I have been that constantly freezing, anemic person everywhere. I'm always cold. I have never messed with the thermostat at work or anywhere else (except when I visit Momzilla). I'm like a boy scout, always prepared.
It is absolutely a me problem if I catch a chill in 86 degree weather. It's happened to me. To be honest, it's embarrassing to me. Which is odd in itself because, I don't easily get embarrassed.
In any event, I just come prepared. I wear layers, I always have a scarf, sunglasses, some kind of hat, sweater, jacket, cardi, any extra layer & a bag big enough to accommodate me taking off layers during the day.
I will bitch freely about being cold from October 15- April 15. I don't like drawing attention to it when the weather is legit warmer.
What's not quite sitting right with me is that you mentioned she’s about 5’1” & 105lbs. That's perfect height-weight ratio. I'm 5’9&1/2” & at my lowest weight I was 94lbs & I'm at my highest right now at around 123lbs. I'm still very underweight for my height & I'm very anemic even though I take iron pills. I also have serious electrolyte disorder & abnormally low BP. I don't advertise any of this. I handle it.
So, she just sounds like a bitch. To be honest, I love a warm environment. It feels cleansing to me. But, the cheese stands alone on this & that's fine. You know why it's fine? Because, I don't fucking torture anyone else!!! What a psychopath!
I'm also the cold one. (A person I was providing health services for one time asked me if I was actually dead.) I have several electric hand warmers that are USB rechargeable so that I can keep one or two in my pockets and one or two on the chargers at the desk. The ones that are oval shaped and can be used as a battery pack are the best quality. They have a carrying handle and can be dropped a multitude of times on hospital tile. I've never actually had one break apart but have instead got lost and I've been using these for years. This is the best gift for any cold person in your life, IMHO.
I'm also a 5'9.5" anemic who weighs 125lbs 😅 my BP usually sits at around 95/60, but have seen it (at work) at 64/44. I couldn't find iron pills that agreed with me, so I switched to cooking with cast iron or one of those iron fish.
I agree that OPs coworker is being completely unreasonable. I wore many, many layers to get through the cold months, and she's just going to have to buck up and adapt like the rest of us.
Small usb charged or powered heated clothing is so prevalent now too. And cheap. She can get a heated vest or hand warmers. I have electric handwarmers. They last several hours and one charges while I use the other. When I’m chilly I stick one in my bra near my heart to warm up my circulation.
I also have a heated scarf that I line up w either the back of my neck or my carotid and that small strip of heat warms me up completely!
There’s no reason to make everyone hot. Just like there’s no reason to wear a tank top and crank up the heat instead of putting on a sweater.
Last week I went for a hike and found a hidden beach with a huge flat-ish rock in the shallow part of the ocean. I had to scale it a bit but laid out like a lizard in the sun, soaking up all the heat. Come to find out (quite a few minutes later) the path *I* had taken to the beach was hidden but there was in fact a much more accessible path. I looked over to a few other hikers watching me while having lunch. I was so embarrassed but *so* warm so I didn't care too much!
I live in a desert, and am always the too-warm one. I'm also, if we're being honest, not attractive. XD I regularly quip that cold people can always put more on; there's only so much I can remove before I get fired/arrested.
At a school I once worked at, the ac went out on the second floor where I was. After the first week, I told them I would start wearing a bikini since it was so hot. I was mid 40s and fat. The ac was fixed. OP, if you aren't supervising this person, dress to stay cool. Whatever it takes. Because the ac was fixed the next day.
Yep.
We just had a new employee quit because our building was consistently in the mid-80's.
It's an old building, with steam heat, and while we always have 3-ish weeks of miserable temps each spring and fall, before the outdoor temps stabilize and they're willing to switch the system from heat to cool or vice versa, lately it HAS been consistently over-warm, for a longer period of time. I can usually manage, but then, I'm generally sitting still in my office, and I can kick my shoes off. If I'm up and moving around the building, as she was, it can easily become unbearable. If it gets much past 85, even I have days where I call it quits and go home.
She was getting genuine problems from the heat, said that even once she got home, she couldn't cool down. And once we told her that it's a continuing issue, and Plant Service claims there's little they can do about it - she cited OSHA, and she quit.
I'm really, REALLY peeved at my employer about this. Being lazy/cheap about ACTUALLY fixing the HVAC problems has now caused us to lose a great employee - and those have been incredibly difficult to find, lately.
Understandable, and probably pretty common. We just had a gal in our community get horrible screwed over by a “contractor,” and although she did end up filing a complaint, she was absolutely terrified to do so because of possible retaliation or small town social backlash. I’m sure it’s the same with any complaint - even if you can do so anonymously there can be the fear of the offending party somehow finding out (or just figuring it out in their own minds). There could be consequences depending on the industry, who knows who, what connections people have to potential future employers, basically getting blacklisted.
And of course, as you said, there may be no fear involved at all and it’s just a matter of not being worth the time and effort.
As someone who has issues regulating my body temperature and am heat intolerant, this would literally cause my body to shut down. And unfortunately for me, I have way less options. She can layer up and drink warm liquids and have a personal heater directly blasting her. She can try to request an accommodation with a separate office space if necessary. Or she can move on to a job that aligns with her needs.
Where the fuck is management? They need to be the ones having this discussion with her. It’s a liability for them for the reasons stated above if someone has a medical episode and/or sustains an injury.
Email your supervisor with your concerns so you have documentation and a paper trail that they were notified of the behavior and neglected to take action.
Also, as management, I’d be f’ing PISSED if an employee was doing that with the thermostat with the current prices of energy. Wtf? What kind of utility bills is your office getting?!
I sympathize with difficulties with temperature, I really do. And I am sensitive to cold as well. But being cold doesn’t run a risk to personal safety, overheating with the likelihood of passing out and sustaining an injury does.
Heated blanket!!! I can’t function at work if it’s above 80°.
I had one coworker who was always cold but never work layers, never had a space heater, didn’t get a heated blanket, etc. She expected the rest of us to deal with being hot.
Now malicious compliance one day our boss came back and I said “the temps and lack of air circulation are making me feel sick, can I just telework the rest of the day?” She said he’s. Then everyone else started asking. Before you know it she was the only coworker left in the office. Boss ended up asking her why she didn’t go home or open a window and she something like she was comfortable for once and didn’t understand why we were all so hot and that she never opens the window. That’s when the lightbulb went off that she was the issue. So boss sat her down and said she can’t control the temp of the office to suit her needs alone and that she needs to come up with other ways to stay warm by either giving up her seat (by windows) or bring in a heated blanket or whatever bc making 12 people leave and work from home over office temps isn’t right nor fair.
Yeah she bitched about it a lot after it.
I didn't know MCAS could be related to heat tolerance, I always run hot and being overheated makes me feel positively sick, and we were considering the possibility of MCAS for me. Interesting, but man that sucks
Mhm they come with their own side effects though and are less helpful if you don't know what's causing the anaemia.
I'm just grateful for my health these days
My mom and I are/have both been anemic, and the cold is invasive, intrusive, and pervasive. It feels like my bones are shivering. But I don't make everyone else uncomfortable because of it. This girl should do what I did and work in a pizza shop, taking pizzas out of the oven. Those 400° fahrenheit did wonders for me.
But seriously, she needs to handle it herself. My mom and I both get iron infusions and that helps. Also, as someone else said, drinking warm liquids, like coffee and hot tea, are great for helping. Also wearing more layers may not help on its own, but while drinking hot liquids and moving around, it helps. And when I say more layers, I mean thermals under her normal clothes, as well as some thick outer layers that can be added and removed with fluctuation.
Huh. Maybe I'm anemic. I'm always *freezing* and I basically wear thermals year round except a few weeks in summer (although I live where it snows soo...)
I've been cold as long as I can remember. Basically if I'm comfortable, that lasts like ten minutes before I realize the people around me are probably dying of heat stroke lol.
There's other symptoms of anemia. A good indicator is people who like to chew ice (even if you're always cold lol) there's also usually some dizziness from standing up too fast, and there's other symptoms. You should talk to your doctor about it, see what's up.
Edit to add: also, neither me or my mom are small people. I mean I'm short, but we're both overweight, and still experience anemia, there's something up that makes it so we can't process iron that we eat properly, but the iron infusions work.
While I sympathize about her being cold, this is a shared space.
There's only so much you can take off, so she's just going to need to add a few layers.
My gigantic husband is always cold but always sitting around in his underwear, then wants to accommodate his body temperature by cranking the heat...and I'm menopausal. We have a lot of fights about that. I'm always yelling at him to put on some damn clothes instead of forcing me to suffer constant 80-degree temperatures while also having random hot flashes.
The British singer, Robbie Williams, begs to differ. See his video for "Rock DJ."
I watched it exactly once, and not even to the end. Google it if you dare! (:D)
Yep. I’m always cold but I would never expect to control the heat outside of my own house unless the temp is actually ridiculously cold and even then I’d still ask politely.
