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....

@CalF123 - you cannot do that! You cannot lock people in! What about if there was a fire? They must be able to access an exit at all times!! Locking them in is illegal!

The long hours culture is crazy. It shows that your staff can't cope with the work you give them and they are all too scared to stand up for their right to a 'home life'.
Desperate, sad and waste of time.

I have yet to see a school where the staff is locked inside the school...

You do understand the difference between door closed to the public, and the employees being locked inside and refused exit? Bank of England might not have the front door wide open out of the official tours, it doesn't mean the staff is stuck there.

@Wyatt98765

Fire exits are still accessible. It's only the entrance door that staff are allowed to use to access the office that is locked.

I leave bang on time. I'm not paid to stay any later and I value my evenings! My commute is about an hour door-to-door and I get home at 7pm as it is - any later and I just don't get any time to relax.

It hasn't affected my chances of promotion at all. I've gone from ver part-time to full-time since I started, and been promoted twice in the last six months.

If other people want to martyr themselves and hang around after 6pm for free, that's their choice - I'd rather go home!

Crinkle77 because I work in care. Spending those few minutes chatting to residents is and should be much more important.

I would hate to be micromanaged like that calf123

I’ve worked at places where the MD leaves early to do the nursery pick up

Much better than places where everyone dithers for an extra 20 minutes so they’re not the first to leave

I’d ignore CalF. Whenever they post they always have an interestingly extreme version of whatever topic a thread is about.

And children are not 'locked' into a school. You generally need to be buzzed in but people can get out.

What sort of company is this CalF?

It’s just a job. Do your work to the required standard and go home. Your company will still get rid of you if they have to, we are all just numbers.

In office jobs, I’ve always had flexi. Couldn’t be doing with this strict 9-5 nonsense!

Err I work in a school and we don't lock staff in they all know the door codes...

I leave work 5 minutes early sometimes. But then I start about 30-40 minutes early every day. I often don't even take a lunch break. So yeah, they can gripe if they want to... but then they'd soon notice if I stopped doing my unpaid morning stint!

If my employees are walking out of the building at bang on finish time it tells me they have been packing away/getting ready to leave before then, not working up until then

If our employees walk out of the building on time it tells us they have a home life ☺️ This is why we have flexi time, we encourage a work life balance.

Your company will still get rid of you if they have to, we are all just numbers.

yes and no, it's extremely expensive and time consuming to replace good employees, so it's no one's interest to create a bad work environment, piss people off and randomly get rid of them. If you have to get rid of someone, you will start by the one with the worst attitude!

Surely as long as you do your job, it doesn't matter? I'd prefer the people I manage to feel happy in their work and willing to put the hours in when needed. However, that means that I have to give them some leeway when we have quiet times and not whinge about slightly too long lunch breaks and leaving a bit early/coming in a bit late. It all balances out in the end.

When I worked in the corporate department of a law firm, some would literally faff/ chat all day and then at 5/6 pm start to work staying until late. Drove me bonkers. Some people have no life.

I'm a SAHM mum so I don't really know (when I was working it was self employed so I could do my own thing). But those are long hours, if that is your official end time then why wouldn't you leave on time? Unless on occasion there was an emergency of course.

Nope YANBU. You get paid to work. If they're not paying you after 5:30 then fuck them. I used to regularly stay late at work until one day I thought no, I'm not giving that hell hole another minute of my life. 40 hours a week for shit pay was plenty. I was regularly promised everything under the sun because I was a good employee and picked up extra stuff and worked really hard and none of it ever materialised. I was a grade A twat and was being taken for a ride. More fool those who don't have a life outside work or who are putting in extra for the promise of shit that's never going to appear.

Also CalF I bet you have a wonderful staff retention rate. You sound like my old nazi of a boss who everyone hated and may as well have fitted a revolving door to the front of the building cause no one ever stayed longer than 5 mins working for her regime.

If there's no deadline work to do, I think it's fine. I am a manager myself and I don't judge. However, If there are urgent work to do and we are close to a deadline, I do watch who stay and who leave. Because in this case it is about being a team player and who cares about the project/business.
It honestly depends on your reputation as well. Build yourself a reputation as someone who gets shit done and no one can judge if you leave early. If they do judge for a second, they will rethink after remember what you've done for the business.

CalF is a time traveller and manages a workhouse, apparently.

I'd be leaving through the fire exit if someone tried locking the doors where I work! What a ridiculous way of 'managing', I sincerely hope your staff leave you in the shit Cal.

I don't always leave on time but I resent every extra minute. Life's far too short to spend any more time than necessary at work.

I was asked by a manager a couple of weeks ago what I wanted from my job and I said enough money to pay the bills and have good holidays.

@OAPman

The staff retention rate is probably not sector- leading, but we have at least 100 applicants for every post so it's not a huge concern.

As PP have pointed out: it depends on a number of factors.

Your line of work, your seniority, your ambitions regarding career progression, your relationship with your colleagues and the importance you give them as well as the general working culture at your workplace all matter in determining whether this is okay. I know tons of people who do it and for whom leaving when the clock strikes works just fine, and just as many for whom it really doesn't.

And, no, it really isn't just about the culture at any given firm:

I work in a professional services type of firm and long hours are the norm in my line of work - 45 to 50 a week for junior staff going up to 'why do I even bother maintaining a home instead of setting up a tent in the break room?' for managers on the partner track. In the years I've been here, I've had two colleagues who have been out of the door by 5:01 pm no matter what, and it worked well for one and not at all for the other.

The difference between them was, basically, that one was aware that he was making trade-offs and was willing to forego faster career progression, close office friendships etc. in favour of more family time, and the other expected promotions and invitations to people's house parties on par with everyone else while regularly leaving his half-completed work for colleagues to finish when deadlines were looming.

Coming to think of it: the former colleague never did this. He was stellar at self-management and prioritised well, so if anything was ever left incomplete, it was always something we could do without if push came to shove. I suspect that's why we never resented him, really.