huffingtonpost - 6 hours ago

Person adjusting thermostatIf you work in an office, you might have noticed the following pattern as the seasons change: some people start calling for more central heating, while others complain they feel far too hot when the radiators are on.Turns out there’s a reason for at least some of these debates. Women and men are comfortable at different temps, on average – and, in a move I think it’s fair to describe as “typical”, office heating was designed for the boys. Partly due to our body composition, shared workspaces often leave women chilly. Which is interesting, and a little frustrating – but ultimately, what can you do about it? As Redditor u/DevilishlyHandsome63 wrote to r/AskUK, it’s hard to reach a compromise that doesn’t leave one side of the central heating wars uncomfortable. He’s in a stalemate with a colleague who says she’s extremely cold in the day and asks for the heating to stay on. He says it’s she says to open a he asks her to put on a jumper and lower the h neither is happy. It’s a familiar scenario to many of us. So, we asked Alan Price, CEO at Bright HR, and Charly Huang, HR expert and Senior Business Advisor of AceBallMarkers.com, how to handle the contentious issue.There is no “correct” temperature, but the comfort of the majority is most important “Comfort is subjective. There is no ideal temperature. Yelling that from the rooftops makes the difference,” Huang said. Part of the issue in situations like the one the Redditor described is that neither party sees the other person’s discomfort.“Small disagreements can easily escalate into larger conflicts and unacceptable workplace behaviour, so being able to effectively manage this in the workplace will, therefore, be crucial for employers,” Price advised. However, while Price said there might be a healthy middle ground for both when it comes to the heating, Huang thinks the practical difficulties faced by someone who’s overheating are a little more complicated. “A cold person can add layers. A hot person has limits – they can’t keep removing clothes forever,” she advised (a lot of commenters under the original post felt this way too). Once you’ve reached a central heating temperature that most people, not just the most outspoken two, feel comfortable with, Huang says you can try to make small adjustments. “Provide equipment,” she suggested. “Desk fans, portable heaters, agreed settings. These workable solutions unwind tension.” “Additionally,” Price added, “there may be situations where employees are more sensitive to certain temperatures because of a health condition.“In this case, employers may need to consider whether a reasonable adjustment may need to be made to support the individual.”What if the argument gets too ― sorry for the pun ― heated?Even though this seems like a relatively insignificant issue, Price and Huang both said that the disagreement can quickly get out of hand. “There will be conflicting opinions in the workplace, but there is a way in which an employee can appropriately raise them,” he advised. “If the employee fails to do so and the situation persists, then mediation or a disciplinary process may be required.”If you want to prevent this before it gets to a disciplinary stage, Huang said, try solving “heating problems with empathy and humour” – both of you are uncomfortable, and both of you need to put the issue into perspective.Related...The Fridge Setting An Expert Says Could Be Ruining Your WineA Travel Pro Spills Her Secret(s) To Bagging Cheap Family Holidays4 Rules For Healthy Lie-Ins, According To Sleep Experts

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