Shared Hotel Rooms for Work

[throwittoblythe]

I need some advice on this…

I started at my current company in Fall 2020. Prior to COVID, they had a “shared hotel room” policy. Opposite sex are exempt, but basically the policy is “if you are traveling with someone else, you’re expected to share a room.” They just reinstated the policy this week.

The CEO’s line is all about “family culture” and “small company feel.” He did acknowledge the cost savings in his announcement, which I’m sure is the real driver.

I travel a lot for work; 1-2 nights every week. I’m probably alone 80% of the time but I will travel with someone else once every few months. I have to say, I am 100% against this policy. I like my privacy and honestly have a lot of anxiety around sharing a room with a coworker.

I should mention, this is not a startup. We have 700 employees and over $200M in revenue every year.

Anyone have some truthful and respectable ways to tell my boss I’m not on board?

 

[cowgirl836]

"Family culture" is just code for we want to be able to treat you like **** and you feel obligated to endure it.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

That is amateur hour. This isn't summer camp, no working professional should have to share a room with another coworker.

 

[cowgirl836]

"I will travel less often or stay in more economic accommodations but I am not comfortable sharing rooms."

Does the ceo room share when he travels?

It's an employee's market right now. Use to your advantage.

 

[SCNCY]

Yeah, this is just a way for them to save money so the CEO can get a single hotel suite every time they travel.

But I haven't seen any professional company have a policy like this. Working in the defense industry, I am sure we have people who have to room with others when they are on boats, but that's expected because there is no other option.

 

[Mr Janny]

I need some advice on this…

I started at my current company in Fall 2020. Prior to COVID, they had a “shared hotel room” policy. Opposite sex are exempt, but basically the policy is “if you are traveling with someone else, you’re expected to share a room.” They just reinstated the policy this week.

The CEO’s line is all about “family culture” and “small company feel.” He did acknowledge the cost savings in his announcement, which I’m sure is the real driver.

I travel a lot for work; 1-2 nights every week. I’m probably alone 80% of the time but I will travel with someone else once every few months. I have to say, I am 100% against this policy. I like my privacy and honestly have a lot of anxiety around sharing a room with a coworker.

I should mention, this is not a startup. We have 700 employees and over $200M in revenue every year.

Anyone have some truthful and respectable ways to tell my boss I’m not on board?

An appeal to COVID would be a good place to start your reasoning, I would think. I've always found it odd that more people don't put up more of a fight about this. And from the company's perspective, there are countless ways it can go bad.

 

[throwittoblythe]

"I will travel less often or stay in more economic accommodations but I am not comfortable sharing rooms."

Does the ceo room share when he travels?

It's an employee's market right now. Use to your advantage.

He does, actually. We are a construction company. This all comes from “we expect the crews to bunk up and staff don’t get to be excepted from this policy.”

 

[JM4CY]

Pretty sure they shared a room in Tommy Boy. You can all suck it up and do it too.

 

[throwittoblythe]

An appeal to COVID would be a good place to start your reasoning, I would think. I've always found it odd that more people don't put up more of a fight about this. And from the company's perspective, there are countless ways it can go bad.

It’s honestly pretty close to a dealbreaker for me. I don’t like to play this card, but it might get to the point of “if you’re going to make me do this, I guess I’m not a good fit for this company.”

I can’t imagine they’d push it that far in this employment environment.

 

[cstrunk]

Yeah, f that. Give me some alone time and privacy please.

 

[Rabbuk]

I feel like if you have to interact with a co-worker you are still on the clock and you either need comp time for losing your night off or overtime.

 

[throwittoblythe]

I feel like if you have to interact with a co-worker you are still on the clock and you either need comp time for losing your night off or overtime.

This gets at the issue for me as well. If the logic is “more time to bond with your team!” Then I don’t buy it. I spend all day in the truck with someone and share 2-3 meals with them. I don’t need more time to bond. I also don’t need to know their bathroom and sleeping habits.

 

[JP4CY]

Lets go down the scenario of someone having a cpap. How's that work then?

 

[CycloneWarrior]

“Hey, I feel uncomfortable sharing a room with a coworker that I am not more than an acquaintance with. This will add another layer of difficulty to my job that could impact my performance.”

If you have a more tangible way to show how it affects more than just yourself, that’s your best bet.

 

[ISU22CY]

This is BS. If they want you to be apart of the company on the road 24/7 then they damn well better be paying you 24/7. If the CEO was even somewhat smart they would be able to pick up the phone with the hotel and make a deal on multiple rooms where it wouldn't cost them as much as they think.

Sure some adults are fine with it I'm sure...personally I want my own place to myself. This isn't middle school field trips.

 

[throwittoblythe]

Lets go down the scenario of someone having a cpap. How's that work then?

They say there are exceptions for that stuff. But I’m an extremely light sleeper. Any snoring at all and I’m not sleeping a wink.

 

[Rural]

Cheap MFs.

 

[Rabbuk]

This is BS. If they want you to be apart of the company on the road 24/7 then they damn well better be paying you 24/7. If the CEO was even somewhat smart they would be able to pick up the phone with the hotel and make a deal on multiple rooms where it wouldn't cost them as much as they think.

Sure some adults are fine with it I'm sure...personally I want my own place to myself. This isn't middle school field trips.

Id think from a liability issue a company would want separate rooms too. Just takes one drunken brawl or groping to get real expensive.

 

[throwittoblythe]

“Hey, I feel uncomfortable sharing a room with a coworker that I am not more than an acquaintance with. This will add another layer of difficulty to my job that could impact my performance.”

If you have a more tangible way to show how it affects more than just yourself, that’s your best bet.

This is basically what I’m thinking. I am truthfully a very light sleeper. Sharing a bathroom with a near-complete stranger gives me a fair amount of anxiety. Hell, I haven’t stopped thinking about this since the email last Thursday.

Something like “Look, I’m on board with most of what we do, but I can’t do this. I’m not going to get any sleep and it will absolutely affect my job performance. I’m on the road until midnight some nights which requires that I get a good nights sleep the night before. If I’m sharing a room with someone, that’s not going to happen.”

 

[dahliaclone]

some good points here you could use as fodder

The Pros and Cons of Employees Sharing Rooms When Traveling

Should employees share rooms on business trips, attending training or conferences, or making sales calls? Read about the pros and cons of this practice.

www.thebalancecareers.com