Do you finish work 'on the dot'?

[BananasAreForever]

Most people I know (including me) are regularly working outside of their working hours (weekends and evenings), even without being in particularly high paid roles or being paid overtime. This seems to be a more accepted part of the world of work now but I don't feel this was the case 20 years ago when I started my career.

The expectations put on employees all feels a bit grim, especially as we don't have a huge amount of free time anyway.

Are you lucky enough to have a job where you are able to leave at the exact time your hours finish without the expectation you will be putting in extra hours? If yes, what do you do?

I never work my full time hours. Probably work about 60% of the time. Flexi time allows me to work when I want, and I use a mouse mover in between to skive. My managers happy as long as the work is done.

Yes. I am an accounts manager but I also sit on (a very quiet) reception so when reception closes I lock up and go home.

I work flexitime so the "dot" moves! I can finish at 3pm when "core hours" end if I want to without the need to book a flexi day off. Its useful if I want to pop to the local shops before closing or if we want to get on the road for a holiday.

I wish! NHS Middle Management currently working between 50 and 60 hours a week despite not being paid for anything over and above 37.5. Desperately looking for something new so that I can implement some boundaries...

No we have flexible working so finish early some days and later other and I get TOIL for working extra

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

Although I WFH and have a lot of flexibility so I don't mind the occasional late finish

I don't attend meetings out of my working hours though. A lot of my team is US based and they know if they want me to attend a meeting it needs to be scheduled for a 5.30pm finish (although they tend to run over and I wouldn't just drop off a call)

My first "proper" job in the late 2000s had two main teams. The team downstairs would all be sat, logged off and staring at blank computers by 4.55pm each day. They would then all run to their cars and daily there would be a near pile up as they tried to be out the narrow gateway by 5.01pm. It was hilarious! I have never worked to the dot, and it that job I would frequently be turfed out the building by 5.30pm by the directors as they wanted to go home (I had to pick up mum up nearby, hence would hang around a bit). Even where I work now, 10 years ago when i joined, our Director would encourage us to leave on time or thereabouts as we were not being paid private practice wages, so shouldn't do private practice hours. My current horror of a line manager works until the early hours 7 days a week, so i feel constant stress about not working enough.

No. I'm a teacher. I'm generally in school until 4:45. I also work at the weekend and several evenings a week too.

I have hard stop of 5pm to get to childcare on time. Others will work over but i’m always telling them to go home.
if you regularly work over the alloted time then management will think the workload is manageable. It’s not because multiple people are working 4-5 hours over a week

I can't remember the last time I worked my contracted 7 hr day and no more.

I finish on the dot on Mon and Tues as I WFH and have to collect DD on time. I have a flexible working arrangement and do 2 shorter days WFH and 3 longer ones in the office.

Weds-Fri I am in the office and DD is picked up by her Dad, so I stay later out of choice as I miss the traffic. I am also usually a bit late in (because I am shit at mornings).

No-one expects me to though. Senior manager, HE sector.

No, I finish on the dot always

I'd say 85% of the year/month/week I finish on the dot and I expect my team to do so all the time (for a given value of 'on the dot' - some work flexibly etc but I still make sure they're not doing overtime) because I want to be crystal clear there's no expectation. The other 15% is usually just unmovable deadlines stacking up. But I take it back when I can - there are big chunks of the year where I could go and get my hair done in the middle of the day and nobody would care, so I figure the flexibility goes both ways and I don't complain about the odd long day if it means nobody complains when I make work fit round my life.

I used to finish on the dot until I went in to leadership. Now if there’s someone that needs me, or a bit of a crisis, I feel I have a duty of care to support. The way I see it is that the wage compensates me for that responsibility.

I did use to stay late to help clear up (customer service role) but I got reprimanded for being 1 minute late to work so now I leave on the dot.

When I used to catch a train to work (only one an hour) yes I did.
Now, I finish what I am doing first then log off/go home.

My line management only ever seem to notice if your a few minutes late but never notice all the hours you’ve spent staying behind, funny that!
Now they can go fuck themselves i leave bang on my time.
Anything not done can be done the following day; prioritise the most urgent the rest can wait.

Yes, I leave within a couple of minutes of the official end of our working day. Technically, as a manager, my contract states I should work "the hours required to undertake my role but not less than 35 per week", but I won't work more than 35 on principle.

Legal sector here. I’ve never had an official start or end time. My first employment contract said that I would be expected to work whatever hours were required to do the job. In the first few years as a junior associate I would regularly work from 9am to 2am or later - pop home in a taxi for a power nap and shower - and be back at my desk for 9am to repeat. Once or twice, when there wasn’t time to get home and back, I just had a snooze on my desk. I lived on takeaways that I could order direct to my desk using the company account and Red Bull from the vending machine. Grim.

Now I am much older more senior and I set my own hours around my workload. Plus hybrid working is now a thing, so if I’ve worked until the early hours (still happens occasionally), I’ll WFH the next day.

I do but I have a job that someone takes over from me, literally sits in my seat to cover the next shift. It would be an extremely bad day if I was held passed my finishing time.
i have set hours and have to be in and logged on at or before my start time and ready to go. I literally get one hour per day away from my desk to eat, toilet etc. it’s pretty regimented. Come finishing time a colleague takes my seat and co ti use the job

95% of the time I finish on time. I am a free lance consultant, I don't get bonuses, holiday pay, sick pay, pension or health care. If they want me to work beyond by contracted hours I will charge for it. Some clients I have worked with for years and there is definitely an element of good will insofar as wanting to help out if the situation demands, but I will not have the piss taken out of me.

I have a vague memory that my contract says 9-5. But I have an 8:30 meeting every day that requires about 30 minutes prep. And semi-regular evening calls with the US and occasional 8am calls too. I think I average about 10-11hours a day. So no.

On the upside nobody minds if you have to leave early/arrive late for the occasional appointment, as long as you manage around essential meetings. It’s a long hours culture but also a high trust one.

99% of the time. Very occasionally, I get caught up in something and have to stay up to half an hour late but I claim it back as TOIL.

My colleagues tend to like building up TOIL whereas I need to leave on time to collect my son from nursery so it works out.

Yes. But I’m always in 45 mins to an hour before I start work.

No, my work is task based (lawyer) and i actually hate leaving something half done so I prefer to work until I've finished it/ have reached a natural break. Usually it means I go over my contracted hours reach day but it's one of those contracts for professionals which requires "as much time as it's required". I don't really think about it because I really like the work and I'm well paid.

However it works both ways. Yesterday I reached a natural break around 4.30 and decided to go home rather than start a new thing. And last Friday (wFH) I had to have several breaks as my daughter had an ear infection and I was running around getting her a doctor appointment and prescription. Given the extra hours I put in I have flexibility to do that without getting pulled up.

When I used to do shop or bar work I did clockwatch and finish on the dot. I think when work is uninteresting and physically tiring it seems more of a chore.