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Am I wrong for not wanting to share a room with a coworker I barely know? I want to pay for my own room. I don’t want to sleep in a room and share a bathroom with someone. I don’t want anyone to know if I snore or if and when I have to get up in the middle of the night to pee. What if I have stomach issues? I’m not being unreasonable.
Is this a general question or are you scheduled for a business trip and you've been booked in the same room with a colleague?
You "shouldn't" have to pay for your own room. But every organization can be different. That said - I have never had to share a room when traveling on business. Personally, that would not be acceptable outside of extreme circumstances.
If I'm booked in a double-occupancy room, I'd be having a conversation about this. And it would be that big of an issue for me as well.
My wife has to put up with this BS request occasionally, but refuses.
To answer the OP: Whether you should do it probably depends on how vital you are to the company. When I worked oil rigs, I shared a room with three other guys for 6 months at a time. Refusal to do so would've gotten me fired, as I was easy to replace and there were no other options. As my skills and importance to firms increased, the balance of power shifted and I occasionally met ridiculous requests by sending a legitimate and real offer from a competitor to the boss as my "answer".
My wife is a great deal of experience in her field, is in demand, and will be hired almost immediately by competitors should she decide to leave. When they trot out the "you're going to be sharing a room" BS on travel situations her answer is "Then I won't be going, send someone else."
If you're new to the company and the field, it's probably best to just endure it at this point. If your expertise is unique and in demand, then tell them you won't be going on the trip and will be interviewing at [competing company] during that period. It all depends on who has the power in the relationship.
In my thirty years experience I've never been required to share a room and I've traveled on company business frequenty. Of course I worked for major employers.
One time I was visiting a plant in the mid-west and there was a major snow storm and all flights were cancelled. I was forced to share a room with an elderly colleague as it was the only hotel room available. Didn't sleep a wink as she passed gas all night.
With very few exceptions and situations, such as a hurricane not allowing travel back home and only one room being available, this is unprofessional of the employer to expect this.
Besides they're opening themselves up to liability for various HR issues (i.e. sexual harassment claims, etc.).
Absolutely. I wouldn't want to be in a hotel room with a same sex coworker I knew well. I absolutely wouldn't do it with someone of the opposite sex or someone I didn't know well, and I'd just pay for my own room.
For business trip, always one employee per room. Employees who know one another might want to gather in the room before they go to sleep, but definitely not sleeping in the same room. It doesn’t make sense. Is not just for safety issue but also for ethics.
If employer put two employees in the same room, who knows what happen in the room. No good.
You can't be serious....These are grown adults not children.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmp61616
You wind up sharing a room with some co-worker that you probably don't know very well
This makes no sense. They should just limit the number of people who are traveling. What is the point of bringing along strangers who don't even work together directly in the same department?
Quote:
Originally Posted by pullin2
When I worked oil rigs, I shared a room with three other guys for 6 months at a time.
To me this is akin to being in the military but with better pay. So these types of jobs especially if it's in the early stages of the career it's always been this way. For the trades it makes sense whereas for Corporate it truly does not make any kind of sense for this type of situation to happen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nybklyn
For business trip, always one employee per room. Employees who know one another might want to gather in the room before they go to sleep, but definitely not sleeping in the same room. It doesn’t make sense. Is not just for safety issue but also for ethics.
If employer put two employees in the same room, who knows what happen in the room. No good.
From a liability standpoint no big company will do this. But small companies that fly under the radar of course they will push the envelope. But you figure they would just want to keep costs low and only make those absolutely essential to travel.
From a liability standpoint no big company will do this. But small companies that fly under the radar of course they will push the envelope. But you figure they would just want to keep costs low and only make those absolutely essential to travel.
Sorry, I wish this was true but it is not. The company that I referred to earlier that required people to share rooms was a major subsidiary of an F500 corp. The subsidiary I worked for had annual revenues of $2 billion, the parent company was larger.
Assumptions can be awkward and dangerous things. Tell them you don't want to share a hotel room for personal reasons. Ask them what other options there are. One of the options should be to pay for a separate room of your own. Or, maybe check in with the co-worker but don't stay in the room. Get another and pay for it.
FWIW I have occasionally needed to share a room with a colleague. Really tight funding for some group program or simply lack of available rooms at some remote location. We usually chose roommates to ease the situation. I know, not typical, but it does happen.
A former company I worked for normally allowed everyone to have their own rooms, but these were your motel 6s, Days inn, red Roof inn, Microtel and other budget motels.
There was one instance where a co-worker and I were stuck in a city due to a bad snowstorm and couldn't get home and ended up getting the last room with separate beds. Luckily we got along and worked well together. Plus I had been to his home a few times and there was an element of familiarity. We went out for dinner, some drinks and he came back to the room called and argued with his wife and I put on my headphones and read lol. Given the fact that this was an emergent situation we made it work.
Sharing close quarters with co-workers, friends and even family can really make or break many relation ships. If you are diametric opposites in terms of cleanliness, noise, schedules (to bed early/late), and other habits, it won't work. of course in the military (lower ranks) and college, you have to share space. However, I am against forcing adults to share rooms, even if the employer is bearing the costs. If you can't get along for 8 hours in the office, putting two people together in a room in a remote city can spell disaster, and it can be awkward.
Other than that, my current employer does not mandate room sharing.
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