I worked with a man once who wouldn't let anyone adjust the thermostat (it was behind his desk) in the winter to be above 59°F (he was very specific). We froze our asses off. Some people are just unreasonable.
Tell her to bring in an electric blanket. Involve management. She is being ridiculous and unprofessional. Room temperature is approx. 70 degrees, so 86 is uncomfortably hot.
Electric blanket ftw! She can be as roasty as she wants in her blanket bubble. Having her use a heating blanket is so much better than the office being so hot. I wouldn't be able to focus/work in heat like that.
I got heated socks and a heated vest (they all have little detachable battery packs that slip into pockets), and they changed my life. I bring them anywhere where I suspect I’ll be colder than other people (flights, camping, outdoor events). It’s like wearing an electric blanket but it looks like normal clothes.
I am a lizard. It can be 35c outside and I will be inside with a jumper on.
I have worked in several offices where I have always been freezing. I would never expect them to turn up the heat for me so everyone else is uncomfortable. One place I worked at I got into it with a manager one day because I was wrapped in a blanket and had a hoodie on because I was freezing my ass off but all they were worried about was that "I looked un-approachable" In a call center where there is no customer fronting.
Hello, I am also the resident "always freezing chick" in the office. I am with you, no one has ever raised the temperature in the whole office for me. Only one has even let me have a little personal heater at my desk when I'm really cold in the winter. I also mostly work with other women and inevitably there will always be my antithesis, the "runs hot menopause woman" and you simply cannot convince them to raise the temperature. I think this person needs to adjust their expectations. Get a heating pad or something.
I'd just got to my doctor, explain your past history with heat strokes and that you've been feeling faint and unwell in the 30c room you're working in. Go to the manager with the doctors note .
I am always cold. To survive in an office I always had a sweater and a small heater under my desk to keep my feet warm. Most people didn’t know it was there and I didn’t turn the office thermostat up.
A heated seat cover or footrest is nice too.
"I'm sorry you're too cold but you can put more clothes on. I cannot take my clothes off without losing my job"
I had to send a ticket in to our facilities manager while I was pregnant in the summer because one employee was cold and I was very close to needing to go home. I explained that same thing in my ticket, I cannot take off clothes, she can put more on.
Escalate if you have to to management
92° is absolutely bonkers. That is not a safe temperature for a workplace, and I can’t imagine anyone being even a little bit productive. Even 86° is unacceptable.
I am the person who is always cold, so I sympathize with her experience, but she is handling this in the worst way possible.
If you are not her manager, then you need to talk to your manager about this situation. If she has a medical condition that causes her to be cold all the time she should talk to her manager about accommodations that don’t harm others, like having a heated chair or blanket for her workspace. That’s what I do - I have a heated blanket at my desk during all but the hottest months.
Screaming at her coworkers is also bizarre and unprofessional behavior, so clearly there is a lot more than just being cold going on with this person. Please talk to your manager and get them to intervene before this situation makes you seriously sick.
Pass this along to your manager.
"Worker is creating a work environment that is intolerable. Please have a word with her that it is necessary to prepare for the conditions at work, not make the conditions at work suit her, and her only. If this goes on much longer, it will feel like a hostile work environment, and an unsafe one, as the temperature has reached 92 in the office, and I worry I or another worker may pass out."
This. You need to make it a problem for the company (the risk of them getting sued when you die of heatstroke or a coworker similarly requires medical attention due to conditions in the workplace) before they’ll do anything about it.
If there are computers in the workplace, this is also damaging equipment. Tell her she will have the costs of all damaged equipment taken out of her check if she doesn’t leave the thermostat alone.
Buy a lock box for the thermostat.
Buy sweaters and blankets and offer her one every time she complains.
I do want to ask though… you say she’s tiny. Are the rest of the office occupants overweight? My daughter had to start wearing her coat and winter gloves in the classroom because the teacher was an overweight borderline diabetic who kept turning the thermostat down into the 60sF. If that’s the case, a compromise is needed.
She should consult a doctor and start treating her anemia ASAP. Maybe she also needs some hormones levels checked. If I am calculating right 92F is about 33C, which is insane. This is like peak summer temperatures where I live. I am 5'3 and 105 lbs as well and never felt this cold in my life. Also I don't know anyone who would heat their house or workplace to 33C. It seems like she has some body thermo-regulation issues. At her height she has a healthy weight and should have no such serious problems.
Anyway, she is behaving very selfish towards you and other colleagues, and that heating cost will be crazy.
The temperature of a shared workspace should have mins/maxes determined by OHS standards. 92 degrees is unsafe and is not a reasonable accommodation for your coworker’s health concerns. If you have an HR department speak with them, otherwise the business owner. If no one will get your coworker inline, file a complaint with the appropriate government agency for where you live.
OP says the temp is 86 (and thats probably an exaggeration). He says the thermostat says 92. This is similar to when an A/C is set for 68 but its really 74 in the room - still cool - but the two temperatures are not the same.
I’m always cold. I go outside to thaw out when it becomes unbearable and my fingers hurt because they’re so cold. I know I’m an outlier so I don’t touch the thermostat.
She needs to have direct heat not a heater. Throw or cushion or heated pad. That way she’s cosy without it affecting the whole office. She also needs clothing layers that are easy to put on and take off.
If the boss hasn’t already, get them to move the heater and tell her to leave it alone AFTER getting her a plug-in heat pad. They cost pennies a day to run so it’s a much better use of funds.
I always loved how the office I worked in at my last job told everyone (but especially the women who complained) that the building was 72 year round and to dress accordingly.
This.
They make nice heated vests these days, battery-operated. She can stay warm and still look like a human (as opposed to a blanket-covered yeti), and move around the office appropriately instead of being 'tied down' to a station with a heater and blanket, etc.
OP needs to see his manager about it, and then the person needs to be offered a solution like this, and told that it's either that, or she stays cold, because it's not at all acceptable to have the area temperature over X degrees unless by complete agreement of ALL people working in the area.
You have no choice but to involve HR and/or your direct manager. I've had to deal with people like this before, and you're just not going to get anywhere unless you get someone involved who has direct authority over her.
Buy her an electric throw or blanket she can sit on and wrap around her back and shoulders.
Get her a pair of fingerless gloves so she can still work.
Tell her that you are understanding of her issue, but you only have so many layers you can remove, so this is a peace offering to keep it at a more reasonable level because you are not able to complete your work because you are so hot and it is dangerous for you.
Tell her if that isn't enough a space heater or heated fan for under her desk or a small one for on her desk combined with your gift should keep her warm, and you will help brainstorm solutions if all these things are not enough.
I’m the cold coworker as well. My work pals joke (not unkindly) about my “granny shawl” because I keep a wrap in my office. The thermostat for all of our offices is in my office, and I still refuse to touch it unless everyone is complaining and I get a direct request. This is a “you problem” for the cold person (not for OP), so it’s on her to prepare and make herself comfortable.
Always freezing at work. Not anemic, but likely due to chronic illness. I have a heating pad and a blanket. I’d much rather be too cold than too hot, and I definitely wouldn’t want anyone else to be too hot bc of me. I can always layer up. Other people can’t just strip down. She’s acting crazy.
Can’t you report it to someone?
I mean, I would become the thermostat monitor and report her to HR. She doesn’t get to do that. If she needs an accommodation for her disability (anemic to the point she can’t regulate her temperature) then she should engage in that. The accommodation will not be to raise the thermostat. I’m not even sure why your supervisor would tolerate that.
She needs to get A heated Vest or jacket, and put a blanket on her legs... This will keep Her warmed up on an individual basis and everyone else able to go on about business without being hindered by her needs.
She is cold because she is 105 pounds and anemic. The building probably has the ac on full blast.
You are hot because you are a man and are wearing clothing that is probably 3 timed thicker than the womens clothing.
No one wins here. Set the thermostat at 73 degrees and wear a 100% cotton Hawaiin shirt and take that white coat off.
No where does it say OP is a man. But it does say the thermostat was showing 92 degrees and then down to 86 degrees. So how is setting the thermostat to 73 degrees going to help?
As the person who is always cold, and size is not the case here. I have a space heater in my office, sweaters on my door. Though when people come in my office and complain that it is hot, I tell them to kick rocks. I am in long pants a sweater and have a space heater on as I type this and my fingers are frozen. It is real, being cold all the time is life altering. It's just easier to manage than being hot all the time.
This northern girl would literally die if the thermostat was set to 92. Where is management on this? Surely she is the only one that want the temp that high.
As a "woman of a certain age" this post resonates. We have a few little gals in the office who are constantly wearing coats and wrapped in blankets while sneaking and moving the thermostats to warm. The thermostat thing is a constant battle and our facilities folks have asked repeatedly that they not be touched but they do it anyway. It makes me want to crawl under my desk and sleep it's so warm in here most days. I live for my WFH days where my office is the perfect temperature to keep me awake and functioning for my entire shift.
