[ridethebike]

>> HR nagging people because they left books on their desk

You just reminded me one more reason for me not to return office - we have policy that when leaving for the day employees must remove all extra items [] from the desk and put that into personal cabinet.

extra items - everything apart from phone, display and keyboard + mouse.

[dnh44]

Was that pre-pandemic or just a temporary policy to make things easier for cleaners in the evening?

[speeder]

In one workplace of mine was because the office was built deliberately with glass walls, so any random visitor would see everyone working.

So HR wanted the tables looking always pristine and organized, shockingly the team that made the company most of their money, made a cool castle using tictac boxes, and HR during a performance review gave that particular team a smaller raise than planned, and told them it was about of the "objects in the table looking unprofessional", when they asked if it was the castle, HR comfirmed yes, it was the castle, and they would get further punishments and maybe even refused promotions if they didn't put the castle in the trash.

EDIT: I wasn't part of that team. Only thing I left on my table was books.

[dnh44]

I can't fathom why and how any company owners would allow HR departments to wield such power.

[ridethebike]

Pre-pandemic policy for more efficient utilization of office space.

Reasoning: it's never the case that 100% of staff is in the office - there's always be someone on sick leave or vacation or working from home. So let's rent office for say ~90% (I don't know what exact number was) of employees and let them use places on first in-first served basis.

While I get why it's needed by it's still very annoying carrying all my stuff back and forth every morning and evening.