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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To expect to work only my contracted hours

60 replies

Meandacat · 24/02/2016 19:33

Just started a new job. Everyone is very nice. Contracted hours are 35hrs pw, so a 7 hour day. My commute is about an hour and 20 mins and I accepted the job having carefully worked out options for trains/buses etc and being able to get home in time to pick up my LO from childcare. What has become apparent, however, is that no-one in my immediate team just does their standard hours. Its a small team and they all seems to work through lunch and an extra hour on top. I know this is not unusual in many places of work, but my line of work is not a particularly high-pressured/performance related sector so I'm surprised to find it here. It's not been my experience elsewhere. Everything else about it (dress code etc) is pretty relaxed.

Anyway, I don't know what to do? Part of the issue is that no one else in my small team has children. My new line manager has said she understands I have responsibilities and the woman I'll be reporting to just said "so long as the work gets done". But a few days in, I already feel terrible at being the first one to scuttle out the door. AIBU? Do I follow my colleagues' example (though I don't really know how I can) or should I just brazen it out? Anyone else been in this position?

OP posts:

redexpat · 24/02/2016 20:51

Work smarter not harder.

SharkSkinThing · 24/02/2016 20:52

^^ what anyfucker said.

I work 25 hours a week but due to staff shortages I am doing clearing the equivalent of a 50 hour a week position. I do this by getting in at 7.30am but I leave, on the dot, at 2pm for the school, run. I have to, end of. I can not bear procrastination, and where I work, in HE, it is prolific.

I have no lunch break, and my working day is 6.5 hours. Hardly the stereotypical p/t when most f/t is 8 hours with an hour for lunch. My lunch is unpaid, so why bother, I think, to take it.

People need to be more progressive in their interpretation of what constitutes a 'normal' working day. Any entrepreneur will tell you they got where they are by pushing the boundaries.

I'm sorry you are coming up against this, but start as you mean to go on, though I appreciate you may work somewhere more conventional than me. I would employ a working parent every time - they are much more receptive to time constraints and incredibly productive.

Good luck!

Beth2511 · 24/02/2016 20:55

Im in retail management and depending on childcare arrangements for that day (ie other half might be starting work an hour after i finish so need to be prompt home) i have to leave and start on time. Days i dont i generally stay on etc but will also tend to take it easier during shifts because i know theres no rush.

Doubt anyone would have a problem with it

FrogFairy · 24/02/2016 20:56

If the work is not done within the contracted hours then they either need more staff or to take look at how the work can be done more efficiently.

EweAreHere · 24/02/2016 20:57

Stand firm. If you are getting your work done and working your full 35 hour week, you have nothing to feel bad about. You should be viewed as efficient and good at your job; if they need extra time to get the same amount of work done, they are inefficient and need to work on that.

Just always find a way to make it obvious to TPTB that your work is being completed in a timely and high quality manner.

IrenetheQuaint · 24/02/2016 21:01

There's nothing wrong with staying a bit later to finish stuff off; and there's equally nothing wrong with leaving on time, especially given that you have to pick up children.

As long as you are efficient during the day there really is nothing to worry about, and no one sensible will judge you.

Original poster

Meandacat · 24/02/2016 21:07

Thanks everyone. Sound advice on being as productive as possible and starting as I mean to go on. It does annoy me that there's this expectation here in the UK to work beyond contractual hours as a given. I have done that in a previous career, but I was paid more and got other perks... and now I think of it, no-one minded when the parents went home on time. So I'll stick to it!

OP posts:

bananafish · 24/02/2016 21:09

You should work your contracted hours, of course. And not feel at all guilty about it. I'm sure if there was a genuine reason, (on a very occasional basis), then you would stay if you could, but other than that, there's no need to hang about.

I really dislike the culture of presenteeism. It's wasteful and inefficient and rarely favours working mothers.

I work in an industry that has a 24 hr cycle and genuinely throws up work that has to be done outside of normal working hours on a daily basis.

That is why we have systems in place to manage that demand, although it is predictable in its unpredictability, so actually easier to deal with.

But, as a manager, I am very at any of my team members who are still at work at 7/8/9pm. It is easy to do, but makes me think that they can't manage their workload effectively and/or use the back up systems.

thatcoldfeeling · 24/02/2016 21:15

Always work to contract.

If you are not in a union, join one, and encourage your colleagues to join to.

squiggleirl · 24/02/2016 21:18

I know I'm going against the grain here, but I would say keep a close eye on things.

My experience is not that people need to work overtime because they haven't organised themselves properly, but rather that management have an unrealistic expectation as to what can be achieved in the allotted time, and so overtime is required to meet targets. TBH, it's highly unlikely that everybody in there has ignored the idea of working smarter, and instead has decided to work longer hours. It's far more likely that work is allocated based on what can be achieved within a slightly longer working day.

I also think it's worth checking what your contract says in relation to overtime. Any contract I have ever had has a statement about me agreeing to do reasonable overtime to meet business needs. That is suitably vague to cover most eventualities, so I have no out for not working overtime to meet deadlines.

I also would be wary of mentioning children as being a reason for leaving. Just as you can't be discriminated against for having children, you also can't receive different treatment because you do. The truth is, come review time, if others are working longer hours, and potentially achieving more targets as a result, then you would not be in a position to be treated the same as them, and this could impact on your position/career within the company.

Shakey15000 · 24/02/2016 21:25

Brazen it. Set your stall out now before it becomes routine and expected of you.

