Did I overreact and do the wrong thing when I threatened to report them to their employer?

[Anonymous]

I work as a touch point covid cleaner in a government building, this building has night cleaners who were hired to do commercial cleaning however, many times they have not replaced the toilet paper or the hand towels in any of the bathrooms, the toilets often aren't being cleaned and most times they have not vaccumed the carpets or have they moped any of the floors. there have also been times when they haven't even emptied the bins at the desk. These are things that are part of the job they were hired to do and are being paid to do but I have been noticing that not only are these workers not doing their job but one time I came into work to find my cloths had been thrown on the ground and in the dirty mop. I have also been noticing they have been moving my stock so they can sit on our plastic storage container which do hold cleaning products in them. I had left a note attached to my stock repeatedly asking for them to not move the stock but they keep moving it, so I decided to remove the lids from the plastic containers so they couldn't sit on them before I left them one last note telling them if I find the stock has been moved again or they have sat on the plastic containers I was reporting them to their employer as the containers are for storage purposes only not for sitting down on.

Did I overreact? Part of the reason for why I threatened to report them is because it's frustrating knowing they aren't doing their job and that they are sitting down on my products and basicslly being paid for doing nothing and because I am a covid cleaner! basically my job is to wipe surfaces like door Handles, chairs anything anyone touches with their hands that could potentially leave covid traces but I am being made to do the other cleaners job, yet I am not being paid for doing it. I do not work for the same company as the other cleaners but my boss was the one who pushing for me to do their work and than my boss gets frustrated when I fall behind on doing my own work.

Updates

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Update. I came into work today to find not only had my products been moved but they had also used my products then come to find out that the bathrooms had no toilet paper again and as a result it left staff with no option but to use hand towels which ultimately caused one of the toilets to become blocked as hand towels can block your toilet. Myself and the staff who work there spoke to the team leader and the team leader said they were going to speak with the cleaners manager.

Updates

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I do restock the toilet paper myself in the morning but once I have finished work I have no way of knowing if there is enough toilet paper and these cleaners are in there between 5.30pm and 9.30pm after closing hours and when workers have gone home for the day. I knew they weren't doing there job but I should have picked up on it a lot sooner when I was noticing and wondering why their own cleaning products weren't going down. There cleaning products have been at the exact same level for 3 weeks

[PrettyPriya]

You absolutely did the right thing. You are trying to be professional and do your job and they are hindering your ability to do it. I work in a medical setting where it is so important to follow rules, especially when it comes to hygiene.

What these other workers are doing is negligent. I would have done the same thing if I were in your shoes. There is nothing much more frustrating than working hard while you watch others not do a thing and get paid to do so.

Sorry to hear about this situation. I would be frustrated as well. Hopefully, your complaint gets through and these people who sit around and get “free” money for doing so get with it.

You did not overreact and good for you for actually doing something instead of just ignoring. The fact that they are actually stopping you from doing your job in ways is ridiculous.

[Asker]

Thank you I was worried I might have overreacted and maybe I was being a Karen about the whole thing but i did make sure to take photos as evidence to prove I had repeatedly asked them nicely multiple times to please not move my stock and to show that these cleaners are not doing their job and as everyone knows phones do provide dates and times of when a photo was taken so I can back everything up with evidence to show they are being lazy and not doing their job. I even took photos of the cloths being thrown and floors not being vacuumed or cleaned and the toilets also not being cleaned.

I don't want to cause problems but I have genuinely asked them multiple times to not move my stock. These are covid cleaning products and those cloths they threw they could have potentially had covid on them as I used them when doing the covid cleaning.

[PrettyPriya]

I completely understand you not wanting to stir up trouble. I wouldn’t either. However, it is affecting your ability to do YOUR job, which is a whole other story. You don’t want your employer coming down on you for things that other people are doing to effect your ability to do your job.

That is one thing if they are lazy and don’t do what they are supposed to. It is a whole other thing when they are so negligent that they are actively preventing you from doing your job effectively. I think you did the right thing and have no reason to regret it.

[Asker]

I came into work today to find they hadn't replaced the toilet paper! There was no toilet paper at all. The toilets hadn't been cleaned, the floors again haven't been vaccumed. Some bins have also not been emptied.

They did respond to my note where I threatened to report them to their employer if my stock is moved again and they are found to be sitting down on the containers they basically said they can assure me it is not the night cleaners but I know it is them because the staff in the building don't enter the storeroom only us cleaners do and another way I know it is the night cleaners because i finish work at the same time as the workers are leaving to go home for the day. I've collecting more evidence against these cleaners and than I am sending all of the evidence to their employer. I don't want to see anyone lose their jobs but if you were hired to do a job and you are being paid for it you should be doing it.

They can't claim there is a lot of work to do because it's not a big building they can legit get all of the work done within their 3 to 4 hour shift.

[PrettyPriya]

Thank you for the MHO. That is crazy the amount of neglect those other workers show. I work at a medical practice and we have a company that comes in and cleans/sterilizes the office. They take it very seriously and do a great job. I cannot imagine having to deal with what you are dealing with.

[EnglishEuropean]

I never threaten. Report their ass.

[Asker]

I was trying to be nice giving them a warning first

I will know in 13 hours if they have moved the stock again and if they have sat on the containers. I took photos as evidence showing the way I left it before I left work on Friday

[EnglishEuropean]

Good job.

[Guy13]

Procedures are important

[Asker]

It for sure is important. They are on site for 3 to 4 hours it's enough time for them to do their job but they just want to sit down.

[Guy13]

Obviously they value not their job, livelihood, and think they can live off other people in the workplace too.-I say TOO because it’s probably a pattern in all things. It ducks you have to carry and worry with negative and damn dead weight ‼️‼️‼️ Been there if you can’t tell. 😡

[Anonymous]

No, you did the right thing.

[Asker]

Thank you

[In_Trance]

Seems like something supervisors would sort out

[Asker]

There are no managers or supervisors in this building weird i know. There are team leaders and senior workers but they are not responsible for the hiring of cleaning companies, that falls on the hiring contractors and unfortunately I don't know who they are to contact them to let them know what is going on! all i know is they do make site visits to visit the other cleaners but when they do do site visits they announce what day and time they will be visiting the site so of course the cleaners when they know the hiring contractors are coming out to make a site visit they are going to do some work. Even the workers are getting annoyed with these cleaners but they themselves don't know who the hiring contractors are as it appears the hiring contractors work from another location. I have never worked in a government building before where they didn't have any managers or supervisors.