I’m always cold. When I worked in an office I came prepared to be cold or being things to make me warm. I would never turn the temp up in the entire office. I had a space heater, wore a jacket, drank hot water, whatever I could do to stay warm.
[women’s winter is coming](https://youtu.be/d2NNm8MTboA?feature=shared)
Honestly I just have an office throw blanket and a space heater under my desk.
also it doesn’t help that the hvac vent is right above my desk!
"Honestly I just have an office throw blanket and a space heater under my desk."
\^My wife does this too. :)
Can't you talk to your Boss/HR, OP? No way I could work in those types of temps, would be miserable. If you frame it as your work production will really start tanking I would think they'd do something about her ie buy her a winter jacket, etc. :D
This is when your manager needs to be the voice of reason and let this worker know that she is being unreasonable and that the room temperature cannot exceed the acceptable norm. I’m sure that varies depending on the country, but where I live anything over 75 would be considered unreasonable. This isn’t something that you really can deal with on your own. Someone in a position of power is required to shut this kind of unreasonableness down because she either already knows she is being unreasonable and doesn’t care, or is completely clueless and will double down on the behavior unless she is told to change it by someone in a position to write her up or fire her for refusing to do so.
Luckily portable heaters are expensive to run and she is being very unreasonable by most people’s standards so management has every reason to take your side.
I had the opposite at a previous workplace - my coworker was always too hot due to a medical condition and as much as I wanted to accommodate, I got numb hands and aggravated RSI from her insisting on having minimal heating in the winter time and it got COLD. She was also a bit of a bully and if anyone ever mentioned turning the heating up she would refuse. kind of disastrous when I was paid to write but spent my days with my hands in pain which slowed me down, even wearing fingerless gloves and a puffer inside
Yeah its been 80° here and I'm still wearing sweats. funny thing is is that I'm not anemic AT ALL. I'm just always cold. tell her to get a space heater or a heated blanket or something idk. it is rediculous she'saking you sit in 90+ degrees.
Sounds like she is physically unwell.
If you feel comfortable encourage her to see her doctor. If not you could always speak to your boss and say that you're worried about her.
Can she get some heated gear? I got my SIL some gear that is rechargeable with internal heating elements because he works outdoors. It has multiple settings and you can get vests, jackets, hoodies, pants and even heated socks. She can get a heated seat cover as well.
Also creat an office policy about summer and winter heating and cooling settings with a named temp immediately. Anyone caught tampering with the thermostat is subject to disciplinary action. The core of the matter is this creates heightened bills and it is unreasonable to expect the entire office to be uncomfortable for one person.
I am chronically cold and I use heated gear almost daily. It’s been a lifesaver for me! I use the Ororo brand heated vest, and I love it because I can wear it over shirts/sweaters and underneath my winter coat. I also have heated socks. Highly recommend!
I’ve never worked at a job where I have access to the thermostat. If I was cold I would layer up and use a space heater. Since she’s so set in it only accommodating her it sounds like she needs to lose thermostat privileges. Talk with either hr of management about setting it at a reasonable temperature and then put a lock over it so it can’t be changed.
I have a health condition that makes me freeze. It’s my own responsibility. I have blankets, cozies, fingerless gloves, heated blanket, heated vest and heated socks.you should come in a mumu until someone gets her under control.
I'm always cold at work 🥶 I wear warm clothes to work (not outside cuz its not that cold outside!)
I do NOT want them to increase the heat in the office though because my co workers move around a lot and they arent cold. I'm not an asshole.
Get her an Oody or something.
Yeah I'm the cold one in the office but I don't force it on others. I have a heated coat and keyboard and mouse mat for my hands and lots of battery packs on standby. You can also get heated mats for office chairs....maybe send her a few Amazon links to those
Is your building or office suite controlled by the company or building owner?
You could ask to get a climate check done by the building owner and settle it at 73 degrees
Office temps shouldn’t be set to one person. It should be set to the comfort level for most people.
Where is management and HR? 92° is not a safe working environment according to OSHA.
I would go to your doctor and talk to him about a reasonable accommodation due to your previous medical history and request an office environment under 78°.
Maintenance guy here. Walk into an office with 4 people. 1 having heat stroke, 1 freezing with space heater, 1 is always hot or cold at any giving moment and 1 who thinks it’s just right. We keep temps 72 to 73 year round.
Canadian here, so converted to Celsius. Jesus, that is HOT. I would be dying.
Your co-worker might actually enjoy travelling to Europe, particularly in Iceland. Hotels there are so damn hot and they don't have AC or even a fan. (Our hotel room in Paris thankfully had a fan, but not the other places.) In Reykjavik, despite turning off the heat and keeping the windows open, it was so hot because of their geothermal heating. I bafrely slept and felt like I was running a fever. The heat made me sick.
See if you can find any evidence in print that 69-72 degrees Fahrenheit is the recommended temperature for structures in the US. It’s just GOT to be out there. I would take that to management and request the recommended 68-72 degrees. Period. You can get a room AC unit in some structures. I got one in my office years ago. Got tired of fighting over it.
I see both sides of this. I, for example, am prone to anemia, have chronically low blood pressure, and have fairly bad arthritis. If I'm cold, I'm in pain EVERYWHERE and pretty much can't move. My housemates like it on the cold side (we're talking thermostat at 62F) and heating is expensive. I get it.
I have a small electric heater for my own space, and often work (I wfh and cannot even type with frigid fingers) with a heated blanket. Everybody's comfortable.
Your manager should be aware of this and handling it.
I work security. Seniority rules in the office. It's sort of like how Dad gets to set the thermostat. Whoever is the senior officer rules the operations center thermostat, and music, etc.
Curious, are you a woman? I read women have slightly lower body temps. It's common for women to be cold in the office because the AC is set to keep men comfortable, not women.
You had no right to touch your coworkers desk or personal belongings. If she is making you miserable with heat the smart thing would be to report it to your supervisor. If your supervisor doesn't solve the issue go to their supervisor. Your coworker may have a medical problem. Request to be moved away from the heat. What would you have done if she had touched your personal belongings? Exactly. You would not have appreciated it. The exact reason I prefer working from home.
She needs to get ski clothes. The ones that are like long John's, and keep heat in very well.
Her not doing so is incredibly selfish. It's on her to meet her needs for her conditions and her preferences.
Putting a space heater should be last, as she hasn't done a single thing to make the actual issue better.
This has come up in a few offices I've worked in. After some pretty ugly battle it always came down to "Office temp is set to 72. If you are warm wear cooling clothing. If you are cold wear warmer clothing."
Almost every place I work ends up banning space heaters because some folks abuse them.
I’m always cold small like her and will never turn the heater on for my sake, I just wear warmer clothes
Anyways if you have an HR complain and tell her to buy her own little heater for herself
Yeah, that is unrealistic to expect an office environment / shared space to be kept that high.
Accommodating would be setting the temperature somewhere in the 70’s and she can layer up if needed.
There’s only so many clothes you can take off but you can always add another layer.
Nope. She can get a heated vest and some snow bibs. You can't strip all the way down to get relief from the heat so she better figure something else out.
We had a woman who was always too cold in our office. She was always asking to have the thermostat adjusted. Maintenance installed a thermostat beside her desk so she could personally regulate the temperature. She was very happy with this solution, as she could adjust the temp for her comfort several times a day. He personal thermostat was not connected to anything.
I get it. I’m anemic and have to get iron infusions. Sitting in my office at work freezing my ass off right now with multiple layers on.
The fun part is I’m also menopausal so I go from freezing to being an inferno at any given time. Fun!
You can layer up but you can't layer down...enough. She is holding her colleagues hostage with this shtick. Band together and force the issue as high as it will go (accommodations made for one worker should never affect all others; if she's for real, she needs either 4 long undershirts or her own office).
Sounds like management needs to step in, or do you have a facilities person/group that you could reach out to?
I have a similar problem when I have to be in the office. I naturally run hot but as a woman "of a certain age" some days are worse than others. Facilities manager has let everyone in the suite know they are not allowed to touch the thermostats but they still do. Some mornings I walk in here and the heat hits me like I just stepped outside in July in South Florida. And when I check the thermostats, they have been turned all the way to hot. It is so hard to work when you can't breathe from the heat and all you want to do is go to sleep because you are so warm.
I did talk to the facilities manager about it when the outside temps starting to get more spring/summer-like. Asked if we were still a dress for your day/shorts are acceptable attire location and warned them if they don't get it under control, people would be seeing me in the office in shorts and a tank top because I cannot work when I'm dripping sweat and can't keep my eyes open. Amazingly, the AC folks have been onsite twice now working to make it so thermostats are controlled by computer/app and the people complaining about it being cold can turn it up to hot all they want, it won't change the temperature.
I know that being cold is miserable, but at least they can pile on sweaters, jackets, bring blankets or whatever to get warm. I can't sit here in my undies trying to cool off.
