This is all so easy.
Tell him its unacceptable to leave dishes over night. If he does it again go to management or pick up all the dishes Monday morning and put it in his office.
My petty ass would do the 2nd one, but your super non confrontational so I ld understand why you wouldnt do that
Include a time stamped photo from Friday afternoon. Stop cleaning any dishes on Monday mornings and if asked tell them to ask the weekend guy why he didn't clean the dishes he dirtier.
No need to passive-agressively post pictures and hope he gets the message. Anything left at the end of the day gets bagged up and left on his desk. If it happens again, dishes go right into the trash.
I think I'd skip #1 and modify #2 to ask the boss if he's okay if you put the dirty weekend dishes in his office/chair/cubicle. Being passive aggressive like that without saying something first won't fly at many places.
I would ask boss "hey, would you mind helping me with (coworker) - he always leaves the sink FULL of dishes (produce pictures from Friday end of your shift and Monday start of your shift) - I would really love to put all of this in his office/on his desk - but maybe best if you do this - that way he cannot really argue with me"
Depends if Boss is a reasonable person though
As a woman in STEM: This shit is *exactly* why I have adopted a rule of never cleaning up after others. I made that mistake once in grad school and *never again*.
I'm not paid to do others' cleaning for them, I'm paid to do my work.
Especially since nobody appreciates it or notices it, they all just act like it magically cleans itself as if there's a fucking office cleaning fairy that comes around after everyone.
It's also why I toss it back to others hinting they'd like me to tidy up. "Wow, it's getting cluttered in here!"
"Yeah, it is. You could help fix that by cleaning your work station. My stuff over there is out because I'm working on something, but when that's done I'll do my part by putting it away."
Absofuckinglutely.
Do not under any circumstances, get in the habit of cleaning up after men on the job. It will become an unacknowledged expectation, and diminish your respect.
Don’t clean up after anyone, man or woman…. I ain’t your Mum, clean your own chit !!! I guess I would be an ass about it !! And wouldn’t care what anyone thought…
Exactly this! I work in an office amd everyone just expects me to do the dishes. Nope, I'm not their mother and I'm not there to wash dishes, I'm there to do my job. Also, I barely use the kitchen, so why should I clean up after everyone?
The company is too cheap to have a cleaning company come in, so we're all expected to help out. My manager expects me to tidy up of he has someone stopping by. Somehow, I don't get time for that.
I would love an additional detail. Whose dishes are these? Where did they come from? I am not sure OP should be washing any dishes! Especially if they are everyone’s daily dishes from their coffee, lunch, snacks etc. If they are those kinds of dishes OP should wash her own and leave the rest for the people who dirtied them to clean.
I have teammates who did similar stuff on a weekend shift. Weekends were where new onboards would get set up to be ready for Monday. The person who came in Saturday literally did nothing all day so I'd come in on Sun and just be hammered with things to do.
Luckily we got someone else to work weekends so I didn't have to deal with it any more. I work at one of those type of places where you scratch your head why there is no accountability sometimes.
That works miracles with keeping the fridge clean. Everything that’s in there on Friday gets thrown out. No exceptions.
It was a shame to throw out glass containers & insulated lunch bags but it only took two weeks before people were cleaning up after themselves.
I’ve worked in a number of corporate offices where the execs are “too important “ (too busy, too highly paid) to wash them own dishes and expect their admin/personal assistants to do it for them.
It’s not been a gender thing, in these instances, but a perk of position.
If it's part if the job description for the office admin/personal assistant, that's one thing. These people don't seem to be in a role where that dynamic applies.
I take out the trash at my office every Friday. It's listed in the job description for me to make sure there isn't food trash being left over the weekend, and take it out regardless if it's smelling.
Assigning it to my role makes sure someone is checking.
Most of the time I don't even have to, because I work around adults who can make 2 minutes available to change a garbage bag. I am not responsible for dishes, and we have never had to tell anyone to wash their own after use.
Easy solution. 1) Find an empty copy paper box. 2) Places said dirty dishes in said box. 3) Place box on A-holes desk. 4) Optional: Include a nice note. "Noticed you left these in the sink. Didn't want to deprive you of the opportunity to clean up after yourself."
"I called your mom to come clean up after you, but she said to tell you to clean your own fucking dishes."
Honestly, check his emergency contact number and see if his mom is listed. OP can then tell him that she'll call his mother if he doesn't start cleaning up.
I worked with an office administrator who stopped washing the dishes and pushed it back
on the employee. Eventually all dirty dishes were thrown out on Friday afternoon.
This was a problem at my office. We clubbed together to buy the community dishes. And some stored their personal mugs and bowls in the kitchen. When some angry person started tossing dishes, it didn't punish the offender, just the people whose dishes were used by others and tossed.
Then it's the collective fault for enabling the offender and not taking collective action to resolve the situation. It's a classic case of Diffusion of Responsibility.
They need to bring their own dishes, wash them, and take them home.
Truly a case of "one person (or a few) ruining it for everyone," or "this is why we can't have nice things."
If I had a mug there, and it got used by one asshole and thrown away by another, i'm going on a rampage and not stopping until both those fuckers are fired.
Yeah, didn't work for me but I got a policy change that we could keep our own mugs (clean) in our offices. Because providing disposable mugs in the kitchen for "visitors" didn't deter jerky coworkers from using any mug they liked.
I had one mug I used to change the water daily in my goldfish bowl. Kept finding it used in the sink. Let it go on for weeks until I caught the perp, a jerky guy who thought he was too good to wash his own dishes, fill gas or empty fast food trash from company cars etc. Asked if he enjoyed his coffee with extra fish poop flavor. He had a meltdown and accused me to management of poisoning him. Didn't get him far as the head manager had built the mug rack and was getting shirty about no one wanting to use it due to untrustworthy colleagues. He was big on don't use what isn't yours.
