To leave work on time?!!

[skyblueeee]

I find working full time (9-5:30) quite hard, I feel tired and restricted, which is why I can't wait for the clock to strike 5:30 and I can walk out the office, drive home, eat dinner and relax....

But the problem is, no one ever leaves at 5:30 I look around and everyone is still working while I walk out the door, I even get a few judgemental looks from colleagues. I'm usually the first one out, if not I'm one of the first.

Does it look bad to leave work on time? Obviously if I had something urgent to do I would finish it, but I don't want to stay just to look good. I already get home about 6:20pm depending on traffic and not keen to have an even longer day....

a member of senior management with access to a key will then review the request and open the door at their discretion

So if I am reading this correctly it is up to a member of “senior management” to decide if a family emergency is worthy of the food being opened?

I feel that this is illegal to start with and also if anyone had tried to tell me I couldn’t leave the office if something happened to a member of my family then the fall out from that would be horrific and I would have been leaving, even if I had to call the police and tell them I was being held against my will.
I manage a team and make every effort to ensure that they are all out by 5.30pm. It is absolutely fine to wash a cup at 5.27. Every member of the team is logged in by 9.30am and they know if there is every any sort of emergency they are free to leave

I don't know why people are replying to @CalF123. They're as much as a manager as I am The Queen.

As long as you aren't shutting down your computer, washing your drinking glass, putting away stationery and putting your coat on etc. before 5.30 (and then bolting our the door at 5.30 on the dot!) then that's fine.

You also need to arrive a bit before 9 too, so that you have gotten yourself settled and at your desk to start at 9.

@skyblueeee I feel your pain! I work 7-3 whilst most others in my office work 9-5 (we can do flexitime) I usually end up staying until 3.30 anyway, but the looks I get! I say goodbye and they all turn to look at the clock like I'm doing something wrong!

I've decided to just ignore it, they have the option to do the same hours as me and choose not to, their problem - although I know ignoring is easier said than done! X

Oh to be a fly on the wall the day that Cal's firm comes up against an employee who decides to challenge this policy, gets sacked and takes them to an employment tribunal...

Oh and FYI, booting up and powering down IT equipment is part of your work task. It's company property and the process of switching on and off is therefore considered work, especially if IT equipment has to be powered down every day for security updates etc. The Sports Direct case clarified this; by not paying staff whilst they were queuing to be searched at the end of the day, the firm was acting illegally - as the search was a non-negotiable part of the working day.

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, just because a "senior manager" does something, doesn't mean that it's right or legal.

I once worked with a German guy who was uber strict about arriving and leaving on time, and always taking his full lunch hour. I was honestly was so impressed.

I worked with someone like this and they were universally hated in the office. Never did one shred of work outside their allotted time. Phone ringing off the hook at 8:58am, they wouldn't answer it until 9am so one of us had to. Teams hated this person because, if there was a surge of work, they would not stay a few extra minutes to help. However they soon got fed up as the rest of us had far more flexibility to take time back, leave early etc. She was treated exactly as she worked, minute for minute.

You won't see me in the office at 16.01 on any day of any week. I've done my hours, it's time to go home.

They don't get anything extra by staying late, except impact on their personal life.

@NerrSnerr

Wrong. I can assure you I'm not trolling.

Its always Cal that comes on the thread and speaks shit.
What fucking places locks office doors and don’t let you wash your mug up? Bunch of twats. I’d just leave my mug on the table with abit of tea in it and bring a new one in every day just to piss you off. Never heard such shit from any other posters on these boards except cal.

@CalF. Aren't you the poster on dofe thread that said you work for a uni? I'm pretty sure no uni works the way you describe.

Honestly I do believe @CalF is making a lovely little story up here

I hope you're not using MN at your desk Cal. Surely you should be stood by the front door watching the prisoners arriving and getting ready for lock down?!

@siwel123

I didn't say I worked for a uni on that thread- I said I had experience in recruitment, which I do.

Ah experience in recruitment. You could also put on your CV experience in being a shit manager that everyone hates but pretends to like because you're a psycho

I won't stay late at work, I get my work done in my hours. No-one notices if I work in my lunchbreak or get in 15 minutes early, but my manager glances i at the clock if I leave 5 minutes early. Gets on my nerves.

I won't stay late at work, I get my work done in my hours. No-one notices if I work in my lunchbreak or get in 15 minutes early, but my manager glances i at the clock if I leave 5 minutes early. Gets on my nerves.

I have to be in during core hours (8.30-3pm) but apart from that my time is my own and I manage my workload however I want. DH works flexibly. It must be so difficult juggling childcare and all the associated issues that crop up with children (illness, appointments, school plays etc) if you work somewhere completely rigid.

Being trusted means I work really hard. I get in before 8am but I leave around 3.30 most days so I can pick up my children and have dinner with them. I work at home when I need to.

If I was an employer, I’d want happy and motivated staff with a healthy work/life balance. People working themselves into the ground will burn out. People who don’t feel valued by management won’t do as good a job.

Our doors are locked btw but all staff have my cards to buzz in and out whenever we need to - like if you leave something in your car, need a bit of fresh air etc! Mental health is so important; treating staff badly, expecting them to sign over their souls and micromanaging their every move will not result in a healthy workforce and as they are the backbone of the organisation a sensible management team will prioritise their wellbeing.

@siwel123

You would be free to leave without divulging any information, but your contract would also be terminated on the spot. I don't know of many companies that allow staff to leave without senior management authorisation.

It's 9:15 Calf, what the hell are you doing on MN.

Civil service do

You would be free to leave without divulging any information, but your contract would also be terminated on the spot. I don't know of many companies that allow staff to leave without senior management authorisation.

I can in my job, in fact I plan on leaving at lunch time today.

I hope one of your employees either puts you through the wall in an effort to leave or takes you to a tribunal.

You can't also fire someone immediately. You will be prosecuted if you do.

You are contracted to work until 5.30pm, so you should be working up until that time

TBH I think Cal had a good point. Packing up and "washing cups" are ancillary activities akin to commuting or taking a shower. You don't begin getting ready to go to work and expect to be at home in your PJs at 5pm do you? So you shouldn't be wasting time doing other things during the "work" time.

I always leave on time.

I work in sales, there isn't a specific workload that needs to get done. As long as I'm making money for the company then there's no issue. Plus I'm on a self employed contract so I get no holiday pay. I'm not staying late!

You don't begin getting ready to go to work at 9am, I mean.

If anyone tried to physically prevent me from leaving a building I would phone the police btw.
I would rather suck cocks on a street corner than work somewhere like that, if such a place actually existed beyond someone's fevered imaginings.