I once had a work retreat where I had to room with a DUDE. I didn’t sleep all night, not out of fear, but just general anxiety of having to sleep next to a male stranger. 

THAT IS HORRIBLE AND WEIRD AND POSSIBLY ILLEGAL??? You can't force co-workers to sleep next to one another. People have medications they might want to keep private (and have every right to do so) and/or other habits that they're entitled to privacy on. She should bring it up with HR, but something tells me they don't have an HR team because none worth their salt would approve this. I feel so sorry for your friend!

I wouldn't do it. And I'd start looking for a new gig, because leadership are absolute morons if they think this is normal.

If your friend still wants to work there, and can’t get out of the retreat, I would find a medical excuse to room alone. Anxiety, insomnia, sleep apnea, etc. I would think of any reason and ask my doctor to write a note. 

That honestly feels illegal to me if it’s company sanctioned (though I googled it and it seems like it’s not). If you’re traveling for a business trip and traveling with a friend, maybe MAYBE you guys would just room together for funsies. But I can’t imagine wanting to do this unless it was by choice with my work besties. And even then, I like my alone time!

That is deranged! And, to echo what others are saying here, probably illegal. Tell your friend to tell the company they have concerns about COVID, which...should be something they should be concerned about, too. 

Ugh, I could see in some circumstances this would be fun, but 99.999% of the time I would dread this. I would say a relative is getting married and I couldn’t go bc I’m the maid of honor, I feel like it’s hard to argue that! 

Ok, so my friend recently found out at work that they are doing a big company retreat this summer at a national park, however, co-workers have to room together.  It will be at a hotel, but unclear if it will be nice. Oh and they are keeping it guys room with guys, girls room with girls. 

But I was so taken aback by this when my friend told me! It's weird to have a mandatory retreat where you HAVE to room with someone you work with right? Has anyone dealt with this or have good excuses they've used to get out of work retreats in the before times? My friend is dreading this.

A mandatory company retreat where you have to room with a coworker is weird, right?

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