StealthPolarBear · 24/02/2016 21:28

" The truth is, come review time, if others are working longer hours, and potentially achieving more targets as a result, then you would not be in a position to be treated the same as them, and this could impact on your position/career within the company."
Surely this is not discrimination. This is life?
I work late, and am also very efficient during the hours I do work. I also have no problems with leaving early when I need or want to.

MiniCooperLover · 24/02/2016 21:30

Be the person who actually gets their work done in the working day and goes home on time

squiggleirl · 24/02/2016 21:30

I'm not suggesting it's discrimination, but pointing out that it's a situation when sticking to working only your contracted hours can come back to bite you.

StealthPolarBear · 24/02/2016 21:32

Ah ok sorry. I actually thought you were saying if that happened parents could claim discrimination.

GreenPetal94 · 24/02/2016 21:33

I think it depends what your job / level is. I work as a project manager and earn £46k and if I never worked any extra hours ever I think I would be seen as not doing my job. I normally leave on time but sometimes do a bit from home. And it depends if a big deadline is coming up. However most of my staff I would not expect to work extra but they are paid less.

StealthPolarBear · 24/02/2016 21:51

But what do you think the cut off is rainbow?
I work more for a few reasons. I feel very strongly about what we do and am happy to give up some time to it. I am also ambitious and want to get involved in lots of things. I have quite a bit of control over my own work and to some extent get to say whether I can take on new stuff, I choose to do so. Also, at particular times of the year o work extra to make sure things are right as the earlier I find a problem in what we produce the longer ill have to put it right and the less stressed ill feel.

Original poster

Meandacat · 24/02/2016 21:54

Squiggleirl has hit the nail on the head about my concerns. I do appreciate that my long commute and childcare issues are not my teams' concern. And I am absolutely prepared to stay late if volume of work dictates, just not every day. if I wasn't a parent, I honestly wouldn't mind staying late. But the fact that none of the other team members are parents makes me wonder if this is why they routinely hang around longer than need be. No-one seems particularly stressed out of their box. But when I mentioned the hours I'd like to do, 8-4, they seemed a bit , like it wasn't the done thing to leave before 5 no matter how early you get in. (I was told the hours were flexible...)

rainbowspiral, I'm not exactly bottom rung but am a pretty long way off being a project manager. I've taken a cut/step back to get a foot in the door, in truth. So I do want to impress. But I also want to have dinner with my child.

OP posts:

zeezeek · 24/02/2016 22:00

There is a massive assumption on here sometimes that people who work over their hours are wasting time during the day. In my job, sometimes, there's just no way that all the work can be done within office hours and that is quite normal for a lot of jobs.

However, saying that, I always believe that the output is more important, unfortunately, though, there are people who just work contracted hours and by doing so don't actually do the work needed. And yes, that does impact on their prospects - as it should.

IrenetheQuaint · 24/02/2016 22:02

Tbh for people that don't have unavoidable commitments, then staying on half an hour to finish something off, have a chat, get ready for the following day, clear out emails etc is pretty normal in most professional offices.

If you can stay late occasionally during busy periods that's great and I suspect will make a different to how people perceive you.

The other thing to watch out for is that often the interesting conversations, where you all moan or compare notes or discuss what isn't working for you, happen after hours... so it's worth building up relationships so you have a space to have those discussions with colleagues over coffee/lunch instead.

StealthPolarBear · 24/02/2016 22:06

I tend to find (not in this job) that the people who need to leave on the dot of five or whatever are the ones for whom the flexibility only seems to go one way. They are twenty minutes late regularly because of a bad night sleep or traffic. Then they leave on the dot of five or sometimes earlier because they need to be somewhere. And the flexibility the other way never seems to emerge.

PattyPenguin · 24/02/2016 22:06

It's a matter of culture and a bad habit we in the UK have got into, mainly because of US work culture (2 weeks paid holiday a year and lots of people don't even take that, female lawyers taking work calls in the labour room in hospital, that kind of thing) and terrible management styles.

I don't know if it's still the same in the Netherlands, but 10 years ago you were looked down on if you didn't leave on time. The attitude was that you were employed to do a certain job in a certain number of hours and if you couldn't, you probably weren't right for the job.

Original poster

Meandacat · 24/02/2016 22:16

irenethequaint that was my other concern...

OP posts:

RaskolnikovsGarret · 24/02/2016 22:41

Not keen on the assumption that working late means being inefficient. I often work late as well as having worked like a multitasking whirlwind all day. I echo the comment that often people expect flexibility to be one sided.

That being said, I can tell you are not a piss taker OP - if you have to leave for childcare reasons, you have to leave. Is there an option for you to take work home to do after your child is in bed? That's what I do a lot of the time.

timealone · 24/02/2016 22:58

OP, I think it really depends on whether you can get your work done in those hours, and what your contract says.

Any contract I have ever had has a statement about me agreeing to do reasonable overtime to meet business needs. That is suitably vague to cover most eventualities, so I have no out for not working overtime to meet deadlines.

This is what my contract says too. I am contracted to 28 hours over 4 days, but I probably work an extra 5 hours per week in all to get everything done. Plus if we have a big project or deadline I sometimes have to do a bit extra.

However, my line manager recognises my hard work, and has been very flexible about accommodating days off when DS is ill or if I need to take him to an appointment. If this weren't the case, then I would probably start counting the hours too.

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