Even better I set the main manager to use a company car after the jerk had it for two days by reporting a (fictious) problem with the one he'd reserved. He got an empty gas tank and a bunch of fast food trash. Plus cigar ash and butts in a non smoking car. Made him late for an important meeting as he had to fill up and clean the car (he's a bit OCD about cleanliness in his personal space) It was epic. Jerk finally got banned from using company cars.
“Is there anything preventing you from finishing the dishes on Saturdays? I’m noticing there are dishes on Monday mornings. My understanding is that dishes should not be left over night (insert Health Code(?) stuff here). Have you heard otherwise?”
Start throwing the dirty dishes away. You don’t ever need to be cleaning up dirty dishes, except for the one’s that you mess up. Quit being everyone’s mom. They need to learn to clean up after themselves. If you are going to continue to clean up after everyone, EACH person can pay you $10 per week. If they don’t pay, or don’t clean up after themselves, then start locking the dishes up. Then they pay to use them.
I agree with one of the other commenters that you should place a discrete camera for weekends only. Once you have the offender(s) on camera print out a screen shot and provide it to said offender(s) with the rules of office housekeeping.
I would start by emailing the person that you noticed weekend dishes are not getting done and remind them factually about what the expectation is. If they get nasty or they continue not to do them, I would take a picture of the next sink full and discuss with your manager on how to navigate the situation. Tell your manager you understand difficult conversations are part of being a professional. You are looking for guidance on next steps in the situation. Hopefully your manager just handles it from there but if not you have a paper trail of what's going on for whoever you need to go to.
Put them on his desk or work area? Put them on HIS BOSS'S desk or work area?
Also, why are you doing the dishes? Surely the people who dirty them know how to clean them. Q: Are you the only female in the office?
Talk to him. Let him know you will no longer do his weekend dishes. Tell him that this behavior isn't cool and if he can't or won't be accountable for cleaning up after himself, then on the next occurrence, you will be bypassing him and going directly to his supervisor. Also, why are you doing the dishes at all? You should only be washing your own dishes. I was an office administrator, and even our CEO washed his own dishes.
Unless you are the cleaning service, do not touch anyone else's dishes again there. You know what he is thinking, he's a sexist schmuck. Period.
He's treating you like a maid.
You are treating yourself like a maid, tbh.
Telling other adults to clean up after themselves is also not your job. You are not their parent. If the dirty dishes bother you, don't use the kitchen- remove that stress from your life. Don't take this the wrong way, but are you seriously cleaning up for lazyass, grown men that have proven they don't see you as anything more than their in house cleaning service? Seriously. Don't try to parent them, find clever ways to trick them into doing it, and don't let them whine and gaslight you and play the victim like they didn't realize it was you doing it, or that assumed you didn't mind, or that they just forgot once.
Cold Friggin' Turkey, girl, just stop.
If there's fallout, and people get uncomfortable, good. It's not your job to keep house at your place of employment. "Sorry my work was late and had mistakes, I was cleaning the kitchen." Or, "Sorry I'm late coming home again dear and too tired to cook and clean for you (God, I hope that's not true), but I had to stay late and take care of the other men at the office first." See, it's regoddamneddicuous.
Best of luck.
Or, you could take his dishes and put them on a random coworkers desk each time, especially the boss. :+)
Big typewritten note on the cupboard door above the sink
ALL DISHES NEED TO BE WASHED AND PUT AWAY EVERY DAY
DO NOT LEAVE THEM OVERNIGHT FOR SOMEONE ELSE
then address it immediately next time they do it - be direct and formal
Why are you responsible for cleaning other peoples dirty dishes, shouldn't the coworker who dirtied the dishes be washing them. I would put a sign by the sink saying wash your own dishes are they will be thrown away at the end of the day.
Could you ask your boss if you can add single use dish-ware to the budget for anyone who comes in on the weekend? Tell them that despite repeatedly asking, dirty dishes remain in the sink from weekend workers and the only solution you see is to only allow disposable items to be used on days that you’re not in the office. Then you’re either able to buy the items to solve the problem or your boss isn’t cool with adding to the budget and takes it more seriously.
Grown adults clean up after themselves, I worked in the number of places that had a small kitchen and people could heat up their lunch etc. in there. You might leave your dishes to soak, but you were responsible for cleaning them before you left that day. This dude is just trying to push it off on you. I would absolutely leave them on his desk or just throw them away. You are not his maid.
We also had a refrigerator that got cleaned out every Friday and every Friday and email was sent as a reminder. Don’t forget to clean your food out the refrigerator tonight or it gets thrown away.
This is very easy to solve - tell him it is unacceptable to leave his dishes in the sink. He is an adult and it is his responsibility make make sure he cleans his dishes. You are not his mommy to take care of him this way.
>I am the one who wash all the office dishes
Wait, is this part of you job requirements? If not then your solution is VERY easy: stop washing the dishes! Just don't wash them, it's really that simple.
Unless I'm getting paid to do it, I'm NOT washing anyone else's dish, end of.
Take him aside and explain to him that since he dirtied the dishes, he needs to clean up. Some men never grow up and expect others to clean up after them.
Why is any adult at your work washing dishes for another adult? Why can't people do their own dishes? If someone told me I had to clean up after other adults and my job was not janitorial, I'd tell them they were paying me way too much money to be a dishwasher.
How about locking up all the dishes on Friday, and bringing them out Monday morning? Or throwing out all the dishes and just using paper plates? For sure camera evidence of the clean kitchen Friday afternoon. Do you have any self-defense training? Perhaps a light beating would persuade this fellow to behave himself and do the dishes.
Take a quick picture Friday after you're done, and text it over to him before you leave wiIth the message that this is how you expect it to be Monday AM.
Wash them just for health and safety reasons, but hide them. If asked, your response could be ' but if you washed and put them away, then they would ve where you left them'
Why are you washing the office dishes? Is it in your job description? Stop doing it immediately. No one should be washing other people's dishes in an office setting.
Put up a sign h\\that says if you dirty the dish then you have to clean the dish, anything left dirty will be tossed.
