A woman was taken aback after discovering that her company’s HR department had ‘encouraged’ employees to share a bed with colleagues.
Traveling for work is a common requirement across many professions, and sometimes, if you have a good relationship with a coworker, sharing a room might not be a big deal.
However, one employer pushed the idea of ‘friendliness’ to a whole new level by suggesting that staff members share a bed during work trips.
This suggestion quite literally crossed a boundary.
An email circulated among employees from the HR team ‘encouraged’ them to share beds while traveling.
The message reportedly stated: “You will notice in the survey that you have the option to share a room with a colleague, be advised that at present booking status, there is only one bed in the room.”
Colette was so shocked by this suggestion that she read the email ‘three times over’.
Although it wasn’t compulsory to share a room or bed with a colleague, it was presented as the ‘encouraged option’.
She remarked: “That was an option… Suggested, encouraged – HR was like typing that up, sending it, drinking their glass of wine.
“I didn’t know that this was even possible in a corporate setting,” Colette added.
Before she made her TikTok account private, other TikTok users quickly shared their thoughts on the matter.
“This actually feels illegal,” one person commented, while another suggested it might lead to legal action.
“Nope, not even with my work BFF. Never,” another user stated.
Sharing a similar experience, another TikToker recounted: “I had a corp retreat. I had to share a room with a coworker and they expected we would share a bed. I wasn’t asked. I brought an air mattress.”
Another individual recounted: “I work for a small startup. Our Senior Director of CS and our VP of Sales were basically forced to share a bed. They’re both over 50.”
Yikes.
While Colette’s experience is certainly unusual, at least she wasn’t asked to return to work midway through her vacation.
An anonymous employee shared a text exchange between themselves and their boss with TikToker Ben Askins, and the details are quite astonishing.
“Hey I am sorry to do this so late, but there has been a mistake with the annual leave and I am going to have to cancel the second half of your annual leave this week,” the boss stated in a message to the employee.
However, like many people on their annual leave, the employee had traveled abroad.
Explaining they were in Mexico, the boss remained indifferent and insisted there was ‘nothing they could do’.
“Sorry, like I said, there is nothing I can do,” the boss replied. “I am going to update the system now saying you will be in.”
Can you imagine?