Some desks are not so hot
With the fashion for hot desking, many have found out that the allocation system isn’t as egalitarian as it should be with senior partners and directors keeping their preferred desk while less senior staff have to take what is left.
Giving people their own desk can now be an incentive when recruiting.
A recent employment tribunal decision acknowledges all desks are not equal in upholding a constructive unfair dismissal claim by an estate agent who was allocated to a desk in the middle of the office.
This may seem a surprising decision not only because constructive dismissal is a tough claim to win but, with so many employers now operating hot desking practices, what desk you are allocated was not an obvious ground to support such a claim.
The tribunal accepted there can be a hierarchy in where you sit at work and found that the desk at the back of the office was traditionally the manager’s desk and therefore had ‘symbolic significance’.
While there were other issues and exchanges between the employee and director that included insulting references to a man of his age (53) making a fuss about a desk, the tribunal held that the middle desk allocation was indeed a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence as it was perceived as a demotion and was conduct likely to destroy, or seriously damage, the employer/employee relationship.
Employers should therefore look carefully at how their desk allocation practices are working: are they fair, is there a desk hierarchy?
Writing the policy is only the first step. Policies should be reviewed to check how they are being implemented. Listening to feedback and concerns from employees is invaluable if employers want to achieve the fairness and equality in the workplace so many promote.
Karen Condie heads the employment law team at Holmes Mackillop