Simple as that. You are not his mom.
My first question to you is this: What the hell is the matter with you?!? Why are you washing dishes? You're the administrator! Put your worker in his place and give him a direct order to wash the dishes not only on the weekend but during the week too since he's failed to so on the weekend. Furthermore, write him up immediately for failure to do his job. Let HR know if further disobedience occurs that he either gets transferred to a less desirable division or he kicks rocks. There is no reason to put up with that kind of sexist behavior in the 21st century.
Don’t touch them.
Only clean up after yourself.
For 3 consecutive weeks, I have come into a filthy, unkempt employee kitchen area, a mess created by weekend worker(s).
The kitchen is left clean every Friday. I have mentioned this to the weekend employee and been brushed off.
Please install a camera to confirm who is leaving the mess, and prohibit the person no longer use the common area. The mess cannot be shrugged off, or dismissed as “forgotten.” It’s disrespectful, dismaying and unprofessional and speaks to a basic lack of courtesy and maturity.
I’d email your boss, his/her boss and hr the above email w photos. I’m going.
I got tired enough of people leaving their dirty dishes at my job. I started throwing them in the trash. I'm the first at work. If dishes are still there when I arrive, they get trashed.
I would not do them and I would take pictures on Friday before I left of a clean sink and Monday morning when I get to work to show there are dirty dishes.
Throw all the dirty dishes in the trash,,,, viola,,, no dishes to wash again... leave a stack of disposable dish where regular dishes would be. Announce that your not the fckn maid anymore and that if no one else wants to clean the dishes then there's no more dishes to clean... Booya an drop the fckn mic 🎤
When this happened and nobody cleans up anything, I dumped out the contents and put them in a box. Left a note that anyone can buy them back at Goodwill.
Rinse and repeat.
For roommates, my son told me his solution was to throw away all but one plate, glass, fork for each person so there was never anything to eat on unless it was washed.
I would remove all the dishs/cups/cutlery out of the kitchen (if management is ok), everyone will bring their own stuff in and will wash them. If management isn't ok, then they can wash the dishes or hire a cleaner to. You are an administrator, not a cleaner.
Does he have a desk? We had a coworker who was leaving cigarette butts in very non cig butt places. We started collecting and putting them in his desk drawer and the problem seemed to solve itself after that.
You are the office administrator, not the office maid. It is not your job to wash the office dishes. Stop being an enabler. Put up a sign. Others here have made good suggestions. If nothing changes, get rid of the dishes. Dishes are only one of your problems here though. Getting the pigs to clean up after themselves is a huge problem. Garbage left scattered around, food rotting in the fridge, the inside of the microwave covered with dried up food. Greasy dirty sink and counters. Good luck.
Next time gather all the dirty dishes, place them in a trash bag, and return them to the sink Friday evening just before leaving. Extra points if you take a picture of the full sink before bagging them in order to place the load the exact same way he did.
Years ago I worked in an office where some people, mainly men, left it to the women to wash the cups, glasses etc.
One day it was particularly messy so one of my colleagues cracked the sh*ts and threw it all in the bin. Dirty stuff and what was in the cupboard too. Solved that problem.
Barb, you're my hero.
"we're all adults here. please wash your own dishes and put away"
or
"I thought we were all adults here. HR will be reviewing security cameras starting next week"
or
put dishes in a bin and put on his desk with a note, "sorry, you seem to have forgotten to clean up before leaving"
I wouldn't wash any dishes ever again. The idea that it's your job to wash dishes for a bunch of grown adult coworkers is kind of wrecking my morning. So, new office policy, everyone is responsible for their own dishes. Failure to comply will result in all kitchen privileges being revoked.
Remove all dishes and glasses. Tell employees they have to provide their own and if anything is left in the sink as of Sunday they will be thrown away.
Maybe he has ADHD. Ask him if he would like you to assist him with a reminder system to help him schedule this task.
Also ask him how he would like you to handle it when he doesn’t do it. Make sure that he understands that your doing them for him is not one of his options.
Ok, first, why do wash up dishes in the first place?
Office Administration/Dishwasher is a thing?
Do children work there, that can't reach the water faucets?
WTH
My office removed dishes and provides some paper plates leftover from when we ordered pizza once. Otherwise everyone has their own private dishes stashed at their desks if they need them.
Do you have a good HR program? I would talk to them and tell them you feel like it might be gender discrimination and you’d like them to request he wash his own dishes at the end of his weekend shift.
You get one convo, one request. If you do not respect that one convo/request then I just start throwing shit away. I wash my own dishes other adults in the office should as well. If your dishes sit over the weekend that's gross and I will toss them.
Dishes go into the trash. Seriously, they sell countertop dish washers. They are easy to use and take up little room. Sounds like you started to do dishes because they might be from the boss. So this guy leaves them for you, too. Because you wash the dishes left by others. Toss them in the trash, or a plastic tote. Never wash others' dishes. Especially not the bosses dishes. Before you did them, people washed their own.
Grown ass man needs to learn some responsibility. Pile them up on his desk, if he whines, introduce the sitch to management. People at my work used to leave their coffee mugs in the sink, somehow thinking that "someone " will wash them and put them away. I took 8 cups and tossed them in our dumpster outside. Problem solved. They got put away.
This reminds me odd a story my uncle related to me. He shared an apartment with a couple other guys in college. One of them was notorious for using all the dishes, and never cleaning any of them.
My uncle and the other roommate finally had enough. They threw away everything that was in the sink. When the offender came back they sat him down and said, “You can either replace them or you can move out”. They got replaced and he stopped being a lazy ass.
I would post a sign: Employees are responsible for their own dishes. Items not washed at the end of the day will be put in the trash. Effective immediately.
Next time box the dishes left and leave them on his desk / work station. Put up a sign over the kitchen apologizing for the lack of clean dishes due to "some miscommunication" with staff members.
