our office is swelteringly hot and no one will do anything

A reader writes:

The room I work in is an office with about 10 cubicles located in the middle of the building. We have windows to the hallway, but none to outside.

Two summers ago, our AC broke and the temperature in the office was between 79 and 82 all summer. Management bought italian ices for the office once or twice (super helpful /s) and said if anyone wanted to work in a different room they could work anywhere that was available — not a ton of options, mostly conference rooms that were frequently in use. They eventually got that fixed, and I thought all would be well.

Unfortunately, for the past 10 months, including all through the winter, the office was so, so, so HOT. The admin assistant in my office had some way of getting into the computer behind the system to override it and turn on the AC, but then it would become freezing — no in-between — so that didn’t last long. Management is aware of the problem and tried having some repair people down, but in a sort of lackluster way, like only every few months if there were a lot of complaints.

The office is 78 degrees for most of the day, almost every day! I’m probably the hottest in the office, so I’d prefer it at something like 69, but at least at 72 or whatever we wouldn’t have everyones’ lunch and, um, other smells hanging heavy in the office. 74 would make me very uncomfortable, but 77-80 is just too much. It literally slows me down, impedes my thinking, and makes me cranky. We have a joke in the office that even Chrome slows down when the heat goes up.

I have tried working in some empty desks in cooler rooms around the office, which can also disrupt my workflow (at least with others) but is still the better option of the two, but with many new hires recently, there are no more empty offices and I’m stuck in the furnace.

Is there any way to communicate to management that this is really not working for me? I have mentioned it in the past, but I think they just look at me as the office kvetch. Occasionally, my manager will walk in and comment, “Gosh, it’s really hot in here!” like this is news to her, to which I’ll respond, “Yes, and it makes it very difficult to work.” Which to me is asking, “Can you just DO something about this?” but I guess it doesn’t mean that to her because she just moves on. (Well, yeah, she’s not the one sitting there all day.)

Anyway, my question is if this is in any way an HR issue. I’m trying to figure out how to escalate this so it is taken seriously. Can I send HR an email explaining that this has been going on too long and I need a serious solution (along with the pictures of the thermostat that I’ve been taking daily)? If so, how exactly should I phrase my request so that it doesn’t come across as too complaining, but is also not ignored? If not, what other solutions would you suggest?

I’m slowly melting and getting more desperate as we head into summer.

Yeah, that is way too hot for a lot of people.

OSHA doesn’t require specific temperatures, but they do recommend 68-76° F, and you’re outside of that range every day. Moreover, that OSHA range is about safety, not comfort. Day after day of 78° would be really difficult for a lot of people. It’s also one thing to ask you to deal with discomfort for a day or two while something is being fixed (although not ideal even then), but asking you to accept it as a long-term condition is not okay.

It also sounds like your management is being deliberately oblivious. Your manager knows it’s too hot if she’s commenting on it when she walks in and you’re telling her it’s making it hard to work, and …. nothing?

However, it’s worth checking that assumption. Is there any chance your manager doesn’t realize these are the conditions every day? If you’re replying “Yes, and it makes it very difficult to work” (as you wrote in your letter), that actually doesn’t tell her that it’s that way every day, so that’s the next step if it hasn’t already been done. Tell her very explicitly, “You know how you often comment on how hot it is when you come in our office? It’s like that every day, and it’s very difficult to work in the heat. I’ve raised this before but it hasn’t changed. How do we get the temperature addressed? These aren’t sustainable working conditions.”

If that doesn’t work or you’re confident she already knows, then yes: HR. (And maybe HR regardless, since your manager seems pretty ineffectual.) The wording you want is: “For the past 10 months, including through the winter, the temperature in office has been uncomfortably hot. The repair work has not solved the problem, and most days the temperature in the office is 78°, which is two degrees over OSHA’s recommended maximum temperature. How can we get this fixed as soon as possible, so that we’re back within the OSHA-recommended range?”

Those mentions of OSHA are intentional. While the OSHA “recommendation” doesn’t have real teeth, it’s likely to make them take the complaint more seriously. You also might check to see if your state OSHA regulations are any more stringent.

Also: I’m guessing you have coworkers who are also fed up. This complaint should come from all of you; pushing as a group will make you much harder to dismiss.

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