.



You are legally required to act on that!



Long answer to follow...



Is this really a problem?



First you need to find out why do you consider this a problem? Other than that this rubs you all the wrong ways, what are the downsides of this person doing this?



If you cannot answer this question — and I am not saying that there is no valid answer, nor that you need to give us an explanation here; you need to answer it to yourself — then there is no problem other than that it ruffles your feathers a bit, but you can put up with that, can you not?



If you find that this is a problem — in that you can point to actual negative effects that your employee's behaviour causes — then at least one of the following two questions must be answered:



a) What is the root of the problem?



Ask your employee again: why are they doing it that way? If they feel they do not want to answer, ask "Why do you not want to answer, is it a sensitive issue? Do you want to talk in private about it? Would you like to have a confidential representative talk to you about it and bring your wishes to us?".



The person has a reason. If you think their behaviour is a problem you need to find out if their behaviour stems from a trivial non-important reason, or if it is caused by an even bigger problem. Maybe the person has some kind of issue they are embarrassed to talk about, like a phobia for germs and one of their colleagues is being messy in a way that sets it off. Maybe there is some kind friction between them and another employee; their personal chemistry being volatile for some reason. Or maybe they are the victim of bullying, or even worse: some kind of blackmail.



It their behaviour truly is a problem, you cannot just attack the symptom (them sitting in the common area); you need to find out why this is happening, or you might very well be squeezing your employee between a rock and a hard place, or worse: failing to fulfil your duties as an employer (see more below).



Once you know the root cause, you can start working on a solution.



b) How can we work around the problem?



If their behaviour truly is a problem, and the root cause for this cannot be found or it is of no interest to you as long as they perform well, try to find a solution around this problem. Can they work in another part of the building? Can they telecommute? Would they consider another assignment? Tell them that this is a problem for the employer, and that a solution must be found... and tell them that you welcome hearing solutions from them.



Why not just make them go back to their place or kick them out?



Because by US federal law, employers have a duty to act against discrimination, bullying and harassment.




The employer is automatically liable for harassment by a supervisor that results in a negative employment action such as termination, failure to promote or hire, and loss of wages. If the supervisor's harassment results in a hostile work environment, the employer can avoid liability only if it can prove that: 1) it reasonably tried to prevent and promptly correct the harassing behavior; and 2) the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer.



The employer will be liable for harassment by non-supervisory employees or non-employees over whom it has control (e.g., independent contractors or customers on the premises), if it knew, or should have known about the harassment and failed to take prompt and appropriate corrective action.




There is obviously something unusual going on with this employee. It may be that they are just being eccentric. But if they are not, and this is indeed a symptom of a bigger problem — such as workplace harassment, bullying or discrimination — the employer has a duty to act.



If the employer fails to act, and this comes back to haunt them in the form of a civil suit, they will be asking around. They will be asking "Did anyone notice anything out of the ordinary with this person?". Well you obviously did; you noticed something very out of the ordinary; you noticed something so much out of the ordinary that you went on The Workplace SE to ask about it.



The question itself is now evidence that you noticed something was off with this employee.



When the court then asks the employer "Why did you fail to act on this signal?", I guarantee you that the answer "Well... anonymous people on The Workplace Stack Exchange said we did not need to but could instead just force the employee to go back to their place" will not suffice as an answer.



Summary: yes, there are reasons



You ask...




Is there any reason why I can’t require this person to sit at their desk?




Yes, there are such reasons, in that you have three very strong warning signals going off here: 1) the worker is under-performing 2) they do not want to be around colleagues 3) they do not dare talk to you about it. Something may be wrong here, and now that you have picked up on this unusual behaviour, you are then duty-bound to act.



Most likely this is a symptom of something. You need to find out what that something is, or at least find a way to work around it. It may be innocuous, but it may also be a symptom of a problem that you as an employer are legally required to deal with.



Hence, simply nagging or forcing your employee to comply without seeking to know why they do what they do, is setting yourself up for a bad ending of this story.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 5 hours ago

























answered yesterday









MichaelKMichaelK

1,1501511




1,1501511








  • 21




    I am not a lawyer but I am pretty sure an employee who wants to seek accommodation has to proactively ask for it. And that the employer does not have an obligation to drag it out of a reluctant or recalcitrant employee.
    – stannius
    20 hours ago






  • 28




    -1 this answer is 70% based on the assumption that the employee is being harassed. If the OP doesn't know about any harassment, and the employee won't speak up, they aren't going to be held liable for it unless it was blatantly negligent, which is quite an assumption to base the majority of your answer on. I rarely see someone who doesn't have a few colleagues they'd rather not sit by.
    – Clay07g
    18 hours ago