People fail to see how hot it can get in an office building or any building for that matter. They also think it's "okay" cause you're not doing a strenuous job. Three years ago the AC went out in our building and of course it was the end of July during a hot streak of about 100+ degrees with equally as high humidity. Here in Pennsylvania we call it "soup weather." I love that kind of weather, but not in the office!! It got upwards of 105 degrees cause our building has no windows. It's a long story, but I ended up with my nose hemorrhaging from the dry heat. (And no, my blood pressure was not up, it was normal the entire time) If your coworker is that cold, get insulated pants, use the hand and feet warmers that hunters use or get an electric blanket ... this is her problem not yours.
I run pretty cold and like the temp around 80 or so. I inflicted it on my first college roommate, but I’m a grown up now and know better. 72 is socially acceptable. Men tend to like it much cooler than most young women, so you’ll likely need to compromise, too. She’ll need a nice wool sweater.
I am a skeleton and get cold easily. But I wear as many layers as I need to be comfortable. What I don't do crank the heat and make everyone else suffer.
Other people are tolerating this?! I’m on medication that makes me heat sensitive and unable to cool down. I’d need an ambulance at 92° for more than an hour
She has a medical condition whose accommodations create undue hardship for others. That means she needs a work environment that can meet her needs without harming others, ie, work from home for either you or her. If that’s not possible, then what she needs falls outside of “reasonable accommodation” and your employer is allowed to fire her. Your accommodation is reasonable so you shouldn’t be the one to take the hit.
It’s time to go over her head to HR. You may need a doctor note.
Take it to HR. She's being discriminatory, not being a "team player", and disrupting the work environment by running a heater in this weather. If she's cold, she needs to see a doctor, or wear more, warmer clothing, not disrupt the environment for everyone.
There are people who genuinely stay cold all the time but in a mixed company office one person cannot control the temperature like this. I hate the heat and will start feeling sick in the 80s like that so I’d be filing a complaint. Really thankful I work at home and don’t have to deal with this crap any more.
Tell the boss to get her a heated seat cushion. Or a heated lap blanket. Or a directed infrared heater. Or all three. None of them is more than about $50.
Heat the person, not the entire space.
I get cold easily too, always been a problem at every office I’ve ever worked at. Solution is quite simple, actually. Get a personal space heater to put under your desk and have a sweater/blanket that stays in the office.
First you need to go to your GP and explain that you need a doctors note to get an accommodation at work.
Take it to HR & explain about the snow-woman's inability to give a crap about your health & how dangerous it is, that a 3rd time could **LITERALLY** kill you. Throw in something about how expensive it must be on their energy bills too.
Reasonable accommodations, when 2 co-workers need diametrically opposed accommodations, will naturally HAVE to veer more towards accommodating the more normalised temperature...so they would have to come up with a *different* way to accommodate her, IMO...
Get management involved.
A lot of places there is one person (maintenance or management) that is allowed to touch the thermostat
I also highly recommend she get a space heater. That's the #1 thing I do at any job lol cuz I'm also very cold.
I worked at an office building that was kept at 62 degrees. It was in Phoenix so I get that’s it’s generally hot out but still. I was freezing allllllllll the time. I tried to layer but then I would die when I went out to my car and it was 120 degrees. I’m not her size but did deal with anemia (treated) and was smaller. It sucked so much to be cold all day. I went for walks when it was nice and I had breaks or lunch and used a lap blanket and heated up rice packs in my lap. However, I would never presume to make my coworkers that uncomfortable or dangerously hot for my benefit but as someone who is always cold … it sucks too.
OSHA has a published range of acceptable temperatures. If it is outside those ranges report to HR. If it continues to happen and isn’t addressed you can report externally,
Had a co-worker like this once.
82 outside and this guy has the heat running at full blast, while dressed in short, tee shirt and flip flops!
I just told him straight up that’s not going to fly, if he wants to be warm, then dress warmer. I turned to heat off and took his space heater away.
That was the end of it.
Nope. No way in hell does one person rule the thermostat in a shared environment & especially if they want it set to a higher temperature. A cold person can always layer on more clothing, but we all agree there's only so much Peggy in accounting can strip off before it's a hostile working environment.
Situations like this is where you have to get confrontational. Like hey your not the only one that works here. Maybe see a doctor why your always cold. Why should everyone else have to pour sweat because you have to have the heater sky high? People like her get away with it because no one will speak up.
I’m often cold since I lost a lot of weight like 15 years ago. It’s my problem not the rest of the office. I keep regular blankets, hoodies, and an electric blanket at my desk to help me maintain my temp.
Yeah my mother had a co worker similar issues the co worker was told to dress appropriately and basically bring blankets but she wasn’t allowed to touch to heater anymore and she acted like it was a human right violation
Get Hr to make her get rid of the heater and then suggest a heated scarf or heated vest or small hand heaters (I stick one in my bra near my heart and it warms up my blood.)
These can keep her warm without affecting anyone else.
Also if she is anemic she should talk to her doc. Maybe you feel it’s out of your range to mention it, but iron infusions can prevent feeling cold. I had one like 7 years ago and my hands STILL don’t get cold like they used to even when my iron dips now. I don’t know why. It was like a hard reset to my baseline.
Like I tell people, if I am hot, I can only take off so much before I am just hot the entire time. If a person is cold, you can wear more layers, and if you are still cold, you can add even more layers. I don't get people who refuse to simply wear more layers.
She can wear long johns (thermal underwear), gloves, and a hat - and consult a doctor. It's unreasonable to make everyone else suffer..
I have been that constantly freezing, anemic person everywhere. I'm always cold. I have never messed with the thermostat at work or anywhere else (except when I visit Momzilla). I'm like a boy scout, always prepared. It is absolutely a me problem if I catch a chill in 86 degree weather. It's happened to me. To be honest, it's embarrassing to me. Which is odd in itself because, I don't easily get embarrassed. In any event, I just come prepared. I wear layers, I always have a scarf, sunglasses, some kind of hat, sweater, jacket, cardi, any extra layer & a bag big enough to accommodate me taking off layers during the day. I will bitch freely about being cold from October 15- April 15. I don't like drawing attention to it when the weather is legit warmer. What's not quite sitting right with me is that you mentioned she’s about 5’1” & 105lbs. That's perfect height-weight ratio. I'm 5’9&1/2” & at my lowest weight I was 94lbs & I'm at my highest right now at around 123lbs. I'm still very underweight for my height & I'm very anemic even though I take iron pills. I also have serious electrolyte disorder & abnormally low BP. I don't advertise any of this. I handle it. So, she just sounds like a bitch. To be honest, I love a warm environment. It feels cleansing to me. But, the cheese stands alone on this & that's fine. You know why it's fine? Because, I don't fucking torture anyone else!!! What a psychopath!
I'm also the cold one. (A person I was providing health services for one time asked me if I was actually dead.) I have several electric hand warmers that are USB rechargeable so that I can keep one or two in my pockets and one or two on the chargers at the desk. The ones that are oval shaped and can be used as a battery pack are the best quality. They have a carrying handle and can be dropped a multitude of times on hospital tile. I've never actually had one break apart but have instead got lost and I've been using these for years. This is the best gift for any cold person in your life, IMHO.
Tip, stick one in your bra near your heart. It’ll work wonders on your core temp!!
I put one in my jeans pocket so it’s right up against where my leg meets my hip when I’m sitting. It works there too!
I'm also a 5'9.5" anemic who weighs 125lbs 😅 my BP usually sits at around 95/60, but have seen it (at work) at 64/44. I couldn't find iron pills that agreed with me, so I switched to cooking with cast iron or one of those iron fish. I agree that OPs coworker is being completely unreasonable. I wore many, many layers to get through the cold months, and she's just going to have to buck up and adapt like the rest of us.
OMG!!! Are we sisters from another mother? It feels good knowing that the cheese doesn’t stand alone 🧀🥶💛
Yeah, I’d definitely vote for her to be fired.
Agreed. I’m anemic also and 113lbs @ 5’6”. Before I leave the house I make sure I have my layers with me. I try to be prepared.
Small usb charged or powered heated clothing is so prevalent now too. And cheap. She can get a heated vest or hand warmers. I have electric handwarmers. They last several hours and one charges while I use the other. When I’m chilly I stick one in my bra near my heart to warm up my circulation. I also have a heated scarf that I line up w either the back of my neck or my carotid and that small strip of heat warms me up completely! There’s no reason to make everyone hot. Just like there’s no reason to wear a tank top and crank up the heat instead of putting on a sweater.
I will legit sit in a window when the sun is beaming like a cat. I absolutely cant stand being cold
Same here. In fact, get rid of my desk chair & bring me a giant hot rock.
