A recent survey suggests poor etiquette in shared office kitchens may be causing discord among Canadian coworkers. Two-thirds (67 per cent) of respondents stated they would have negative feelings toward a co-worker if they believed they didn’t contribute to keeping the office kitchen clean.

More than 1,000 Canadian office workers surveyed by Angus Reid Forum on behalf of Rubbermaid found that the most annoying office behaviour is leaving a splattered microwave (37 per cent), followed by dishes piled in the sink instead of being put in the dishwasher (28 per cent), and coworkers heating up or eating foods with strong odours (21 per cent).

Nearly two-thirds of respondents (62 per cent) believe that men leave the most mess in the office kitchen. Junior employees and interns are also being blamed, with 65 per cent and 56 per cent of respondents respectively citing them as the mess-makers. When asked whether they themselves have left a mess without tidying up after themselves, only one in 10 respondents (6 per cent) admitted they had.

Most people never contront a co-worker about leave a messy kitchen and only 15 per cent have directly spoken to the person they believe committed a kitchen faux-pas

Other tactics used by workers to address a colleague include leaving a note posted in the kitchen, sending an all-staff email and hoping the intended recipient gets the message, leaving the suspected colleague an anonymous post-it note on their desk and telling their boss or manager.

Other survey stats show 44 per cent of Canadians who work in offices with shared kitchens bring their lunch to work every day.