  • 41




    @Clay07g The fact that it is a possible case of harassment is enough to compel the employer to act. Because no court will accept as an answer that anonymous people on WP SE told the employer to not act since these anonymous people thought it might not have been such a case... since have had non-harassing friction in their workplaces. There is nothing in what you said that releases this employer from their legal responsibility.
    – MichaelK
    18 hours ago






  • 36




    @Clay07g Yes there is. 1) Under-performing 2) actively seeking to move away from colleagues 3) unwilling to talk about it. HUGE warning signs. Sure, it could be innocuous. But if it is not, they will never be able to claim "We saw no signs", and that gets them in trouble, especially if it was a supervisor that was the cause.
    – MichaelK
    18 hours ago






  • 10




    @MatthieuM. And this not even mentioning the humane/compassionate component of such an issue... that a colleague may be suffering, in their workplace. If one would respond to allegations of not acting on suspected/possible harassment with "We did not see we were legally required to act so we just told them to get in line, let their underperformance affect their salary, and eventually kicked them out when the situation did not improve"... what kind of image does that give out?!
    – MichaelK
    11 hours ago














  • 21




    I am not a lawyer but I am pretty sure an employee who wants to seek accommodation has to proactively ask for it. And that the employer does not have an obligation to drag it out of a reluctant or recalcitrant employee.
    – stannius
    20 hours ago






  • 28




    -1 this answer is 70% based on the assumption that the employee is being harassed. If the OP doesn't know about any harassment, and the employee won't speak up, they aren't going to be held liable for it unless it was blatantly negligent, which is quite an assumption to base the majority of your answer on. I rarely see someone who doesn't have a few colleagues they'd rather not sit by.
    – Clay07g
    18 hours ago






  • 41




    @Clay07g The fact that it is a possible case of harassment is enough to compel the employer to act. Because no court will accept as an answer that anonymous people on WP SE told the employer to not act since these anonymous people thought it might not have been such a case... since have had non-harassing friction in their workplaces. There is nothing in what you said that releases this employer from their legal responsibility.
    – MichaelK
    18 hours ago






  • 36




    @Clay07g Yes there is. 1) Under-performing 2) actively seeking to move away from colleagues 3) unwilling to talk about it. HUGE warning signs. Sure, it could be innocuous. But if it is not, they will never be able to claim "We saw no signs", and that gets them in trouble, especially if it was a supervisor that was the cause.
    – MichaelK
    18 hours ago






  • 10




    @MatthieuM. And this not even mentioning the humane/compassionate component of such an issue... that a colleague may be suffering, in their workplace. If one would respond to allegations of not acting on suspected/possible harassment with "We did not see we were legally required to act so we just told them to get in line, let their underperformance affect their salary, and eventually kicked them out when the situation did not improve"... what kind of image does that give out?!
    – MichaelK
    11 hours ago








21




21




I am not a lawyer but I am pretty sure an employee who wants to seek accommodation has to proactively ask for it. And that the employer does not have an obligation to drag it out of a reluctant or recalcitrant employee.
– stannius
20 hours ago




I am not a lawyer but I am pretty sure an employee who wants to seek accommodation has to proactively ask for it. And that the employer does not have an obligation to drag it out of a reluctant or recalcitrant employee.
– stannius
20 hours ago




28




28




-1 this answer is 70% based on the assumption that the employee is being harassed. If the OP doesn't know about any harassment, and the employee won't speak up, they aren't going to be held liable for it unless it was blatantly negligent, which is quite an assumption to base the majority of your answer on. I rarely see someone who doesn't have a few colleagues they'd rather not sit by.
– Clay07g
18 hours ago




-1 this answer is 70% based on the assumption that the employee is being harassed. If the OP doesn't know about any harassment, and the employee won't speak up, they aren't going to be held liable for it unless it was blatantly negligent, which is quite an assumption to base the majority of your answer on. I rarely see someone who doesn't have a few colleagues they'd rather not sit by.
– Clay07g
18 hours ago




41




41




@Clay07g The fact that it is a possible case of harassment is enough to compel the employer to act. Because no court will accept as an answer that anonymous people on WP SE told the employer to not act since these anonymous people thought it might not have been such a case... since have had non-harassing friction in their workplaces. There is nothing in what you said that releases this employer from their legal responsibility.
– MichaelK
18 hours ago