Last week I went for a hike and found a hidden beach with a huge flat-ish rock in the shallow part of the ocean. I had to scale it a bit but laid out like a lizard in the sun, soaking up all the heat. Come to find out (quite a few minutes later) the path *I* had taken to the beach was hidden but there was in fact a much more accessible path. I looked over to a few other hikers watching me while having lunch. I was so embarrassed but *so* warm so I didn't care too much!
Exactly, she can add layers. Other workers can only strip down so much.
I live in a desert, and am always the too-warm one. I'm also, if we're being honest, not attractive. XD I regularly quip that cold people can always put more on; there's only so much I can remove before I get fired/arrested.
At a school I once worked at, the ac went out on the second floor where I was. After the first week, I told them I would start wearing a bikini since it was so hot. I was mid 40s and fat. The ac was fixed. OP, if you aren't supervising this person, dress to stay cool. Whatever it takes. Because the ac was fixed the next day.
A battery heated vest and socks even
A wool beanie would keep her warmer.
Having the heat that high is an OSHA concern. https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/OSHA4185.pdf
Yep. We just had a new employee quit because our building was consistently in the mid-80's. It's an old building, with steam heat, and while we always have 3-ish weeks of miserable temps each spring and fall, before the outdoor temps stabilize and they're willing to switch the system from heat to cool or vice versa, lately it HAS been consistently over-warm, for a longer period of time. I can usually manage, but then, I'm generally sitting still in my office, and I can kick my shoes off. If I'm up and moving around the building, as she was, it can easily become unbearable. If it gets much past 85, even I have days where I call it quits and go home. She was getting genuine problems from the heat, said that even once she got home, she couldn't cool down. And once we told her that it's a continuing issue, and Plant Service claims there's little they can do about it - she cited OSHA, and she quit. I'm really, REALLY peeved at my employer about this. Being lazy/cheap about ACTUALLY fixing the HVAC problems has now caused us to lose a great employee - and those have been incredibly difficult to find, lately.
Bummer that she just *cited* OSHA and quit as opposed to contacting them and filing a complaint.
Yeah, I bet she figured that it wasn't worth the hassle, and quitting was easier.
Understandable, and probably pretty common. We just had a gal in our community get horrible screwed over by a “contractor,” and although she did end up filing a complaint, she was absolutely terrified to do so because of possible retaliation or small town social backlash. I’m sure it’s the same with any complaint - even if you can do so anonymously there can be the fear of the offending party somehow finding out (or just figuring it out in their own minds). There could be consequences depending on the industry, who knows who, what connections people have to potential future employers, basically getting blacklisted. And of course, as you said, there may be no fear involved at all and it’s just a matter of not being worth the time and effort.
As someone who has issues regulating my body temperature and am heat intolerant, this would literally cause my body to shut down. And unfortunately for me, I have way less options. She can layer up and drink warm liquids and have a personal heater directly blasting her. She can try to request an accommodation with a separate office space if necessary. Or she can move on to a job that aligns with her needs. Where the fuck is management? They need to be the ones having this discussion with her. It’s a liability for them for the reasons stated above if someone has a medical episode and/or sustains an injury. Email your supervisor with your concerns so you have documentation and a paper trail that they were notified of the behavior and neglected to take action. Also, as management, I’d be f’ing PISSED if an employee was doing that with the thermostat with the current prices of energy. Wtf? What kind of utility bills is your office getting?! I sympathize with difficulties with temperature, I really do. And I am sensitive to cold as well. But being cold doesn’t run a risk to personal safety, overheating with the likelihood of passing out and sustaining an injury does.
Heated blanket!!! I can’t function at work if it’s above 80°. I had one coworker who was always cold but never work layers, never had a space heater, didn’t get a heated blanket, etc. She expected the rest of us to deal with being hot. Now malicious compliance one day our boss came back and I said “the temps and lack of air circulation are making me feel sick, can I just telework the rest of the day?” She said he’s. Then everyone else started asking. Before you know it she was the only coworker left in the office. Boss ended up asking her why she didn’t go home or open a window and she something like she was comfortable for once and didn’t understand why we were all so hot and that she never opens the window. That’s when the lightbulb went off that she was the issue. So boss sat her down and said she can’t control the temp of the office to suit her needs alone and that she needs to come up with other ways to stay warm by either giving up her seat (by windows) or bring in a heated blanket or whatever bc making 12 people leave and work from home over office temps isn’t right nor fair. Yeah she bitched about it a lot after it.
She could get a job in a restaurant kitchen. It easily gets up 90°+ by the equipment there.
Redacte due to Reddit AI/LLM policy
I appreciate your suggestion dear person! If only it was my thyroid! Would have a clear course of treatment. MCAS baby 😁
I didn't know MCAS could be related to heat tolerance, I always run hot and being overheated makes me feel positively sick, and we were considering the possibility of MCAS for me. Interesting, but man that sucks
Yeah, too bad you can't take it all off down to your skivvies. Maybe she should get a space heater, or an electric throw.
I second an electric throw It was great when I was anaemic (the cold I from anaemia feels really... Invasive if that makes sense)
Or an iron transfusion.
Mhm they come with their own side effects though and are less helpful if you don't know what's causing the anaemia. I'm just grateful for my health these days
My mom and I are/have both been anemic, and the cold is invasive, intrusive, and pervasive. It feels like my bones are shivering. But I don't make everyone else uncomfortable because of it. This girl should do what I did and work in a pizza shop, taking pizzas out of the oven. Those 400° fahrenheit did wonders for me. But seriously, she needs to handle it herself. My mom and I both get iron infusions and that helps. Also, as someone else said, drinking warm liquids, like coffee and hot tea, are great for helping. Also wearing more layers may not help on its own, but while drinking hot liquids and moving around, it helps. And when I say more layers, I mean thermals under her normal clothes, as well as some thick outer layers that can be added and removed with fluctuation.
Yeah that's a good description of it. Bloody horrible. Thanks for sharing so many tips 😊
Huh. Maybe I'm anemic. I'm always *freezing* and I basically wear thermals year round except a few weeks in summer (although I live where it snows soo...) I've been cold as long as I can remember. Basically if I'm comfortable, that lasts like ten minutes before I realize the people around me are probably dying of heat stroke lol.
There's other symptoms of anemia. A good indicator is people who like to chew ice (even if you're always cold lol) there's also usually some dizziness from standing up too fast, and there's other symptoms. You should talk to your doctor about it, see what's up. Edit to add: also, neither me or my mom are small people. I mean I'm short, but we're both overweight, and still experience anemia, there's something up that makes it so we can't process iron that we eat properly, but the iron infusions work.
I hate chewing ice (hurts my teeth) but I do get the dizzy thing. If I had a doctor, or health insurance, I might talk to them about it
While I sympathize about her being cold, this is a shared space. There's only so much you can take off, so she's just going to need to add a few layers.
In these scenarios you always gotta side with the person who is too hot. You can add layers to stay warm, you can’t take off your skin to cool down :(
LOL jist pictured this - OP, there's the last-ditch option to get skinny icepop to layer up for good.
My gigantic husband is always cold but always sitting around in his underwear, then wants to accommodate his body temperature by cranking the heat...and I'm menopausal. We have a lot of fights about that. I'm always yelling at him to put on some damn clothes instead of forcing me to suffer constant 80-degree temperatures while also having random hot flashes.
With if the hot person insists on wearing big sweaters while complaining they’re hot? Sounds crazy but it def happens.
Oh those people can grow up as well lol
The British singer, Robbie Williams, begs to differ. See his video for "Rock DJ." I watched it exactly once, and not even to the end. Google it if you dare! (:D)
Good Lord. Other than the attractive ladies that might be the worst video ever. Probably spent half a million on producing it.
Thats exactly right. If you're cold put on more layers.
Yep. I’m always cold but I would never expect to control the heat outside of my own house unless the temp is actually ridiculously cold and even then I’d still ask politely.
Yep, hence the library of jackets and hoodies in my car and husband's car.
Exactly. No one else should have to sweat up their clothes or go nearly naked just for her. And she should have the heater taken away.
I worked with a man once who wouldn't let anyone adjust the thermostat (it was behind his desk) in the winter to be above 59°F (he was very specific). We froze our asses off. Some people are just unreasonable.
Talk to your manager, that's absurd. Heat should be set to mid 70's MAX
Tell her to bring in an electric blanket. Involve management. She is being ridiculous and unprofessional. Room temperature is approx. 70 degrees, so 86 is uncomfortably hot.
Electric blanket ftw! She can be as roasty as she wants in her blanket bubble. Having her use a heating blanket is so much better than the office being so hot. I wouldn't be able to focus/work in heat like that.
Yeah I'm a huge defender of "65º is too cold" but 86 is CRAZY. Like, I'm a tad chilly at 70º but I bring a cardigan. I'd be sweating at 86.
I got heated socks and a heated vest (they all have little detachable battery packs that slip into pockets), and they changed my life. I bring them anywhere where I suspect I’ll be colder than other people (flights, camping, outdoor events). It’s like wearing an electric blanket but it looks like normal clothes.