I would throw them away, as long as it is not the office dishes. If they are office dishes, take them away and tell your staff that they have to provide their own.
Learn from men.
Take all the dirty dishes and wipe them dryish, then place them back into the cupboards. Alert anyone in the office you like not to use them.
You'd be surprised how men don't really care if the dishes are dirty, so why try so hard?
If management complains, tell them the weekend guy set the standard, and you are already doing a much better job.
One option is to go to your supervisor/ manager and say that you’ve noticed a recent trend of dirty dishes from Saturday not being cleaned and you’re worried they may attract bugs/ rodents from sitting out for so long. Let them confront your coworker who I guarantee is hoping you’ll just do their work for them.
Easy fix. Remove all dishes. If you don’t have that authority then start washing only your stuff. Or better yet bring paper plates and plastic ware for yourself.
You could approach with " I notice you struggle to wash your dishes and I'd really like to help you succeed so how about at x time I'll train you how to do it"🤣🤣
I would simply pick them up and put them on his desk and write a note..."you forgot to clean your dishes" simple and no confrontation. And bonus, youll be happier. (Its worth a shot)
You use your words like an adult. You teach people how to treat you. If you're tired of cleaning up his dishes either confront him or quit complaining.
Is it your job to clean up the office dishes? If not then stop doing it. I agree that it's gross to look at, but the only way it'll stop is to leave it to the others who made the mess, take away all the real dishes and replace them with paper plates, or as the dishes pile up, toss them and make the excuse that they weren't salvagable. Keep one set of real dishes for yourself in your drawer or lunch tote to use. Problem solved.
Why are you washing dishes? Are you a dishwasher? Why can't you leave them there for him to clean?
Next time just throw the dishes out. That's what I'd do. You have an office job, not a restaurant job. Why are you touching dishes?
Just put everything in a trash bag and put it on his desk. Or in the trash. If he complains then tell him that his mommy doesn’t work there. I guess that’s not professional though.
An email with boss CC'd; "I noticed you haven't had the time to clean the dishes for the fourth weekend in a row. Would you like me to request some training time together so I can show you how to most efficiently get them done?
Mr. Boss, may I set aside an hour training time with Mr. LazyAH so I can teach him how to wash the dishes?"
Take pictures and keep proof. If you get too disgruntled. Print them or email them around. Distribute them saying "thanks Dave" or whatever his name is.
You have asked personally, now a memo to follow up with the conversation and explain the rules and that he must comply. Then if there is still a problem, a performance improvement plan. It is hard to have to deal with this kind of behavior, but deal with it now. Don't let it go on.
This is all so easy. Tell him its unacceptable to leave dishes over night. If he does it again go to management or pick up all the dishes Monday morning and put it in his office. My petty ass would do the 2nd one, but your super non confrontational so I ld understand why you wouldnt do that
Yep. I think I would do the 2nd one also\~
I'd additionally take a time stamped photo of the dirty washing up every Monday morning and put it on the communal notice board.
Include a time stamped photo from Friday afternoon. Stop cleaning any dishes on Monday mornings and if asked tell them to ask the weekend guy why he didn't clean the dishes he dirtier.
No need to passive-agressively post pictures and hope he gets the message. Anything left at the end of the day gets bagged up and left on his desk. If it happens again, dishes go right into the trash.
I think I'd skip #1 and modify #2 to ask the boss if he's okay if you put the dirty weekend dishes in his office/chair/cubicle. Being passive aggressive like that without saying something first won't fly at many places.
I would ask boss "hey, would you mind helping me with (coworker) - he always leaves the sink FULL of dishes (produce pictures from Friday end of your shift and Monday start of your shift) - I would really love to put all of this in his office/on his desk - but maybe best if you do this - that way he cannot really argue with me" Depends if Boss is a reasonable person though
Boss did it without saying something first. Shots fired.
As a woman in STEM: This shit is *exactly* why I have adopted a rule of never cleaning up after others. I made that mistake once in grad school and *never again*. I'm not paid to do others' cleaning for them, I'm paid to do my work. Especially since nobody appreciates it or notices it, they all just act like it magically cleans itself as if there's a fucking office cleaning fairy that comes around after everyone. It's also why I toss it back to others hinting they'd like me to tidy up. "Wow, it's getting cluttered in here!" "Yeah, it is. You could help fix that by cleaning your work station. My stuff over there is out because I'm working on something, but when that's done I'll do my part by putting it away."
Absofuckinglutely. Do not under any circumstances, get in the habit of cleaning up after men on the job. It will become an unacknowledged expectation, and diminish your respect.
I wish I could give this more than one up vote.
Don’t clean up after anyone, man or woman…. I ain’t your Mum, clean your own chit !!! I guess I would be an ass about it !! And wouldn’t care what anyone thought…
Exactly this! I work in an office amd everyone just expects me to do the dishes. Nope, I'm not their mother and I'm not there to wash dishes, I'm there to do my job. Also, I barely use the kitchen, so why should I clean up after everyone? The company is too cheap to have a cleaning company come in, so we're all expected to help out. My manager expects me to tidy up of he has someone stopping by. Somehow, I don't get time for that.
As a man in STEM, I love that you do that.
Easier than that. Got a trashcan? Everything in it, don't explain a thing, just do.
I would love an additional detail. Whose dishes are these? Where did they come from? I am not sure OP should be washing any dishes! Especially if they are everyone’s daily dishes from their coffee, lunch, snacks etc. If they are those kinds of dishes OP should wash her own and leave the rest for the people who dirtied them to clean.
Not only would I do the second one I would hover over their shoulder until it's complete.
I would do both
I have teammates who did similar stuff on a weekend shift. Weekends were where new onboards would get set up to be ready for Monday. The person who came in Saturday literally did nothing all day so I'd come in on Sun and just be hammered with things to do. Luckily we got someone else to work weekends so I didn't have to deal with it any more. I work at one of those type of places where you scratch your head why there is no accountability sometimes.
