Co-worker asking for my birthday

[Anonymous]

Omg just give you birthdate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the birthday person in my office. Would you be okay with some kind of private recognition, such as an e-giftcard?

Oh my gosh. Why can you not accept “no”?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't take my birthday off, usually, but many people do. Having it on the calendar makes it uncomfortably clear why you're off.

I don’t think “many” people take their birthdays off as adults.

[Anonymous]

I said, “Oh, what a nice idea! I actually don’t wish to share my birthdate. But I realize that for other people who enjoy celebrating in the office, what you’re doing is a nice thing.” I feel like the birthday people in the office REALLY want to be thought of and recognized as thoughtful and nice people, so I tried to give a nod to that while saying I didn’t want to participate.

[Anonymous]

Isn't your birthday considered personal data? Even w/o the year? Before we were virtual my office gave cupcakes to people born in the particular month, although not the specific date, but I have also seen month/day used in some platforms as part of verifying identity. We have to comply with European data protection regulations as well as US and birthday would definitely fall under that.

[Anonymous]

I like the way we celebrate birthdays at my office.

We have weekly staff meetings. At the first one each month, our VP gives a little shout-out to the people who have birthdays that month. ("Let's all give a little shout-out to our March birthdays -- Dan, Meghan, Luke, and Jasmine. Happy Birthday everyone." We all give a little applause and say Happy Birthday.) (The VP's admin prepares the list for him, so none of us know the exact date of the birthdays. And of course no one has to disclose their age -- we have a range of ages in our office from 29 to 54.)

That's it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They just want an excuse for cake. I think you can just say, “Thanks so much! But I’d prefer not to have my birthday on the calendar.” Then immediately pivot to talking about something else.

100% cake. We do birthday snacks and birthday person chooses snack. No cards, balloons, etc. Absolutely no singing. And we're lucky if we get within a week or two.
It's fine with me if people make up a birthday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A coworker wants to know my birthday so they can post it on our team calendar. They’re very nice and they mean well, but I’m just not interested in having my birth date information posted so publicly. How do I turn down the request in a nice way?

I think if you refuse you will come off as unhinged, sorry. What happened on your birthday to make it si negative? What will happen if people wish you a happy birthday?

It could be for religious reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A coworker wants to know my birthday so they can post it on our team calendar. They’re very nice and they mean well, but I’m just not interested in having my birth date information posted so publicly. How do I turn down the request in a nice way?

I think if you refuse you will come off as unhinged, sorry. What happened on your birthday to make it si negative? What will happen if people wish you a happy birthday?

+1. If you must, just say “I don’t like to be the center of attention, but so sweet of you to think of me!”

That’s it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I like the way we celebrate birthdays at my office.

We have weekly staff meetings. At the first one each month, our VP gives a little shout-out to the people who have birthdays that month. ("Let's all give a little shout-out to our March birthdays -- Dan, Meghan, Luke, and Jasmine. Happy Birthday everyone." We all give a little applause and say Happy Birthday.) (The VP's admin prepares the list for him, so none of us know the exact date of the birthdays. And of course no one has to disclose their age -- we have a range of ages in our office from 29 to 54.)

That's it!

You certainly know the age range in your office with a lot of specificity, considering that “no one has to disclose their age.”

[Anonymous]

Yeah, at my law firm an email is sent firm wide listing all the birthdays coming the following month. I just said "I like to keep my birthday private, so please don't add mine to the list."

I guarantee you're thinking about it more than the coworker, OP. And if there are 25 people or more, you're not the only one who feels this way.

[Anonymous]

No one shares the year they were born, just the month and day.

[Anonymous]

I would judge someone who refuses to share their birthday more harshly than the “birthday people”, though I find them extremely annoying and don’t care if it’s someone’s birthday or if people know mine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the birthday person in my office. Would you be okay with some kind of private recognition, such as an e-giftcard?

Just stop the nonsense.

100%

No need for this goofy shit in a professional setting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A coworker wants to know my birthday so they can post it on our team calendar. They’re very nice and they mean well, but I’m just not interested in having my birth date information posted so publicly. How do I turn down the request in a nice way?

I never ever let them know. And request HR not reveal