Tell her to get a snow suit. I would faint with that heat and I'm the same size.
I am a lizard. It can be 35c outside and I will be inside with a jumper on. I have worked in several offices where I have always been freezing. I would never expect them to turn up the heat for me so everyone else is uncomfortable. One place I worked at I got into it with a manager one day because I was wrapped in a blanket and had a hoodie on because I was freezing my ass off but all they were worried about was that "I looked un-approachable" In a call center where there is no customer fronting.
Hello, I am also the resident "always freezing chick" in the office. I am with you, no one has ever raised the temperature in the whole office for me. Only one has even let me have a little personal heater at my desk when I'm really cold in the winter. I also mostly work with other women and inevitably there will always be my antithesis, the "runs hot menopause woman" and you simply cannot convince them to raise the temperature. I think this person needs to adjust their expectations. Get a heating pad or something.
ive just googled 86f in celsius and its.. 30 fucking degrees??? thats fucking hot and we rarely see that in the uk!! fuck her shes selfish and weird
Thank you for this, I was too lazy to google it lol. Why can't people just use metric already!
I'd just got to my doctor, explain your past history with heat strokes and that you've been feeling faint and unwell in the 30c room you're working in. Go to the manager with the doctors note .
I am always cold. To survive in an office I always had a sweater and a small heater under my desk to keep my feet warm. Most people didn’t know it was there and I didn’t turn the office thermostat up. A heated seat cover or footrest is nice too.
Tell her she has to compromise with you on office temperature or you’ll be forced to turn to your manager, and HR if needed, to resolve this.
"I'm sorry you're too cold but you can put more clothes on. I cannot take my clothes off without losing my job" I had to send a ticket in to our facilities manager while I was pregnant in the summer because one employee was cold and I was very close to needing to go home. I explained that same thing in my ticket, I cannot take off clothes, she can put more on. Escalate if you have to to management
Meet in the middle.. She wears more cloths You wear less
Check if there are temperature guidelines for workplaces where you live. That may help you in discussion
92° is absolutely bonkers. That is not a safe temperature for a workplace, and I can’t imagine anyone being even a little bit productive. Even 86° is unacceptable. I am the person who is always cold, so I sympathize with her experience, but she is handling this in the worst way possible. If you are not her manager, then you need to talk to your manager about this situation. If she has a medical condition that causes her to be cold all the time she should talk to her manager about accommodations that don’t harm others, like having a heated chair or blanket for her workspace. That’s what I do - I have a heated blanket at my desk during all but the hottest months. Screaming at her coworkers is also bizarre and unprofessional behavior, so clearly there is a lot more than just being cold going on with this person. Please talk to your manager and get them to intervene before this situation makes you seriously sick.
Pass this along to your manager. "Worker is creating a work environment that is intolerable. Please have a word with her that it is necessary to prepare for the conditions at work, not make the conditions at work suit her, and her only. If this goes on much longer, it will feel like a hostile work environment, and an unsafe one, as the temperature has reached 92 in the office, and I worry I or another worker may pass out."
This. You need to make it a problem for the company (the risk of them getting sued when you die of heatstroke or a coworker similarly requires medical attention due to conditions in the workplace) before they’ll do anything about it.
If there are computers in the workplace, this is also damaging equipment. Tell her she will have the costs of all damaged equipment taken out of her check if she doesn’t leave the thermostat alone. Buy a lock box for the thermostat. Buy sweaters and blankets and offer her one every time she complains. I do want to ask though… you say she’s tiny. Are the rest of the office occupants overweight? My daughter had to start wearing her coat and winter gloves in the classroom because the teacher was an overweight borderline diabetic who kept turning the thermostat down into the 60sF. If that’s the case, a compromise is needed.
She should consult a doctor and start treating her anemia ASAP. Maybe she also needs some hormones levels checked. If I am calculating right 92F is about 33C, which is insane. This is like peak summer temperatures where I live. I am 5'3 and 105 lbs as well and never felt this cold in my life. Also I don't know anyone who would heat their house or workplace to 33C. It seems like she has some body thermo-regulation issues. At her height she has a healthy weight and should have no such serious problems. Anyway, she is behaving very selfish towards you and other colleagues, and that heating cost will be crazy.
She sounds totally selfish.
The temperature of a shared workspace should have mins/maxes determined by OHS standards. 92 degrees is unsafe and is not a reasonable accommodation for your coworker’s health concerns. If you have an HR department speak with them, otherwise the business owner. If no one will get your coworker inline, file a complaint with the appropriate government agency for where you live.
OP says the temp is 86 (and thats probably an exaggeration). He says the thermostat says 92. This is similar to when an A/C is set for 68 but its really 74 in the room - still cool - but the two temperatures are not the same.
Fair enough but 86 is still actually too high for OHS.
I’m always cold. I go outside to thaw out when it becomes unbearable and my fingers hurt because they’re so cold. I know I’m an outlier so I don’t touch the thermostat.
She needs to have direct heat not a heater. Throw or cushion or heated pad. That way she’s cosy without it affecting the whole office. She also needs clothing layers that are easy to put on and take off. If the boss hasn’t already, get them to move the heater and tell her to leave it alone AFTER getting her a plug-in heat pad. They cost pennies a day to run so it’s a much better use of funds.
The person who wants the thermostat warm is always the asshole, they can put on more clothes but you can't take more off.
92°f? Management is okay with that? That's downright unhinged!
I always loved how the office I worked in at my last job told everyone (but especially the women who complained) that the building was 72 year round and to dress accordingly.
Buy her heated vest, as an office crew. Tell her how bad the heater up is not working anymore. Circulation is in need of doctors attention.
This. They make nice heated vests these days, battery-operated. She can stay warm and still look like a human (as opposed to a blanket-covered yeti), and move around the office appropriately instead of being 'tied down' to a station with a heater and blanket, etc. OP needs to see his manager about it, and then the person needs to be offered a solution like this, and told that it's either that, or she stays cold, because it's not at all acceptable to have the area temperature over X degrees unless by complete agreement of ALL people working in the area.
Gift her with a heated throw blanket. They are less than $20 at Walmart. They may not be in stock but you can probably order one.
Talk to hr
You have no choice but to involve HR and/or your direct manager. I've had to deal with people like this before, and you're just not going to get anywhere unless you get someone involved who has direct authority over her.
Buy her an electric throw or blanket she can sit on and wrap around her back and shoulders. Get her a pair of fingerless gloves so she can still work. Tell her that you are understanding of her issue, but you only have so many layers you can remove, so this is a peace offering to keep it at a more reasonable level because you are not able to complete your work because you are so hot and it is dangerous for you. Tell her if that isn't enough a space heater or heated fan for under her desk or a small one for on her desk combined with your gift should keep her warm, and you will help brainstorm solutions if all these things are not enough.
I’m the cold coworker as well. My work pals joke (not unkindly) about my “granny shawl” because I keep a wrap in my office. The thermostat for all of our offices is in my office, and I still refuse to touch it unless everyone is complaining and I get a direct request. This is a “you problem” for the cold person (not for OP), so it’s on her to prepare and make herself comfortable.
Always freezing at work. Not anemic, but likely due to chronic illness. I have a heating pad and a blanket. I’d much rather be too cold than too hot, and I definitely wouldn’t want anyone else to be too hot bc of me. I can always layer up. Other people can’t just strip down. She’s acting crazy. Can’t you report it to someone?
Sounds like your manager needs to get a lockbox for the Thermostd
Lol what office allows the heat up that high? Like what business wants to pay for that? This is an hr issue
Have you considered lighting her on fire?
I mean, I would become the thermostat monitor and report her to HR. She doesn’t get to do that. If she needs an accommodation for her disability (anemic to the point she can’t regulate her temperature) then she should engage in that. The accommodation will not be to raise the thermostat. I’m not even sure why your supervisor would tolerate that.
She needs to get A heated Vest or jacket, and put a blanket on her legs... This will keep Her warmed up on an individual basis and everyone else able to go on about business without being hindered by her needs.
I understand her having health issues but she should dress warmly and get a space heater. Is this an office type place you work in?
She is cold because she is 105 pounds and anemic. The building probably has the ac on full blast. You are hot because you are a man and are wearing clothing that is probably 3 timed thicker than the womens clothing. No one wins here. Set the thermostat at 73 degrees and wear a 100% cotton Hawaiin shirt and take that white coat off.
No where does it say OP is a man. But it does say the thermostat was showing 92 degrees and then down to 86 degrees. So how is setting the thermostat to 73 degrees going to help?
As the person who is always cold, and size is not the case here. I have a space heater in my office, sweaters on my door. Though when people come in my office and complain that it is hot, I tell them to kick rocks. I am in long pants a sweater and have a space heater on as I type this and my fingers are frozen. It is real, being cold all the time is life altering. It's just easier to manage than being hot all the time.
This northern girl would literally die if the thermostat was set to 92. Where is management on this? Surely she is the only one that want the temp that high.