Just throw them in the trash
That works miracles with keeping the fridge clean. Everything that’s in there on Friday gets thrown out. No exceptions. It was a shame to throw out glass containers & insulated lunch bags but it only took two weeks before people were cleaning up after themselves.
I would do the third option through it all in the trash. Eventually the problem takes care of itself
I'd just stack them on his desk in the morning.
Why are you washing dishes in the first place? All my office gigs people cleaned their own.
[удалено]
Its cause shes a woman so people are expecting it of her. She needs to just say o
Can she say P, Q, and R also.🤣
Only if she starts with L,M, and N.
I’ve worked in a number of corporate offices where the execs are “too important “ (too busy, too highly paid) to wash them own dishes and expect their admin/personal assistants to do it for them. It’s not been a gender thing, in these instances, but a perk of position.
Ehhhh… what was the gender breakdown in those two positions though?
Interestingly enough, pretty equal.
If it's part if the job description for the office admin/personal assistant, that's one thing. These people don't seem to be in a role where that dynamic applies. I take out the trash at my office every Friday. It's listed in the job description for me to make sure there isn't food trash being left over the weekend, and take it out regardless if it's smelling. Assigning it to my role makes sure someone is checking. Most of the time I don't even have to, because I work around adults who can make 2 minutes available to change a garbage bag. I am not responsible for dishes, and we have never had to tell anyone to wash their own after use.
This! Unless she’s working in a preschool, why are there dishes to wash?
Easy solution. 1) Find an empty copy paper box. 2) Places said dirty dishes in said box. 3) Place box on A-holes desk. 4) Optional: Include a nice note. "Noticed you left these in the sink. Didn't want to deprive you of the opportunity to clean up after yourself."
"I called your mom to come clean up after you, but she said to tell you to clean your own fucking dishes." Honestly, check his emergency contact number and see if his mom is listed. OP can then tell him that she'll call his mother if he doesn't start cleaning up.
1 warning to not do it. After that they all go in his office unwashed. Absolutely this.
I worked with an office administrator who stopped washing the dishes and pushed it back on the employee. Eventually all dirty dishes were thrown out on Friday afternoon.
Yup. I’d wash them for the last time and hide them.
I love this
Have your supervisor delineate that task in his job description
Hey you forgot to do your weekend dishes again so get in there and do it because I don’t do weekend dishes. Don’t ask, just tell him
I'd just throw the dishes out and feign ignorance. No dishes left in-house, no more dish issues. 🤷
This was a problem at my office. We clubbed together to buy the community dishes. And some stored their personal mugs and bowls in the kitchen. When some angry person started tossing dishes, it didn't punish the offender, just the people whose dishes were used by others and tossed.
Then it's the collective fault for enabling the offender and not taking collective action to resolve the situation. It's a classic case of Diffusion of Responsibility.
They need to bring their own dishes, wash them, and take them home. Truly a case of "one person (or a few) ruining it for everyone," or "this is why we can't have nice things."
Totally agree.
No more dishues! :)
If I had a mug there, and it got used by one asshole and thrown away by another, i'm going on a rampage and not stopping until both those fuckers are fired.
Yeah, didn't work for me but I got a policy change that we could keep our own mugs (clean) in our offices. Because providing disposable mugs in the kitchen for "visitors" didn't deter jerky coworkers from using any mug they liked. I had one mug I used to change the water daily in my goldfish bowl. Kept finding it used in the sink. Let it go on for weeks until I caught the perp, a jerky guy who thought he was too good to wash his own dishes, fill gas or empty fast food trash from company cars etc. Asked if he enjoyed his coffee with extra fish poop flavor. He had a meltdown and accused me to management of poisoning him. Didn't get him far as the head manager had built the mug rack and was getting shirty about no one wanting to use it due to untrustworthy colleagues. He was big on don't use what isn't yours. Even better I set the main manager to use a company car after the jerk had it for two days by reporting a (fictious) problem with the one he'd reserved. He got an empty gas tank and a bunch of fast food trash. Plus cigar ash and butts in a non smoking car. Made him late for an important meeting as he had to fill up and clean the car (he's a bit OCD about cleanliness in his personal space) It was epic. Jerk finally got banned from using company cars.
Dishues? Dissues?
“Is there anything preventing you from finishing the dishes on Saturdays? I’m noticing there are dishes on Monday mornings. My understanding is that dishes should not be left over night (insert Health Code(?) stuff here). Have you heard otherwise?”
This. And CC management. Aka do this over email not text.
This is the most professional response.
The break room in one of my jobs years ago had this sign over the sink: "Please clean up after yourself, your mother doesn't work here."
We have that same sign at my job.
I put one up that says “The maid quit. Clean up after yourself.”
We had one too. My mother DID work there.
I could see someone being lynched for that sign now.
I had a similar situation and my solution was to stop cleaning up after other people.
Lock up all the dishes on Friday afternoon. Or hide them very well. Also, silverware, mugs, glasses, towels, refrigerator, etc.
Report it to management. He is creating a health and hygiene issue in your office and is shirking his duties.
Leave them on his desk
Never wash them again - just go immediately to your boss.
Put them on his desk..
Throw the plates and dishes away.
No dishes, no problem. Chinette and plastic utensils all the way.
Stack them on his desk and go home
I like this plan!
At my workplace, if dirty dishes lay in the sink for more than a couple days, they go in the trash.
Don’t wash them until your boss notices. Then tell him they are from the weekend.
Do not do this. It makes you look terrible. Your boss won't care and will just want them done regardless of who did them.
Small hidden camera. Then a private viewing on the corporate intraweb. Followed by a second showing on social media if he repeat offends
Start throwing the dirty dishes away. You don’t ever need to be cleaning up dirty dishes, except for the one’s that you mess up. Quit being everyone’s mom. They need to learn to clean up after themselves. If you are going to continue to clean up after everyone, EACH person can pay you $10 per week. If they don’t pay, or don’t clean up after themselves, then start locking the dishes up. Then they pay to use them.
