Boss tells employee that having a desk next to a window is 'above their pay grade.'
If you think about where you spend most of your day during the week, it's at your desk working. It's depressing, but if you like your job, maybe it isn't so bad. Whether you work from home or in an office, your work desk is your home base; ideally, it's as nice as possible.
On a popular Reddit thread in the Antiwork Subreddit, an administrative assistant gets told that having a window next to their desk is above their pay grade.
They write:
This is after multiple discussions with my boss, albeit casual ones. I'm the admin assistant for a small office with no dress code and no visitors, but they had me set up at the reception desk when I started working here eleven months ago during my trial period, which I was OK with.
There are two vacant offices here, and one of my coworkers recently swapped from her 'starter office' to the largest empty corner office. During the process, there was a discussion of me moving since I have no natural lighting at my desk and no thermostat, which led to me using a space heater all winter.
My boss seemed casual about it and would chime in things like, 'I don't see why not,' which gave me the impression that it was OK to move and that she couldn't care less. I'm the one who cleaned out the larger office for my coworker and got everything set up for her, and when she moved into it, I cleaned her office, too, and finally brought my stuff in yesterday.
It was so lovely to be out of the harsh overhead lighting, know the weather, track the passing of time, and have circulating air. My boss is moving into a new home and working from home during the transition, and apparently, yesterday after hours, one of my coworkers emailed her to let her know that I had moved.
This morning my boss sent me a furious email that if I 'felt entitled to an office,' I should have discussed it with someone (both she and the office manager were there during those conversations, but my coworker who moved offices seems to be the only person who remembers this besides me and is just as blindsided as I am).
She said the office I moved into is the nicer of the two vacant ones (they look the same to me) and 'slated above my position' and that if I were to receive an office, it would be the 'other' one, 'but even that would warrant further thought.' And, of course, demanded that I return to the reception desk immediately.
So yeah, here I am at the reception desk with a hook on it where they hang the bathroom passes; too much of a low-rank peasant to be worthy of a window or a fan. And that workspace will sit empty, along with the smaller and sh%#tier one, which I also do not deserve.
Hindsight is 20/20, and I should have checked with my boss before finally going through with the move because if I had, I would have discovered this sudden onset of amnesia. Still, I've been shown how lowly I'm regarded. I can't even lie; I shed some tears over the sheer humiliation. I came into work at peace with my job, and now I hate it.
A simple pitch for, OP.
waynestevenson says:
Free up that third desk for them to fill.
Landfill-KU says:
But we need to go back to the office for culture and team building! This is the exact reason why all positions that can be remote should be remote. Start looking for a new place of work and once you've found it send a thorough email explaining that you didn't think they deserved two weeks due to poor management and communication and state that a notice would be above your position to type out and present.
all_alone_by_myself_ says:
Quit without notice. They have earned the courtesy.
OP, if you needed a sign from the universe to quit here is your sign!