How to deal with a stalker at work?

It doesn’t matter if you’re a college student or a professional, stalking can be quite an unpleasant experience. Jane Harper at The HR Digest is here to give you tips on how to deal with a stalker at work.

Hi Jane,

I started working at a Fintech startup in January and things couldn’t be any better. There is nothing that I could complain about – I get along with all of my coworkers and my bosses, and the work culture is stupendous. Except for one thing…

Normally I reach work at 7 a.m., which is quite early and most of the time there’s only one security guard at the front-desk. About two months ago, I crossed paths with a middle-aged man in the elevator who arrived at the parking area at the same time as me. In the weeks that followed, he would try to strike a conversation. He would ask for my name, where I lived, what time did I generally leave from work, etc. Initially, I shrugged it off because it’s no big deal. It became annoying when I noticed that he would wait for me in the parking area every morning. On days when I reached after 7:15 a.m. I would find him waiting for me.

In the weeks that followed, I started using headphones as a non-verbal way of telling him that I don’t want to talk. I don’t think he got the hint, because now he stands facing me instead of facing the elevator doors, smiling like a total creep. I am glad we have security cameras everywhere, because I’ve just joined this place and I have nobody to confide in.

I feel unsafe because all of this is happening during the early hours when nobody is around. I also don’t want to bring this up to my boss or the HR since I’ve just joined this startup and I don’t want to be that ‘attention-seeker.’

I’ve thought about snapping at him and telling him that he’s making me uncomfortable. The only inhabitation is that I’m always alone when he’s around and I don’t know if I can protect myself.

 Distressed.

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