@Clay07g The fact that it is a possible case of harassment is enough to compel the employer to act. Because no court will accept as an answer that anonymous people on WP SE told the employer to not act since these anonymous people thought it might not have been such a case... since have had non-harassing friction in their workplaces. There is nothing in what you said that releases this employer from their legal responsibility.
– MichaelK
18 hours ago




36




36




@Clay07g Yes there is. 1) Under-performing 2) actively seeking to move away from colleagues 3) unwilling to talk about it. HUGE warning signs. Sure, it could be innocuous. But if it is not, they will never be able to claim "We saw no signs", and that gets them in trouble, especially if it was a supervisor that was the cause.
– MichaelK
18 hours ago




@Clay07g Yes there is. 1) Under-performing 2) actively seeking to move away from colleagues 3) unwilling to talk about it. HUGE warning signs. Sure, it could be innocuous. But if it is not, they will never be able to claim "We saw no signs", and that gets them in trouble, especially if it was a supervisor that was the cause.
– MichaelK
18 hours ago




10




10




@MatthieuM. And this not even mentioning the humane/compassionate component of such an issue... that a colleague may be suffering, in their workplace. If one would respond to allegations of not acting on suspected/possible harassment with "We did not see we were legally required to act so we just told them to get in line, let their underperformance affect their salary, and eventually kicked them out when the situation did not improve"... what kind of image does that give out?!
– MichaelK
11 hours ago




@MatthieuM. And this not even mentioning the humane/compassionate component of such an issue... that a colleague may be suffering, in their workplace. If one would respond to allegations of not acting on suspected/possible harassment with "We did not see we were legally required to act so we just told them to get in line, let their underperformance affect their salary, and eventually kicked them out when the situation did not improve"... what kind of image does that give out?!
– MichaelK
11 hours ago











23














First, if you are a manager-type person you want to get HR involved. If you aren't a formal manager -- for example, a "team lead" or "group supervisor" -- you should get someone who's formally a manager involved.



Assuming that you can justify the claimed lack of productivity or performance through some set of metrics, and the person has refused to correct their behavior, you should have a valid reason to separate ("fire") the employee -- assuming there is nothing going on otherwise. Insubordination is usually a valid cause for separation.



The reason I strongly suggest you get Human Resources involved is because employees can have issues which they do not want to share with their manager. Bullying and subtle forms of harassment come to mind, along with cultural differences which are creating friction. I've had "how to be a manager" courses in the past and "my co-worker smells bad / talks loud / make off-color jokes of non-protected classes / etc." are common topics. If the co-worker who's creating the issue is a well-established or favored employee, going to the manager with the complaint can be perceived as career limiting.



It is important to keep in mind that seemingly silly reasons for not wanting to sit in a specific location can be very real. At one employer the lighting was so bright it was seriously impacting our performance, so we removed tube lights to make our area more hospitable, but some people on the team liked the bright lights, so they wanted to sit where there was more light. At another job, my position required that I interact with a lot of employees from other departments and my office mate asked to be moved to another office -- in that case, I was moved to my own office so I could have side chairs for visitors when they came.



What's most important is that you dial-down the strong-arm techniques and as another responded said try to find the cause of this behavior. If after getting HR involved there is still no resolution you have to decide if they really are causing a problem and not simply rubbing you the wrong way. Once you have all those answers you should have either the information needed to correct the problem (for example, move to another location with better lighting, away from an A/C vent, away from a "busy" co-worker) or the documentation needed to separate the employee.



Best of luck.






share|improve this answer

















  • 10




    Maybe HR can get to the bottom of the employee's non-answer when asked why they don't want to sit at their desk. And maybe HR can tell the employee that it's a good idea to answer questions in the future.
    – Joe Strazzere
    21 hours ago
















23














First, if you are a manager-type person you want to get HR involved. If you aren't a formal manager -- for example, a "team lead" or "group supervisor" -- you should get someone who's formally a manager involved.



Assuming that you can justify the claimed lack of productivity or performance through some set of metrics, and the person has refused to correct their behavior, you should have a valid reason to separate ("fire") the employee -- assuming there is nothing going on otherwise. Insubordination is usually a valid cause for separation.



The reason I strongly suggest you get Human Resources involved is because employees can have issues which they do not want to share with their manager. Bullying and subtle forms of harassment come to mind, along with cultural differences which are creating friction. I've had "how to be a manager" courses in the past and "my co-worker smells bad / talks loud / make off-color jokes of non-protected classes / etc." are common topics. If the co-worker who's creating the issue is a well-established or favored employee, going to the manager with the complaint can be perceived as career limiting.