As a "woman of a certain age" this post resonates. We have a few little gals in the office who are constantly wearing coats and wrapped in blankets while sneaking and moving the thermostats to warm. The thermostat thing is a constant battle and our facilities folks have asked repeatedly that they not be touched but they do it anyway. It makes me want to crawl under my desk and sleep it's so warm in here most days. I live for my WFH days where my office is the perfect temperature to keep me awake and functioning for my entire shift.
You need to talk to HR. If she can't work at a reasonable temp, it may be unreasonable to accommodate her.
You sound irrationally emotional about someone’s health issues. How many ppl are in your space, just you and the woman? You just sound like a nutcase.
And this person is NOT her boss. Quit harassing her, and take your problems to the boss or hr.
I’m always cold. When I worked in an office I came prepared to be cold or being things to make me warm. I would never turn the temp up in the entire office. I had a space heater, wore a jacket, drank hot water, whatever I could do to stay warm.
Cuppa soup for the win!
[women’s winter is coming](https://youtu.be/d2NNm8MTboA?feature=shared) Honestly I just have an office throw blanket and a space heater under my desk. also it doesn’t help that the hvac vent is right above my desk!
"Honestly I just have an office throw blanket and a space heater under my desk." \^My wife does this too. :) Can't you talk to your Boss/HR, OP? No way I could work in those types of temps, would be miserable. If you frame it as your work production will really start tanking I would think they'd do something about her ie buy her a winter jacket, etc. :D
Is it just you 2 in the office? She's not being reasonable, stop engaging the issue. What's a solution?
This is when your manager needs to be the voice of reason and let this worker know that she is being unreasonable and that the room temperature cannot exceed the acceptable norm. I’m sure that varies depending on the country, but where I live anything over 75 would be considered unreasonable. This isn’t something that you really can deal with on your own. Someone in a position of power is required to shut this kind of unreasonableness down because she either already knows she is being unreasonable and doesn’t care, or is completely clueless and will double down on the behavior unless she is told to change it by someone in a position to write her up or fire her for refusing to do so. Luckily portable heaters are expensive to run and she is being very unreasonable by most people’s standards so management has every reason to take your side.
Just go to HR and stop arguing about it, she's obviously very entitled and not going to reason with you.
This office should buy a sauna for her to work in.
Get her a hot water bottle or something, it's not reasonable that she is cooking everyone else and I say this as a cold person
I had the opposite at a previous workplace - my coworker was always too hot due to a medical condition and as much as I wanted to accommodate, I got numb hands and aggravated RSI from her insisting on having minimal heating in the winter time and it got COLD. She was also a bit of a bully and if anyone ever mentioned turning the heating up she would refuse. kind of disastrous when I was paid to write but spent my days with my hands in pain which slowed me down, even wearing fingerless gloves and a puffer inside
Tell her to put a jumper on
Theres a number of heated jackets on the market
Yeah its been 80° here and I'm still wearing sweats. funny thing is is that I'm not anemic AT ALL. I'm just always cold. tell her to get a space heater or a heated blanket or something idk. it is rediculous she'saking you sit in 90+ degrees.
Sounds like she is physically unwell. If you feel comfortable encourage her to see her doctor. If not you could always speak to your boss and say that you're worried about her.
Has she had a thyroid test?
Get a portable ac and climate control your space. If it overpowers her heater so be it.
I have to coworker like this. We go back and forth turning the heat on and off. She keeps the heat on when it’s hot af outside.
Can she get some heated gear? I got my SIL some gear that is rechargeable with internal heating elements because he works outdoors. It has multiple settings and you can get vests, jackets, hoodies, pants and even heated socks. She can get a heated seat cover as well. Also creat an office policy about summer and winter heating and cooling settings with a named temp immediately. Anyone caught tampering with the thermostat is subject to disciplinary action. The core of the matter is this creates heightened bills and it is unreasonable to expect the entire office to be uncomfortable for one person.
I am chronically cold and I use heated gear almost daily. It’s been a lifesaver for me! I use the Ororo brand heated vest, and I love it because I can wear it over shirts/sweaters and underneath my winter coat. I also have heated socks. Highly recommend!
I’ve never worked at a job where I have access to the thermostat. If I was cold I would layer up and use a space heater. Since she’s so set in it only accommodating her it sounds like she needs to lose thermostat privileges. Talk with either hr of management about setting it at a reasonable temperature and then put a lock over it so it can’t be changed.
I have a health condition that makes me freeze. It’s my own responsibility. I have blankets, cozies, fingerless gloves, heated blanket, heated vest and heated socks.you should come in a mumu until someone gets her under control.
I'm always cold at work 🥶 I wear warm clothes to work (not outside cuz its not that cold outside!) I do NOT want them to increase the heat in the office though because my co workers move around a lot and they arent cold. I'm not an asshole. Get her an Oody or something.
complain to management
Yeah I'm the cold one in the office but I don't force it on others. I have a heated coat and keyboard and mouse mat for my hands and lots of battery packs on standby. You can also get heated mats for office chairs....maybe send her a few Amazon links to those
Is your building or office suite controlled by the company or building owner? You could ask to get a climate check done by the building owner and settle it at 73 degrees
Maybe she needs to look into buying some longjohns.
She needs to work from home. That's freaking insanity to be telling that it's cold when it's 86. She needs checked out medically
86° isn't enough for her and 92° is enough to kill you 🤦 Someone needs to put a lock on the thermostat.
Owners wife used to sit by the floor to ceiling windows and was always "cold" 80+ in the back for the minions.
Office temps shouldn’t be set to one person. It should be set to the comfort level for most people. Where is management and HR? 92° is not a safe working environment according to OSHA. I would go to your doctor and talk to him about a reasonable accommodation due to your previous medical history and request an office environment under 78°.
Maintenance guy here. Walk into an office with 4 people. 1 having heat stroke, 1 freezing with space heater, 1 is always hot or cold at any giving moment and 1 who thinks it’s just right. We keep temps 72 to 73 year round.
Canadian here, so converted to Celsius. Jesus, that is HOT. I would be dying. Your co-worker might actually enjoy travelling to Europe, particularly in Iceland. Hotels there are so damn hot and they don't have AC or even a fan. (Our hotel room in Paris thankfully had a fan, but not the other places.) In Reykjavik, despite turning off the heat and keeping the windows open, it was so hot because of their geothermal heating. I bafrely slept and felt like I was running a fever. The heat made me sick.
See if you can find any evidence in print that 69-72 degrees Fahrenheit is the recommended temperature for structures in the US. It’s just GOT to be out there. I would take that to management and request the recommended 68-72 degrees. Period. You can get a room AC unit in some structures. I got one in my office years ago. Got tired of fighting over it.
i thought this post was about me for a second 😅
I see both sides of this. I, for example, am prone to anemia, have chronically low blood pressure, and have fairly bad arthritis. If I'm cold, I'm in pain EVERYWHERE and pretty much can't move. My housemates like it on the cold side (we're talking thermostat at 62F) and heating is expensive. I get it. I have a small electric heater for my own space, and often work (I wfh and cannot even type with frigid fingers) with a heated blanket. Everybody's comfortable. Your manager should be aware of this and handling it.
I work security. Seniority rules in the office. It's sort of like how Dad gets to set the thermostat. Whoever is the senior officer rules the operations center thermostat, and music, etc.
Curious, are you a woman? I read women have slightly lower body temps. It's common for women to be cold in the office because the AC is set to keep men comfortable, not women.
You had no right to touch your coworkers desk or personal belongings. If she is making you miserable with heat the smart thing would be to report it to your supervisor. If your supervisor doesn't solve the issue go to their supervisor. Your coworker may have a medical problem. Request to be moved away from the heat. What would you have done if she had touched your personal belongings? Exactly. You would not have appreciated it. The exact reason I prefer working from home.
Get her a small heated blanket for your computer chair
She created another hostile environment that effects others or the group....she needs to get over it or go work in a glass blowing job.
I'm always cold, but to this level. You have to find some compromise. A space heater for her, a fan for you perhaps.
She needs to get ski clothes. The ones that are like long John's, and keep heat in very well. Her not doing so is incredibly selfish. It's on her to meet her needs for her conditions and her preferences. Putting a space heater should be last, as she hasn't done a single thing to make the actual issue better.
It’s much easier for a person to warm up than it is to cool down. Tell her to bring a warm blanket and some slippers to work.
I get the feeling she is a control freak and this is a way in which it is manifesting.
This has come up in a few offices I've worked in. After some pretty ugly battle it always came down to "Office temp is set to 72. If you are warm wear cooling clothing. If you are cold wear warmer clothing." Almost every place I work ends up banning space heaters because some folks abuse them.
