I recently found out that a co-worker went through my desk and observed personal materials. (ie. time sheets and paystubs). I'm just curious what you might do in this situation.
i would tell the boss but i may also ask them what they were looking for ...i have never been one to avoid confrontation. but it should be handle diplomatically.
I would confront them and then tell the boss.... At most places...messing with someone paystub is a reason to be fired!
If you were absolutely sure it was this person I would confront them. Ask them what they were looking for. If they have a hard time answering that question then you know that they were peuposely looking for somethign else and then handle it appropriately.
This guy here said that it would be best to just hold it in and wait for things to build up until you have one big explosion at work.
A desk is personal space. I would ask them why they thought it was neccessary? If it was innocent, tell them that you prefer no one go into your desk if it was not so innocent, let them know that if it happened again, that you would go to human resources (aka HR) about the issue.
Actually the day of the desk being a “Personal Space” is going away fast some of the business I go to now days have shared desks with a place to plug in your laptop and everything else is shared. I would not put anything in my desk or on my computer that is personal in nature if I did not want others to see. One of the reasons I choose “notify the Boss” is that this could be a security issue, depending on what type of business you are in.
do they have a desk?...if so,buy a cheap cartridge of grease,the brown smelly kind. wipe globs of it under the lips of one or two of the drawer pulls. he will be reminded of you all day! a can of sardines mixed with milk placed in his cubicle will have him sharing the love as well.
The department I use to work for with the state would just lay your pay stub on your desk, even if you were not there. They claimed that your pay is public information so there is no reason try and hide it. Some places don't consider anything private. I would tell the boss that you are going to confront the POS and make it clear that you do not like that. That way if anything ever comes of it then you can always say "well, the boss knew".
I would buy a mouse trap and place it in the desk drawer ready to snap - call the co-worker over and ask them to open the drawer. When they did they would get the picture you knew what they did and wasn't thrilled. I would imagine this would be a much worse feeling than having a chat with the boss. Besides, you would get to watch them squirm...if the boss calls them in you likely would miss out on it. If it happened again, I think I would announce to everyone in the office a suggestion for locks on all desk drawers while looking at the offender. I am pretty much a straight up person. While I don't particularilly enjoy confrontation, I do like people to know that I am no slouch. Sometimes it can't be avoided, that's life. But, my answer to your ? is simply this - weigh the options and choose to do what feels best for you personally. Don't let too much water pass under the bridge if you plan to address it.