It is important to keep in mind that seemingly silly reasons for not wanting to sit in a specific location can be very real. At one employer the lighting was so bright it was seriously impacting our performance, so we removed tube lights to make our area more hospitable, but some people on the team liked the bright lights, so they wanted to sit where there was more light. At another job, my position required that I interact with a lot of employees from other departments and my office mate asked to be moved to another office -- in that case, I was moved to my own office so I could have side chairs for visitors when they came.



What's most important is that you dial-down the strong-arm techniques and as another responded said try to find the cause of this behavior. If after getting HR involved there is still no resolution you have to decide if they really are causing a problem and not simply rubbing you the wrong way. Once you have all those answers you should have either the information needed to correct the problem (for example, move to another location with better lighting, away from an A/C vent, away from a "busy" co-worker) or the documentation needed to separate the employee.



Best of luck.






share|improve this answer

















  • 10




    Maybe HR can get to the bottom of the employee's non-answer when asked why they don't want to sit at their desk. And maybe HR can tell the employee that it's a good idea to answer questions in the future.
    – Joe Strazzere
    21 hours ago














23












23








23






First, if you are a manager-type person you want to get HR involved. If you aren't a formal manager -- for example, a "team lead" or "group supervisor" -- you should get someone who's formally a manager involved.



Assuming that you can justify the claimed lack of productivity or performance through some set of metrics, and the person has refused to correct their behavior, you should have a valid reason to separate ("fire") the employee -- assuming there is nothing going on otherwise. Insubordination is usually a valid cause for separation.



The reason I strongly suggest you get Human Resources involved is because employees can have issues which they do not want to share with their manager. Bullying and subtle forms of harassment come to mind, along with cultural differences which are creating friction. I've had "how to be a manager" courses in the past and "my co-worker smells bad / talks loud / make off-color jokes of non-protected classes / etc." are common topics. If the co-worker who's creating the issue is a well-established or favored employee, going to the manager with the complaint can be perceived as career limiting.



It is important to keep in mind that seemingly silly reasons for not wanting to sit in a specific location can be very real. At one employer the lighting was so bright it was seriously impacting our performance, so we removed tube lights to make our area more hospitable, but some people on the team liked the bright lights, so they wanted to sit where there was more light. At another job, my position required that I interact with a lot of employees from other departments and my office mate asked to be moved to another office -- in that case, I was moved to my own office so I could have side chairs for visitors when they came.



What's most important is that you dial-down the strong-arm techniques and as another responded said try to find the cause of this behavior. If after getting HR involved there is still no resolution you have to decide if they really are causing a problem and not simply rubbing you the wrong way. Once you have all those answers you should have either the information needed to correct the problem (for example, move to another location with better lighting, away from an A/C vent, away from a "busy" co-worker) or the documentation needed to separate the employee.



Best of luck.






share|improve this answer












First, if you are a manager-type person you want to get HR involved. If you aren't a formal manager -- for example, a "team lead" or "group supervisor" -- you should get someone who's formally a manager involved.



Assuming that you can justify the claimed lack of productivity or performance through some set of metrics, and the person has refused to correct their behavior, you should have a valid reason to separate ("fire") the employee -- assuming there is nothing going on otherwise. Insubordination is usually a valid cause for separation.



The reason I strongly suggest you get Human Resources involved is because employees can have issues which they do not want to share with their manager. Bullying and subtle forms of harassment come to mind, along with cultural differences which are creating friction. I've had "how to be a manager" courses in the past and "my co-worker smells bad / talks loud / make off-color jokes of non-protected classes / etc." are common topics. If the co-worker who's creating the issue is a well-established or favored employee, going to the manager with the complaint can be perceived as career limiting.



It is important to keep in mind that seemingly silly reasons for not wanting to sit in a specific location can be very real. At one employer the lighting was so bright it was seriously impacting our performance, so we removed tube lights to make our area more hospitable, but some people on the team liked the bright lights, so they wanted to sit where there was more light. At another job, my position required that I interact with a lot of employees from other departments and my office mate asked to be moved to another office -- in that case, I was moved to my own office so I could have side chairs for visitors when they came.



What's most important is that you dial-down the strong-arm techniques and as another responded said try to find the cause of this behavior. If after getting HR involved there is still no resolution you have to decide if they really are causing a problem and not simply rubbing you the wrong way. Once you have all those answers you should have either the information needed to correct the problem (for example, move to another location with better lighting, away from an A/C vent, away from a "busy" co-worker) or the documentation needed to separate the employee.