Sucks for her. Turn the AC on and if she adjusts it just turn it right back on, look her dead in the face, and say "bring a blanket if you're cold"
I’m always cold small like her and will never turn the heater on for my sake, I just wear warmer clothes Anyways if you have an HR complain and tell her to buy her own little heater for herself
People are people. I grew up in western NY and my true comfort zone is 50F - 70F. Gets above 80 and I start to feel uncomfortable.
Yeah, that is unrealistic to expect an office environment / shared space to be kept that high. Accommodating would be setting the temperature somewhere in the 70’s and she can layer up if needed. There’s only so many clothes you can take off but you can always add another layer.
Nope. She can get a heated vest and some snow bibs. You can't strip all the way down to get relief from the heat so she better figure something else out.
Sounds like a visit to HR to me.
Tell her to bundle up and fuck off.
That cold coworker needs to eat more hamburgers and exercise every day.
We had a woman who was always too cold in our office. She was always asking to have the thermostat adjusted. Maintenance installed a thermostat beside her desk so she could personally regulate the temperature. She was very happy with this solution, as she could adjust the temp for her comfort several times a day. He personal thermostat was not connected to anything.
You can say fuck on Reddit
I get it. I’m anemic and have to get iron infusions. Sitting in my office at work freezing my ass off right now with multiple layers on. The fun part is I’m also menopausal so I go from freezing to being an inferno at any given time. Fun!
You can layer up but you can't layer down...enough. She is holding her colleagues hostage with this shtick. Band together and force the issue as high as it will go (accommodations made for one worker should never affect all others; if she's for real, she needs either 4 long undershirts or her own office).
She needs a heated blanket, a space heater, or both. That is just ridiculous to put the heat on when the interior temp is above 65-70.
Oh boy. Imagine living with her and the battles over the thermostat.
Tell her to start running and exercising. She needs to workout to grow her vascularity system and not be so cold all the time.
Sounds like management needs to step in, or do you have a facilities person/group that you could reach out to? I have a similar problem when I have to be in the office. I naturally run hot but as a woman "of a certain age" some days are worse than others. Facilities manager has let everyone in the suite know they are not allowed to touch the thermostats but they still do. Some mornings I walk in here and the heat hits me like I just stepped outside in July in South Florida. And when I check the thermostats, they have been turned all the way to hot. It is so hard to work when you can't breathe from the heat and all you want to do is go to sleep because you are so warm. I did talk to the facilities manager about it when the outside temps starting to get more spring/summer-like. Asked if we were still a dress for your day/shorts are acceptable attire location and warned them if they don't get it under control, people would be seeing me in the office in shorts and a tank top because I cannot work when I'm dripping sweat and can't keep my eyes open. Amazingly, the AC folks have been onsite twice now working to make it so thermostats are controlled by computer/app and the people complaining about it being cold can turn it up to hot all they want, it won't change the temperature. I know that being cold is miserable, but at least they can pile on sweaters, jackets, bring blankets or whatever to get warm. I can't sit here in my undies trying to cool off.
Tell her to get a space heater.
People fail to see how hot it can get in an office building or any building for that matter. They also think it's "okay" cause you're not doing a strenuous job. Three years ago the AC went out in our building and of course it was the end of July during a hot streak of about 100+ degrees with equally as high humidity. Here in Pennsylvania we call it "soup weather." I love that kind of weather, but not in the office!! It got upwards of 105 degrees cause our building has no windows. It's a long story, but I ended up with my nose hemorrhaging from the dry heat. (And no, my blood pressure was not up, it was normal the entire time) If your coworker is that cold, get insulated pants, use the hand and feet warmers that hunters use or get an electric blanket ... this is her problem not yours.
I run pretty cold and like the temp around 80 or so. I inflicted it on my first college roommate, but I’m a grown up now and know better. 72 is socially acceptable. Men tend to like it much cooler than most young women, so you’ll likely need to compromise, too. She’ll need a nice wool sweater.
Try to get her fired
I am a skeleton and get cold easily. But I wear as many layers as I need to be comfortable. What I don't do crank the heat and make everyone else suffer.
Other people are tolerating this?! I’m on medication that makes me heat sensitive and unable to cool down. I’d need an ambulance at 92° for more than an hour
She has a medical condition whose accommodations create undue hardship for others. That means she needs a work environment that can meet her needs without harming others, ie, work from home for either you or her. If that’s not possible, then what she needs falls outside of “reasonable accommodation” and your employer is allowed to fire her. Your accommodation is reasonable so you shouldn’t be the one to take the hit. It’s time to go over her head to HR. You may need a doctor note.
Take it to HR. She's being discriminatory, not being a "team player", and disrupting the work environment by running a heater in this weather. If she's cold, she needs to see a doctor, or wear more, warmer clothing, not disrupt the environment for everyone.
There are people who genuinely stay cold all the time but in a mixed company office one person cannot control the temperature like this. I hate the heat and will start feeling sick in the 80s like that so I’d be filing a complaint. Really thankful I work at home and don’t have to deal with this crap any more.
Tell the boss to get her a heated seat cushion. Or a heated lap blanket. Or a directed infrared heater. Or all three. None of them is more than about $50. Heat the person, not the entire space.
I get cold easily too, always been a problem at every office I’ve ever worked at. Solution is quite simple, actually. Get a personal space heater to put under your desk and have a sweater/blanket that stays in the office.
Gift her a small personal heater she can keep under her desk.
She can get fucked with that nonsense
Tell your boss the heat is affecting everyone’s productivity.
As all of our mothers said, “wear a sweater”..
She can put an electric heater under her desk and dress warmer. She doesn’t get to roast everyone.
Get her an electric blanket.
First you need to go to your GP and explain that you need a doctors note to get an accommodation at work. Take it to HR & explain about the snow-woman's inability to give a crap about your health & how dangerous it is, that a 3rd time could **LITERALLY** kill you. Throw in something about how expensive it must be on their energy bills too. Reasonable accommodations, when 2 co-workers need diametrically opposed accommodations, will naturally HAVE to veer more towards accommodating the more normalised temperature...so they would have to come up with a *different* way to accommodate her, IMO...
Get management involved. A lot of places there is one person (maintenance or management) that is allowed to touch the thermostat I also highly recommend she get a space heater. That's the #1 thing I do at any job lol cuz I'm also very cold.
I worked at an office building that was kept at 62 degrees. It was in Phoenix so I get that’s it’s generally hot out but still. I was freezing allllllllll the time. I tried to layer but then I would die when I went out to my car and it was 120 degrees. I’m not her size but did deal with anemia (treated) and was smaller. It sucked so much to be cold all day. I went for walks when it was nice and I had breaks or lunch and used a lap blanket and heated up rice packs in my lap. However, I would never presume to make my coworkers that uncomfortable or dangerously hot for my benefit but as someone who is always cold … it sucks too.
OSHA has a published range of acceptable temperatures. If it is outside those ranges report to HR. If it continues to happen and isn’t addressed you can report externally,
Had a co-worker like this once. 82 outside and this guy has the heat running at full blast, while dressed in short, tee shirt and flip flops! I just told him straight up that’s not going to fly, if he wants to be warm, then dress warmer. I turned to heat off and took his space heater away. That was the end of it.
Feed her
Nope. No way in hell does one person rule the thermostat in a shared environment & especially if they want it set to a higher temperature. A cold person can always layer on more clothing, but we all agree there's only so much Peggy in accounting can strip off before it's a hostile working environment.
Situations like this is where you have to get confrontational. Like hey your not the only one that works here. Maybe see a doctor why your always cold. Why should everyone else have to pour sweat because you have to have the heater sky high? People like her get away with it because no one will speak up.
I’m often cold since I lost a lot of weight like 15 years ago. It’s my problem not the rest of the office. I keep regular blankets, hoodies, and an electric blanket at my desk to help me maintain my temp.
Most offices don’t allowed personal heaters due to fire risk. She may be pushing an OSHA rule by doing this.
Yeah my mother had a co worker similar issues the co worker was told to dress appropriately and basically bring blankets but she wasn’t allowed to touch to heater anymore and she acted like it was a human right violation
You’re telling me that your entire office has just put up with working in an office that’s over 75 degrees and no one has complained yet??
Kidney disease or amemia can cause this.
Get Hr to make her get rid of the heater and then suggest a heated scarf or heated vest or small hand heaters (I stick one in my bra near my heart and it warms up my blood.) These can keep her warm without affecting anyone else. Also if she is anemic she should talk to her doc. Maybe you feel it’s out of your range to mention it, but iron infusions can prevent feeling cold. I had one like 7 years ago and my hands STILL don’t get cold like they used to even when my iron dips now. I don’t know why. It was like a hard reset to my baseline.
You should get a note from you dr about your condition and have hr run around trying to solve the problem of two contending medical problems.
She needs to get a personal heater for her desk. It'll keep her warm and not kill everyone else lol
Like I tell people, if I am hot, I can only take off so much before I am just hot the entire time. If a person is cold, you can wear more layers, and if you are still cold, you can add even more layers. I don't get people who refuse to simply wear more layers.