Is there any law about being left in your office on your own?

Question

I am just wondering if anyone knows.. we've got quite a large office.. but for some reason most people are off at the moment and there are only 2 of us here.

If one of us goes out for lunch, or leaves early obviously the other will be left on their own.. I don't think this is right.. but is there any law about it?

Answer 1

Are you scared of the bogey man or something?

Answer 2

It may be a bad business (and safety) practice, but it is not illegal.  Many gas stations, convenience stores, etc., are run by one person at a time.

Answer 3

No. Are you scared? I would be glad if everyone left at the same time, then you wouldn't have all the noise a busy office brings. Unless you have to do everyone's work when they leave, don't sweat it, but if you have to, then I would definitely file a complaint where there are always at least two people there. Everybody shouldn't take their lunch at the same time.

Answer 4

Nope, no laws against it.

Maybe if you were operating potentially dangerous machinery you could argue that no one should ever be alone on health and safety grounds but I doubt that could be realistically applied to a normal office environment.

Answer 5

Good information from Butch.

My workplace is in the process of bringing in a Lone Working Policy (although it's been 'in the process' for ages now!).

I work in an office with 2 admin staff and 13 officers.  We all work flexi-time but myself and the other admin person have to make sure that at least one of us is there until the office closes to the public.  On several occassions (including lunch-times), there has only been one of us there and the 'informal' policy at the moment is that we just lock the door.

Answer 6

No, there are no state or federal laws that cover office staff coverage, that is determined by each company how many people they have working at any time.

Answer 7

There's no law, but that company will make it SOP if someone ever was hurt or attacked while left alone, quite possibly after a major law suit.  I'd discuss it with the boss.  

Answer 8

are u worried something will happen? is the other person male or female? nothing to worry about unless the other person is gunna eat ya up.

Answer 9

It is a LEGAL requirement to have at least two people in the office at all times - if 1 is taken ill or has a serious accident the the 2nd can summon help.

Answer 10

There are too many unanswered questions to be able to give any decent response. For example, is your office easily accessible to the public, do you have valuables stored at site, is there cash stored at site, are you trained in fire procedures etc, are you in any ill health that means you should not be working alone?? I could go on for a long time but why don't you just talk to your employer about your concerns? Good Luck!

Answer 11

No Federal law governs office coverage.

Answer 12

there may not be any laws but your employer has a duty of care to ensure you safety while at work, if an office is designed to accommodate 20 staff then if it is maned by only one or two people its possible that intruders could enter without challenge , when lone working a risk assessment must be done in order to ascertain what are the possible problems

1 are you public facing

2 do you expect visitors

3 can the office be made secure

4 are there valuables i.e. cash , computers, any thing saleable,

has the employer had a security system fitted panic alarms ,cameras,

sorry I am going into to much detail but the answer is that your employer has a duty of care to protect you while you are at work and the most power full argument is that his employer insurance and public liability insurance will be void if they fail to protect you , unlike the others I dont think this question is silly , hope every thing turns out and your mates get back to work soon  

Answer 13

I've never heard of such a law. Many people work in only one- or two-person offices. I'm quite often the "last man out" in my office, but it's never occurred to me that there should be a law against my being here late by myself.

What exactly is it that bothers you about being alone? Is it a safety concern? Or is it that you are left to cover everyone else's work? These are issues that you should discuss with your supervisor -- but there is no reason to suspect that there is anything illegal about being the only person in the office.

Answer 14

When I was working (in the UK) we were not allowed to stay in office on our own, had to be at least two of us. It was to do with Health and Safety, but I don't know whether it had legal backing, or was the practice by my employer.

Are you in a Union? If so, Union could probably advise.

Answer 15

Its a bit suspect. Hire a bodyguard and carry your gun. Be ready.

Answer 16

No, of course there's no law about it.  Many offices routinely just have one person there.

Answer 17

Of course not. lots of offices just have one person in them. Why should it be a problem?

Answer 18

There is no law as far as I'm aware, but in the UK for Health and Safety reasons your employer should carry out a risk assessment if any circumstances change - and especially in higher risk situations, like lone working.

In our office anyone left in the office on their own has an appointed company employee that they must contact every hour so that the company knows that the employee is safe.  If the appointed person doesn't hear from the individual they would then investigate.

Answer 19

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