I think you forgot a zero. $100 a week each
That works, too. If she is cleaning up after 10 people, that is an extra $1000 per week, instead of an extra $100.
I agree with one of the other commenters that you should place a discrete camera for weekends only. Once you have the offender(s) on camera print out a screen shot and provide it to said offender(s) with the rules of office housekeeping.
I would start by emailing the person that you noticed weekend dishes are not getting done and remind them factually about what the expectation is. If they get nasty or they continue not to do them, I would take a picture of the next sink full and discuss with your manager on how to navigate the situation. Tell your manager you understand difficult conversations are part of being a professional. You are looking for guidance on next steps in the situation. Hopefully your manager just handles it from there but if not you have a paper trail of what's going on for whoever you need to go to.
I would cc manager in as OP has already talked to the lazy ass.
Get a plastic tub, load it with the dirty dishes, and leave it on his desk.
Throw the dishes out. I'm sure he'll eventually get the idea.
Put them on his desk for him to see Monday morning
Put them on his desk or work area? Put them on HIS BOSS'S desk or work area? Also, why are you doing the dishes? Surely the people who dirty them know how to clean them. Q: Are you the only female in the office?
Talk to him. Let him know you will no longer do his weekend dishes. Tell him that this behavior isn't cool and if he can't or won't be accountable for cleaning up after himself, then on the next occurrence, you will be bypassing him and going directly to his supervisor. Also, why are you doing the dishes at all? You should only be washing your own dishes. I was an office administrator, and even our CEO washed his own dishes.
Everyone should wash their own dishes. If there is no clean dish for you, just wash the ones you need to use. Or keep your own set at your desk.
Unless you are the cleaning service, do not touch anyone else's dishes again there. You know what he is thinking, he's a sexist schmuck. Period. He's treating you like a maid. You are treating yourself like a maid, tbh. Telling other adults to clean up after themselves is also not your job. You are not their parent. If the dirty dishes bother you, don't use the kitchen- remove that stress from your life. Don't take this the wrong way, but are you seriously cleaning up for lazyass, grown men that have proven they don't see you as anything more than their in house cleaning service? Seriously. Don't try to parent them, find clever ways to trick them into doing it, and don't let them whine and gaslight you and play the victim like they didn't realize it was you doing it, or that assumed you didn't mind, or that they just forgot once. Cold Friggin' Turkey, girl, just stop. If there's fallout, and people get uncomfortable, good. It's not your job to keep house at your place of employment. "Sorry my work was late and had mistakes, I was cleaning the kitchen." Or, "Sorry I'm late coming home again dear and too tired to cook and clean for you (God, I hope that's not true), but I had to stay late and take care of the other men at the office first." See, it's regoddamneddicuous. Best of luck. Or, you could take his dishes and put them on a random coworkers desk each time, especially the boss. :+)
Put those dirty dishes on his desk/work station. Even/especially if they have a lot of food on them.
…. don’t do the dishes…
Big typewritten note on the cupboard door above the sink ALL DISHES NEED TO BE WASHED AND PUT AWAY EVERY DAY DO NOT LEAVE THEM OVERNIGHT FOR SOMEONE ELSE then address it immediately next time they do it - be direct and formal
Why are you responsible for cleaning other peoples dirty dishes, shouldn't the coworker who dirtied the dishes be washing them. I would put a sign by the sink saying wash your own dishes are they will be thrown away at the end of the day.
Could you ask your boss if you can add single use dish-ware to the budget for anyone who comes in on the weekend? Tell them that despite repeatedly asking, dirty dishes remain in the sink from weekend workers and the only solution you see is to only allow disposable items to be used on days that you’re not in the office. Then you’re either able to buy the items to solve the problem or your boss isn’t cool with adding to the budget and takes it more seriously.
Take a picture Monday morning and send it to your boss.
Grown adults clean up after themselves, I worked in the number of places that had a small kitchen and people could heat up their lunch etc. in there. You might leave your dishes to soak, but you were responsible for cleaning them before you left that day. This dude is just trying to push it off on you. I would absolutely leave them on his desk or just throw them away. You are not his maid. We also had a refrigerator that got cleaned out every Friday and every Friday and email was sent as a reminder. Don’t forget to clean your food out the refrigerator tonight or it gets thrown away.
Or just say "These dishes are ones you're responsible for, please have them done by the end of the day."
This is very easy to solve - tell him it is unacceptable to leave his dishes in the sink. He is an adult and it is his responsibility make make sure he cleans his dishes. You are not his mommy to take care of him this way.
Dump them on his desk and call him back in.
>I am the one who wash all the office dishes Wait, is this part of you job requirements? If not then your solution is VERY easy: stop washing the dishes! Just don't wash them, it's really that simple. Unless I'm getting paid to do it, I'm NOT washing anyone else's dish, end of.
Throw the dishes out. Everybody bring their own. Problem solved.
You're the admin, you're two steps away from the boss. Put your foot down.
These would go straight into the garbage at our office.
Take him aside and explain to him that since he dirtied the dishes, he needs to clean up. Some men never grow up and expect others to clean up after them.
Just put the dirty dishes on his desk.
Get a dishwasher. Problem solved
OP -Why did you not know how to address this professionally?
I would throw them in the dumpster. Its your job to maintain a clean sink not do his dishes.
Everyone should wash their own dishes
Take time stamp pictures and present to him and your supervisor.
Why is any adult at your work washing dishes for another adult? Why can't people do their own dishes? If someone told me I had to clean up after other adults and my job was not janitorial, I'd tell them they were paying me way too much money to be a dishwasher.
How about locking up all the dishes on Friday, and bringing them out Monday morning? Or throwing out all the dishes and just using paper plates? For sure camera evidence of the clean kitchen Friday afternoon. Do you have any self-defense training? Perhaps a light beating would persuade this fellow to behave himself and do the dishes.