Best of luck.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 22 hours ago









Julie in AustinJulie in Austin

53628




53628








  • 10




    Maybe HR can get to the bottom of the employee's non-answer when asked why they don't want to sit at their desk. And maybe HR can tell the employee that it's a good idea to answer questions in the future.
    – Joe Strazzere
    21 hours ago














  • 10




    Maybe HR can get to the bottom of the employee's non-answer when asked why they don't want to sit at their desk. And maybe HR can tell the employee that it's a good idea to answer questions in the future.
    – Joe Strazzere
    21 hours ago








10




10




Maybe HR can get to the bottom of the employee's non-answer when asked why they don't want to sit at their desk. And maybe HR can tell the employee that it's a good idea to answer questions in the future.
– Joe Strazzere
21 hours ago




Maybe HR can get to the bottom of the employee's non-answer when asked why they don't want to sit at their desk. And maybe HR can tell the employee that it's a good idea to answer questions in the future.
– Joe Strazzere
21 hours ago











6














You fire them.



There is a limit to personal expression in the workplace. If the employee refuses to use tools provided and has low productivity, they gladly can work - for the competition.






share|improve this answer



















  • 9




    That was my first thought, but if the OP wants to do his DD, find out if the work environment is noisy which would certainly lead to low performance. The whole open office concept is fairly awful for productivity workers (programmers, etc).
    – Tombo
    yesterday






  • 27




    Bad advice, DO NOT FOLLOW!!!. I am sorry but this advice could land the employer in very hot water. If the employee's behaviour is due to harassment, bullying or a hostile work environment in any way, the employer is opening themselves up to a lawsuit if they just fire the employee. Federal US law requires employers to act on such things.
    – MichaelK
    20 hours ago






  • 10




    @MichaelK They're only liable if the employee actually responds to inquiry about the issue. This particular individual is refusing to cite reasons why he is in the common area. At some point you can fire them for performance issue if he never raises any harassment concerns.
    – Nelson
    15 hours ago








  • 4




    No but he suggests that if you are harrased you open your mouth. Refusing to answer even questions means it IS your responsibility. Not deplorable, simple reality. You interpret a lot into a person too stupid to actually say he is harassed.
    – TomTom
    11 hours ago






  • 5




    @TomTom I will simply assume you are trolling or have never had to manage people, because that attitude is wrong in all possible ways. Boorish machismo only inflates egos, it does not build healthy nor successful teams in the workplace.
    – MichaelK
    9 hours ago
















6














You fire them.



There is a limit to personal expression in the workplace. If the employee refuses to use tools provided and has low productivity, they gladly can work - for the competition.






share|improve this answer



















  • 9




    That was my first thought, but if the OP wants to do his DD, find out if the work environment is noisy which would certainly lead to low performance. The whole open office concept is fairly awful for productivity workers (programmers, etc).
    – Tombo
    yesterday






  • 27




    Bad advice, DO NOT FOLLOW!!!. I am sorry but this advice could land the employer in very hot water. If the employee's behaviour is due to harassment, bullying or a hostile work environment in any way, the employer is opening themselves up to a lawsuit if they just fire the employee. Federal US law requires employers to act on such things.
    – MichaelK
    20 hours ago






  • 10




    @MichaelK They're only liable if the employee actually responds to inquiry about the issue. This particular individual is refusing to cite reasons why he is in the common area. At some point you can fire them for performance issue if he never raises any harassment concerns.
    – Nelson
    15 hours ago








  • 4




    No but he suggests that if you are harrased you open your mouth. Refusing to answer even questions means it IS your responsibility. Not deplorable, simple reality. You interpret a lot into a person too stupid to actually say he is harassed.
    – TomTom
    11 hours ago






  • 5




    @TomTom I will simply assume you are trolling or have never had to manage people, because that attitude is wrong in all possible ways. Boorish machismo only inflates egos, it does not build healthy nor successful teams in the workplace.
    – MichaelK
    9 hours ago














6












6








6






You fire them.



There is a limit to personal expression in the workplace. If the employee refuses to use tools provided and has low productivity, they gladly can work - for the competition.






share|improve this answer














You fire them.



