All Hopes of Reasonable Temperature Lost as Office Thermostat Tyrant Consolidates Power
DESPAIR set in yesterday amongst the staff of May & Mercury Insurance Ltd as the temperature inside the office soared to almost 32˚. And it appears that the woman who demands the heating is turned up has strengthened her power base to such an extent that she is now the sole arbiter of the office temperature. Mary Frampton, 54, first requested that the heating be turned up during last February’s cold snap, and has maintained her ceaseless demands for a higher mean office temperature despite the weather becoming unseasonably warm in recent days.
garner
In March, Ms Frampton began to garner support from a small group of employees who were coaxed into agreeing with her assertion that it was ‘still a bit chilly in here.’
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And now she appears to have consolidated her power to such an extent that at least one department manager outwardly defers to her on matters of thermostat control and two others appear to have granted her control a tacit, if unspoken, approval.
“There’s very little we can do,” said one colleague who wished to remain anonymous.
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“It’s like a bakery round by the IT support desk, but she won’t turn the heating down,” the worker said.
And it appears that any negotiations held to arrive at an agreement on a suitable working temperature are doomed to failure.
“You can’t say anything,” complained one employee in the claims department, who regularly works in sweltering temperatures.
“She just says she’s cold and she knows a solicitor who says that it’s your boss’s job to make sure you’re warm enough at work and you can walk out and sue them if you’re cold,” he continued.
“We asked our line manager to do something, but he just sighed and told us not to draw attention to ourselves,” he added.
spence
Last week, however, the temperature briefly cooled after all windows in the office were opened when Ms Frampton complained to management that she was having a hot flush.