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....

Cal your management structure sounds bonkers and completely inefficient. But if your firm wants to pay its employees at directorate level to monitor toilet breaks and control the opening of the main door, then it's their money.

I think we all need to stop engaging with the crae crae.

@PinkSparklyPussyCat

We've only had 3 'emergencies' at the company since it's been open. Two have been dealt with using the prescribed procedure- staff reported it to senior management using the internal system, and we allowed them to leave. The other one was a little bit more difficult, as the ex- employee in question decided to try to get into the senior management's offices(which isn'tallowed)before leaving through the fire exit. She had her contract terminated.

Why are employees not allowed into the senior management offices? Are the staff unclean? Are the senior management too special to look at the staff? What a strange place to work.

If there is an emergency, it’s not for ‘senior management ‘ to decide whether the employee is allowed to leave, that is up to the individual employee. What is an emergency for one employee, might not be for another. If someone has a need to leave in an emergency, I imagine they would leave by the fire exit rather than wait for a management decision.

Cal - how do you decide? What happens if you decide the employee doesn’t have your permission to leave?

Why can’t an employee go into senior management ‘s office? I operate an open door policy- if the door is open you can come in.

@Parker231

We will review each request for emergency leave carefully and compassionately. But ultimately, if it comes down to someone asking to leave for a trivial reason- i.e. their goldfish has died or their child cried at nursery, they have two options. They can stay in the office or leave and have their contract terminated(through the fire exit).

Our senior management team are very busy, especially as there are only six of us to run a fairly large company. We'd never manage to do anything if we had employees constantly in and out of our offices.

Staff are welcome to speak to us while we are patrolling the office, or they can contact us using the internal system.

It’s not a poor attitude at all OP. Never mind the others. You’re not paid to stay on so unless your work isn’t finished you don’t need to stay longer. If I did I would want overtime payment and I’m sure that if your boss wasn’t happy they would let you know. Do the others get any benefit at all from staying on? Larger bonuses, overtime pay ? recognition and thanks from the boss even ?

Our senior management team are very busy, especially as there are only six of us to run a fairly large company.

Make your bloody mind up!, is it a nursery or not?

Our senior management team are very busy, especially as there are only six of us to run a fairly large company.

Make your bloody mind up!, is it a nursery or not?

Just when you think Cal’s workplace can’t sound any more shit

Staff are welcome to speak to us while we are patrolling the office

This really is the thread that keeps on giving. . Although I think you've over egged it with the office patrols, and I'm boggling at a staff structure with senior managers but no managers. Well I would be if I thought any of it was true. I unsurreptitiously washed my cup at 3.30 yesterday in honour of this thread though.

Patrolling the offices? Sounds more like a prison by the minute.

Oh BTW cal here's a copy of your post, just in-case the original goes "walkabout":-

@Isthiscorrect1

DC don't need to leave the nursery during the day. My staff don't need to leave the office during the day. I don't see the issue with the door being secured in both situations.

Jesus.

That's. Wow. I'm actually speechless.

I'm glad I don't work if there's fictional managers like you around Cal

They can have their contract terminated and leave through the fire exit eh Cal?
Is the fire exit a euphemism?
Are they ever seen again if they go through the fire exit?
It sounds like the Handmaid's Tale. But a less fun place to be.

I don’t even see my staff from week to week because we’re all at different locations. If they need to go home early they go and send me and email saying ‘I’ve had to go home and I’ll make time up at x or take emergency leave’. I don’t even ask for a reason. You can see if the works getting done or not, no need to waste time micro managing staff instead of doing something more productive.

Leave leave leave !
I am martyr and it’s a hard habit to shift

cal is missing a trick here. How are the workers finding out about these emergencies? Surely they aren't allowed phones at the desk? If they are, they should probably be banned.

I am wondering how a smoker has a fag break between 9am and 5.01pm?

So , the doors are unlocked for 100 staff to go to lunch in the canteen. They have just half an hour to queue up to be served , find a table and eat their food and be back in the workplace all in 30 minutes ?
You Cal are a fantasist and this is all a complete lack load of utter rubbish. No- one would want to work with people like you.

I also would think that the health and safety people would be onto you with locking people in ! Let's hope that you are not in court one day facing manslaughter charges in the event of a serious fire. You sound delightful.( not )

When I worked in the City as an executive assistant I did my emails on the train on my Blackbery to and from work. But that was dead time so I made sense. I checked my emails briefly in the evenings.

That was my choice though. I quite liked my job and my boss and I was being paid a very good salary.

Now I work in less demanding role in a small regional office on far less money I leave work on time. We have flexible hours anyway though.

No I wouldn't be working extra unless there was an absolute necessity as it's a mugs game and one that people easily get sucked into for it to become the normal culture.

When nursing we often had absolutely no choice but to not have breaks during a 12 hours shift and then get off late, it absolutely sucked and it wasn't appreciated by management. The trouble was when the paced slackened off a bit and we could have taken breaks there was always some nurses who didn't and this made everyone else feel like they were in the wrong to have a rest.

I remember being 8 months pregnant and had started work at lunchtime, by 7.45 pm I asked my manager if I could have a break and something to eat, she didn't look happy.

So the moral of my story is YANBU to not work extra time if there's no need. And even if there is a need (as there always was in the NHS) sometimes your needs should come first!