There is a limit to personal expression in the workplace. If the employee refuses to use tools provided and has low productivity, they gladly can work - for the competition.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 17 hours ago









Azor Ahai

1033




1033










answered yesterday









TomTomTomTom

4,1572819




4,1572819








  • 9




    That was my first thought, but if the OP wants to do his DD, find out if the work environment is noisy which would certainly lead to low performance. The whole open office concept is fairly awful for productivity workers (programmers, etc).
    – Tombo
    yesterday






  • 27




    Bad advice, DO NOT FOLLOW!!!. I am sorry but this advice could land the employer in very hot water. If the employee's behaviour is due to harassment, bullying or a hostile work environment in any way, the employer is opening themselves up to a lawsuit if they just fire the employee. Federal US law requires employers to act on such things.
    – MichaelK
    20 hours ago






  • 10




    @MichaelK They're only liable if the employee actually responds to inquiry about the issue. This particular individual is refusing to cite reasons why he is in the common area. At some point you can fire them for performance issue if he never raises any harassment concerns.
    – Nelson
    15 hours ago








  • 4




    No but he suggests that if you are harrased you open your mouth. Refusing to answer even questions means it IS your responsibility. Not deplorable, simple reality. You interpret a lot into a person too stupid to actually say he is harassed.
    – TomTom
    11 hours ago






  • 5




    @TomTom I will simply assume you are trolling or have never had to manage people, because that attitude is wrong in all possible ways. Boorish machismo only inflates egos, it does not build healthy nor successful teams in the workplace.
    – MichaelK
    9 hours ago














  • 9




    That was my first thought, but if the OP wants to do his DD, find out if the work environment is noisy which would certainly lead to low performance. The whole open office concept is fairly awful for productivity workers (programmers, etc).
    – Tombo
    yesterday






  • 27




    Bad advice, DO NOT FOLLOW!!!. I am sorry but this advice could land the employer in very hot water. If the employee's behaviour is due to harassment, bullying or a hostile work environment in any way, the employer is opening themselves up to a lawsuit if they just fire the employee. Federal US law requires employers to act on such things.
    – MichaelK
    20 hours ago






  • 10




    @MichaelK They're only liable if the employee actually responds to inquiry about the issue. This particular individual is refusing to cite reasons why he is in the common area. At some point you can fire them for performance issue if he never raises any harassment concerns.
    – Nelson
    15 hours ago








  • 4




    No but he suggests that if you are harrased you open your mouth. Refusing to answer even questions means it IS your responsibility. Not deplorable, simple reality. You interpret a lot into a person too stupid to actually say he is harassed.
    – TomTom
    11 hours ago






  • 5




    @TomTom I will simply assume you are trolling or have never had to manage people, because that attitude is wrong in all possible ways. Boorish machismo only inflates egos, it does not build healthy nor successful teams in the workplace.
    – MichaelK
    9 hours ago








9




9




That was my first thought, but if the OP wants to do his DD, find out if the work environment is noisy which would certainly lead to low performance. The whole open office concept is fairly awful for productivity workers (programmers, etc).
– Tombo
yesterday




That was my first thought, but if the OP wants to do his DD, find out if the work environment is noisy which would certainly lead to low performance. The whole open office concept is fairly awful for productivity workers (programmers, etc).
– Tombo
yesterday




27




27




Bad advice, DO NOT FOLLOW!!!. I am sorry but this advice could land the employer in very hot water. If the employee's behaviour is due to harassment, bullying or a hostile work environment in any way, the employer is opening themselves up to a lawsuit if they just fire the employee. Federal US law requires employers to act on such things.
– MichaelK
20 hours ago




Bad advice, DO NOT FOLLOW!!!. I am sorry but this advice could land the employer in very hot water. If the employee's behaviour is due to harassment, bullying or a hostile work environment in any way, the employer is opening themselves up to a lawsuit if they just fire the employee. Federal US law requires employers to act on such things.
– MichaelK
20 hours ago




10




10




@MichaelK They're only liable if the employee actually responds to inquiry about the issue. This particular individual is refusing to cite reasons why he is in the common area. At some point you can fire them for performance issue if he never raises any harassment concerns.
– Nelson
15 hours ago






@MichaelK They're only liable if the employee actually responds to inquiry about the issue. This particular individual is refusing to cite reasons why he is in the common area. At some point you can fire them for performance issue if he never raises any harassment concerns.
– Nelson
15 hours ago






4




4




No but he suggests that if you are harrased you open your mouth. Refusing to answer even questions means it IS your responsibility. Not deplorable, simple reality. You interpret a lot into a person too stupid to actually say he is harassed.
– TomTom
11 hours ago




No but he suggests that if you are harrased you open your mouth. Refusing to answer even questions means it IS your responsibility. Not deplorable, simple reality. You interpret a lot into a person too stupid to actually say he is harassed.
– TomTom
11 hours ago




5




5




@TomTom I will simply assume you are trolling or have never had to manage people, because that attitude is wrong in all possible ways. Boorish machismo only inflates egos, it does not build healthy nor successful teams in the workplace.
– MichaelK
9 hours ago




@TomTom I will simply assume you are trolling or have never had to manage people, because that attitude is wrong in all possible ways. Boorish machismo only inflates egos, it does not build healthy nor successful teams in the workplace.
– MichaelK
9 hours ago











-5














Firing a person would be the easiest part, but finding a replacement will be difficult and time taking.