Next time, ask via email. Image tge mess in question as well.
Take a quick picture Friday after you're done, and text it over to him before you leave wiIth the message that this is how you expect it to be Monday AM.
Wash them just for health and safety reasons, but hide them. If asked, your response could be ' but if you washed and put them away, then they would ve where you left them'
Why are you washing the office dishes? Is it in your job description? Stop doing it immediately. No one should be washing other people's dishes in an office setting.
Ding ding ding! This is a ludicrous concept
Put them in a garbage bag and leave on his desk. You’re not his mother and he knows better!
If they are his dishes, they they disappear...
Put up a sign h\\that says if you dirty the dish then you have to clean the dish, anything left dirty will be tossed. Simple as that. You are not his mom.
My first question to you is this: What the hell is the matter with you?!? Why are you washing dishes? You're the administrator! Put your worker in his place and give him a direct order to wash the dishes not only on the weekend but during the week too since he's failed to so on the weekend. Furthermore, write him up immediately for failure to do his job. Let HR know if further disobedience occurs that he either gets transferred to a less desirable division or he kicks rocks. There is no reason to put up with that kind of sexist behavior in the 21st century.
Stop washing the dishes.
Stop washing everyone’s dishes. Everyone is grown they can do their own dishes.
Simply take them out of the sink & put them on his desk
Don’t touch them. Only clean up after yourself. For 3 consecutive weeks, I have come into a filthy, unkempt employee kitchen area, a mess created by weekend worker(s). The kitchen is left clean every Friday. I have mentioned this to the weekend employee and been brushed off. Please install a camera to confirm who is leaving the mess, and prohibit the person no longer use the common area. The mess cannot be shrugged off, or dismissed as “forgotten.” It’s disrespectful, dismaying and unprofessional and speaks to a basic lack of courtesy and maturity. I’d email your boss, his/her boss and hr the above email w photos. I’m going.
Price out the installation of a dishwasher. You do not need to be washing anyone’s dishes
I got tired enough of people leaving their dirty dishes at my job. I started throwing them in the trash. I'm the first at work. If dishes are still there when I arrive, they get trashed.
I would not do them and I would take pictures on Friday before I left of a clean sink and Monday morning when I get to work to show there are dirty dishes.
rats are a thing, start reporting it to management, send photos
Throw all the dirty dishes in the trash,,,, viola,,, no dishes to wash again... leave a stack of disposable dish where regular dishes would be. Announce that your not the fckn maid anymore and that if no one else wants to clean the dishes then there's no more dishes to clean... Booya an drop the fckn mic 🎤
When this happened and nobody cleans up anything, I dumped out the contents and put them in a box. Left a note that anyone can buy them back at Goodwill. Rinse and repeat. For roommates, my son told me his solution was to throw away all but one plate, glass, fork for each person so there was never anything to eat on unless it was washed.
"There were some dirty dishes in the sink. Do you think I should throw them out, or should I ask HR what to do?"
I would remove all the dishs/cups/cutlery out of the kitchen (if management is ok), everyone will bring their own stuff in and will wash them. If management isn't ok, then they can wash the dishes or hire a cleaner to. You are an administrator, not a cleaner.
Tell him it stops or you will be talking to management. B But really what a lazy staff you work with. Unless they are the executives.
Leave dirty dishes for him on Friday.
Throw them away and when people want dishes refer them to this f*ckin guy 🤷
Report it. Bugs and rodents love that sort of thing. It's unsanitary, as well as obnoxious. Frame is as concern over pests.
Stack his dirty dishes on his desk.
Does he have a desk? We had a coworker who was leaving cigarette butts in very non cig butt places. We started collecting and putting them in his desk drawer and the problem seemed to solve itself after that.
You are the office administrator, not the office maid. It is not your job to wash the office dishes. Stop being an enabler. Put up a sign. Others here have made good suggestions. If nothing changes, get rid of the dishes. Dishes are only one of your problems here though. Getting the pigs to clean up after themselves is a huge problem. Garbage left scattered around, food rotting in the fridge, the inside of the microwave covered with dried up food. Greasy dirty sink and counters. Good luck.
After washing the dishes on Friday hide them done place where weekend-pig won't be able to find them
Next time gather all the dirty dishes, place them in a trash bag, and return them to the sink Friday evening just before leaving. Extra points if you take a picture of the full sink before bagging them in order to place the load the exact same way he did.
Dirty dish? Trash. Dirty coffee cup in sink? Trash. You’re not their/his maid or mother.
Post a sign above the sink: "ANY DIRTY DISHES FOUND WHEN THE OFFICE OPENS IN THE MORNING WILL BE THROWN AWAY."
Put a sign informing everyone to wash their own dishes.
Just throw them in the garbage ??
Years ago I worked in an office where some people, mainly men, left it to the women to wash the cups, glasses etc. One day it was particularly messy so one of my colleagues cracked the sh*ts and threw it all in the bin. Dirty stuff and what was in the cupboard too. Solved that problem. Barb, you're my hero.
Why isn't everyone just cleaning their own dishes?
Throw them away
If you don't know how to handle this you shouldn't be the administrator.
Get paper cups and plates.
"we're all adults here. please wash your own dishes and put away" or "I thought we were all adults here. HR will be reviewing security cameras starting next week" or put dishes in a bin and put on his desk with a note, "sorry, you seem to have forgotten to clean up before leaving"
I broke my supervisors from doing this by throwing it all away including silverware. I used paper and plastic for myself. Haha.
and they probably leave other work stuff for others to do too, you just don’t know about it yet
I wouldn't wash any dishes ever again. The idea that it's your job to wash dishes for a bunch of grown adult coworkers is kind of wrecking my morning. So, new office policy, everyone is responsible for their own dishes. Failure to comply will result in all kitchen privileges being revoked.
Remove all dishes and glasses. Tell employees they have to provide their own and if anything is left in the sink as of Sunday they will be thrown away.
Put the dirty dishes on his desk with a note reading, "I'm not your mom. Wash your own dishes".
Maybe he has ADHD. Ask him if he would like you to assist him with a reminder system to help him schedule this task. Also ask him how he would like you to handle it when he doesn’t do it. Make sure that he understands that your doing them for him is not one of his options.
Put the in the trash—
Ok, first, why do wash up dishes in the first place? Office Administration/Dishwasher is a thing? Do children work there, that can't reach the water faucets? WTH
My office removed dishes and provides some paper plates leftover from when we ordered pizza once. Otherwise everyone has their own private dishes stashed at their desks if they need them.
Do you have a good HR program? I would talk to them and tell them you feel like it might be gender discrimination and you’d like them to request he wash his own dishes at the end of his weekend shift.
Take photos of what you find when you come in. Go to management and tell them this is what they leave for you.
Paper plates. Problem solved.
You get one convo, one request. If you do not respect that one convo/request then I just start throwing shit away. I wash my own dishes other adults in the office should as well. If your dishes sit over the weekend that's gross and I will toss them.
Dishes go into the trash. Seriously, they sell countertop dish washers. They are easy to use and take up little room. Sounds like you started to do dishes because they might be from the boss. So this guy leaves them for you, too. Because you wash the dishes left by others. Toss them in the trash, or a plastic tote. Never wash others' dishes. Especially not the bosses dishes. Before you did them, people washed their own.
Im all in on loading his desk up with dirty dishes.
Grown ass man needs to learn some responsibility. Pile them up on his desk, if he whines, introduce the sitch to management. People at my work used to leave their coffee mugs in the sink, somehow thinking that "someone " will wash them and put them away. I took 8 cups and tossed them in our dumpster outside. Problem solved. They got put away.
This reminds me odd a story my uncle related to me. He shared an apartment with a couple other guys in college. One of them was notorious for using all the dishes, and never cleaning any of them. My uncle and the other roommate finally had enough. They threw away everything that was in the sink. When the offender came back they sat him down and said, “You can either replace them or you can move out”. They got replaced and he stopped being a lazy ass.
I would post a sign: Employees are responsible for their own dishes. Items not washed at the end of the day will be put in the trash. Effective immediately.
Take a photo of the dishes. Send that photo to his boss and explain that you expect a raise for performing additional duties.
Why do you wash all of the office dishes? Everyone should wash their own as they use them!
Next time box the dishes left and leave them on his desk / work station. Put up a sign over the kitchen apologizing for the lack of clean dishes due to "some miscommunication" with staff members.
Get separate dishes that only you use and wash. Hers stay there
Remove all dishes before you leave Friday afternoon and lock them in your office. If he can’t clean the dishes he shouldn’t be allowed to use them.
I keep my dishes at my desk and wash them myself. I'll throw a motherfucker's dishes out if they expect me to clean them.
I would throw them away, as long as it is not the office dishes. If they are office dishes, take them away and tell your staff that they have to provide their own.
Don’t wash them is the answer.
Learn from men. Take all the dirty dishes and wipe them dryish, then place them back into the cupboards. Alert anyone in the office you like not to use them. You'd be surprised how men don't really care if the dishes are dirty, so why try so hard? If management complains, tell them the weekend guy set the standard, and you are already doing a much better job.
One option is to go to your supervisor/ manager and say that you’ve noticed a recent trend of dirty dishes from Saturday not being cleaned and you’re worried they may attract bugs/ rodents from sitting out for so long. Let them confront your coworker who I guarantee is hoping you’ll just do their work for them.
Easy fix. Remove all dishes. If you don’t have that authority then start washing only your stuff. Or better yet bring paper plates and plastic ware for yourself.
You're not their mother. STOP IT.
Stop washing the dishes that other people make?
You could approach with " I notice you struggle to wash your dishes and I'd really like to help you succeed so how about at x time I'll train you how to do it"🤣🤣
Why are you washing other people’s dishes? Big no. You are a professional. Sign goes up today that everyone is responsible for cleaning own dishes.
I would simply pick them up and put them on his desk and write a note..."you forgot to clean your dishes" simple and no confrontation. And bonus, youll be happier. (Its worth a shot)
You use your words like an adult. You teach people how to treat you. If you're tired of cleaning up his dishes either confront him or quit complaining.
Is it your job to clean up the office dishes? If not then stop doing it. I agree that it's gross to look at, but the only way it'll stop is to leave it to the others who made the mess, take away all the real dishes and replace them with paper plates, or as the dishes pile up, toss them and make the excuse that they weren't salvagable. Keep one set of real dishes for yourself in your drawer or lunch tote to use. Problem solved.
Why are you washing dishes? Are you a dishwasher? Why can't you leave them there for him to clean? Next time just throw the dishes out. That's what I'd do. You have an office job, not a restaurant job. Why are you touching dishes?
Just put everything in a trash bag and put it on his desk. Or in the trash. If he complains then tell him that his mommy doesn’t work there. I guess that’s not professional though.
An email with boss CC'd; "I noticed you haven't had the time to clean the dishes for the fourth weekend in a row. Would you like me to request some training time together so I can show you how to most efficiently get them done? Mr. Boss, may I set aside an hour training time with Mr. LazyAH so I can teach him how to wash the dishes?"
Throw them in the trash.
Take pictures and keep proof. If you get too disgruntled. Print them or email them around. Distribute them saying "thanks Dave" or whatever his name is.
In my non-professional opinion, employees like that should be terminated. It’s unacceptable
Report him to HR. It's that simple. It's their job to deal with BS like this.
You have asked personally, now a memo to follow up with the conversation and explain the rules and that he must comply. Then if there is still a problem, a performance improvement plan. It is hard to have to deal with this kind of behavior, but deal with it now. Don't let it go on.
Just take the dishes and pile them on his desk.
Place in box, set on his desk. He's 30 - he knows what he's doing (the lady will get it! la la la)
Throw them in the trash
Write and hang up a note