Your decisions could be based on multiple factors.




  1. If he is a long term employee - You might want to check with him reason for his poor performance. He might be going through a rough time in his life and sitting at common area might help him find time to deal with his personal issues.


  2. If he is a new joinee - Is he finding it difficult to interact with his team members? Does he have the correct skill set for the domain he work on?


  3. Some people use common area to prepare for interviews.



A working lunch with the employee might be helpful in your situation.



If nothing helps, finding a replacement for the employee would be the wisest option.






share|improve this answer








New contributor




Ajeeshklr is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.














  • 6




    If the person do not do anything anyway, do you really need a replacement?
    – Bent
    yesterday






  • 1




    This might depends on the domain. In a software industry, the task would be assigned among team members. Poor performance from one can slip the schedule or overload other members. A manager would definitely look for replacement and would try to close the open position asap. I am not sure how the other industry works. My comment was based on my experience working on multiples MNC's and having coming across similar situations in my career.
    – Ajeeshklr
    23 hours ago










  • @Ajeeshklr In software too, if the company is used to the low performer, getting rid of them should have no effect. If others are already compensating for the low performer, then that's already a problem regardless of whether or not the low performer is fired
    – Lightness Races in Orbit
    23 hours ago






  • 8




    One of the things to consider with low-performers is the net impact to the entire group. I had a co-worker I supervised who was such a drag on the =entire= department that getting rid of him improved productivity. This doesn't mean he did no work, but it did mean that after he was terminated everyone else was able to pick up his work using the time which was saved not dealing with him.
    – Julie in Austin
    22 hours ago
















-5














Firing a person would be the easiest part, but finding a replacement will be difficult and time taking.



Your decisions could be based on multiple factors.




  1. If he is a long term employee - You might want to check with him reason for his poor performance. He might be going through a rough time in his life and sitting at common area might help him find time to deal with his personal issues.


  2. If he is a new joinee - Is he finding it difficult to interact with his team members? Does he have the correct skill set for the domain he work on?


  3. Some people use common area to prepare for interviews.



A working lunch with the employee might be helpful in your situation.



If nothing helps, finding a replacement for the employee would be the wisest option.






share|improve this answer








New contributor




Ajeeshklr is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.














  • 6




    If the person do not do anything anyway, do you really need a replacement?
    – Bent
    yesterday






  • 1




    This might depends on the domain. In a software industry, the task would be assigned among team members. Poor performance from one can slip the schedule or overload other members. A manager would definitely look for replacement and would try to close the open position asap. I am not sure how the other industry works. My comment was based on my experience working on multiples MNC's and having coming across similar situations in my career.
    – Ajeeshklr
    23 hours ago










  • @Ajeeshklr In software too, if the company is used to the low performer, getting rid of them should have no effect. If others are already compensating for the low performer, then that's already a problem regardless of whether or not the low performer is fired
    – Lightness Races in Orbit
    23 hours ago






  • 8




    One of the things to consider with low-performers is the net impact to the entire group. I had a co-worker I supervised who was such a drag on the =entire= department that getting rid of him improved productivity. This doesn't mean he did no work, but it did mean that after he was terminated everyone else was able to pick up his work using the time which was saved not dealing with him.
    – Julie in Austin
    22 hours ago














-5












-5








-5






Firing a person would be the easiest part, but finding a replacement will be difficult and time taking.



Your decisions could be based on multiple factors.




  1. If he is a long term employee - You might want to check with him reason for his poor performance. He might be going through a rough time in his life and sitting at common area might help him find time to deal with his personal issues.


  2. If he is a new joinee - Is he finding it difficult to interact with his team members? Does he have the correct skill set for the domain he work on?


  3. Some people use common area to prepare for interviews.



A working lunch with the employee might be helpful in your situation.



If nothing helps, finding a replacement for the employee would be the wisest option.






share|improve this answer








New contributor




Ajeeshklr is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









Firing a person would be the easiest part, but finding a replacement will be difficult and time taking.



Your decisions could be based on multiple factors.




  1. If he is a long term employee - You might want to check with him reason for his poor performance. He might be going through a rough time in his life and sitting at common area might help him find time to deal with his personal issues.


  2. If he is a new joinee - Is he finding it difficult to interact with his team members? Does he have the correct skill set for the domain he work on?


  3. Some people use common area to prepare for interviews.



A working lunch with the employee might be helpful in your situation.



If nothing helps, finding a replacement for the employee would be the wisest option.







share|improve this answer








New contributor




Ajeeshklr is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer






New contributor




Ajeeshklr is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









answered yesterday









AjeeshklrAjeeshklr

171




171




New contributor




Ajeeshklr is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.





New contributor





Ajeeshklr is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






Ajeeshklr is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.








  • 6




    If the person do not do anything anyway, do you really need a replacement?
    – Bent
    yesterday






  • 1




    This might depends on the domain. In a software industry, the task would be assigned among team members. Poor performance from one can slip the schedule or overload other members. A manager would definitely look for replacement and would try to close the open position asap. I am not sure how the other industry works. My comment was based on my experience working on multiples MNC's and having coming across similar situations in my career.
    – Ajeeshklr
    23 hours ago










  • @Ajeeshklr In software too, if the company is used to the low performer, getting rid of them should have no effect. If others are already compensating for the low performer, then that's already a problem regardless of whether or not the low performer is fired
    – Lightness Races in Orbit
    23 hours ago






  • 8




    One of the things to consider with low-performers is the net impact to the entire group. I had a co-worker I supervised who was such a drag on the =entire= department that getting rid of him improved productivity. This doesn't mean he did no work, but it did mean that after he was terminated everyone else was able to pick up his work using the time which was saved not dealing with him.
    – Julie in Austin
    22 hours ago














  • 6




    If the person do not do anything anyway, do you really need a replacement?
    – Bent
    yesterday






  • 1




    This might depends on the domain. In a software industry, the task would be assigned among team members. Poor performance from one can slip the schedule or overload other members. A manager would definitely look for replacement and would try to close the open position asap. I am not sure how the other industry works. My comment was based on my experience working on multiples MNC's and having coming across similar situations in my career.
    – Ajeeshklr
    23 hours ago










  • @Ajeeshklr In software too, if the company is used to the low performer, getting rid of them should have no effect. If others are already compensating for the low performer, then that's already a problem regardless of whether or not the low performer is fired
    – Lightness Races in Orbit
    23 hours ago






  • 8




    One of the things to consider with low-performers is the net impact to the entire group. I had a co-worker I supervised who was such a drag on the =entire= department that getting rid of him improved productivity. This doesn't mean he did no work, but it did mean that after he was terminated everyone else was able to pick up his work using the time which was saved not dealing with him.
    – Julie in Austin
    22 hours ago








6




6




If the person do not do anything anyway, do you really need a replacement?
– Bent
yesterday




If the person do not do anything anyway, do you really need a replacement?
– Bent
yesterday




1




1




This might depends on the domain. In a software industry, the task would be assigned among team members. Poor performance from one can slip the schedule or overload other members. A manager would definitely look for replacement and would try to close the open position asap. I am not sure how the other industry works. My comment was based on my experience working on multiples MNC's and having coming across similar situations in my career.
– Ajeeshklr
23 hours ago




This might depends on the domain. In a software industry, the task would be assigned among team members. Poor performance from one can slip the schedule or overload other members. A manager would definitely look for replacement and would try to close the open position asap. I am not sure how the other industry works. My comment was based on my experience working on multiples MNC's and having coming across similar situations in my career.
– Ajeeshklr
23 hours ago












@Ajeeshklr In software too, if the company is used to the low performer, getting rid of them should have no effect. If others are already compensating for the low performer, then that's already a problem regardless of whether or not the low performer is fired
– Lightness Races in Orbit
23 hours ago




@Ajeeshklr In software too, if the company is used to the low performer, getting rid of them should have no effect. If others are already compensating for the low performer, then that's already a problem regardless of whether or not the low performer is fired
– Lightness Races in Orbit
23 hours ago




8




8




One of the things to consider with low-performers is the net impact to the entire group. I had a co-worker I supervised who was such a drag on the =entire= department that getting rid of him improved productivity. This doesn't mean he did no work, but it did mean that after he was terminated everyone else was able to pick up his work using the time which was saved not dealing with him.
– Julie in Austin
22 hours ago




One of the things to consider with low-performers is the net impact to the entire group. I had a co-worker I supervised who was such a drag on the =entire= department that getting rid of him improved productivity. This doesn't mean he did no work, but it did mean that after he was terminated everyone else was able to pick up his work using the time which was saved not dealing with him.
– Julie in Austin
22 hours ago










Janine00 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.










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