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....

I have to be at work 10/15 mins before the start of my shift. I leave on time, the office shuts at 6pm so if I finish then, we are all out the door at 6.01pm

What about those of us racing to nursery and school clubs for pick up? I have no option but to leave dead on time. I come in early when I can.

This is the part that annoys me about employers. In our industry it's not difficult to be flexible yet a lot of employers aren't. A lot of sectors are so inflexible for no reason other than they choose to be! Personally, we can't always accommodate every employee however we try to encourage staff to support each other but not kick the arse out of it. For instance we have parents who need time off for sports days, children's sickness, childcare issues etc. We also have childless employees who need to leave early for appointments, caring commitments to elderly parents, concerts etc. We're a 24 hour service yet every shift is covered as staff work together to cover each other. It's give and take without watching the clock. without locking employees in

W

I leave at my leaving time, sometimes a few mins before. I also don't take many regular breaks for coffee, smoking like others. They know I do my job, they don't care. The company will still run even after you stop working, it won't collapse just because you didn't stay an extra hour.

Used to care about doing overtime, not any more. It's not appreciated or necessary.

Personally I'm not going to "feed" calf anymore. I used to have little dolls like that when I was small with multi coloured hair 😂

I have a job and not a career. I work to live, not live to work.

I think thats the thread, it depends on where the OP is in that scenario.

A job, clock in and out on time and not give anything else, a career however will at some point be looked down on if you have that attitude. As we have no idea what situation the OP is in, this thread is just full of anecdotes trying to say what scenario is best.

Cue loads of people who have a career who say how they are senior management and have always clocked out on time.

There are too many variables in this type of situation to say what is right and wrong.

Locasta ok sorry must have thought the comment was aimed at me since you quoted me

I'm glad that you aren't a manager in my department Cal. But then my organisation treats its employees like human beings, and understands that flexibility tends to ensure loyalty and the extra mile from people. Consequently we have excellent growth, targets being met - and often exceeded - and very good staff retention and career progression.

I often do a floorwalk towards the end of the day to make sure people are getting ready to head home. It's a cultural thing encouraged by our HR team because they found that when they moved from a draconian approach to being 'present', sickness absence went down, productivity went up and morale results in the annual staff survey also went up. I do regularly ask people who intend to stay late if it is really necessary for them to do so. Presenteeism doesn't impress me, and I am all for people finishing on the dot - because in my department it's very common for 95% of them to be at their desks and working well before 9am. So it's only fair that there is give and take.

I wonder how much the churn rate costs your organisation - in recruitment, training and lost productivity?

you must be left with 0.25 of a decent candidate

Presumably you aren’t looking for the decent candidates. They’ll be gone after a couple of weeks. You want the ones that are unlikely to be employed elsewhere and will stay because they have to —or are locked in—.

CalF probably doesn't run anything. She'll be a bored, alcoholic, cat lady with nothing better to do and a limited imagination. Come on if you're going to create a fake persona to be goady on the Internet at least be more creative. You could be anything CalF; the mistress of Richard o brien, idris elba's manicurist, a fireman who moonlights as a tap dancer, a Chinese acrobat or the creator of post it notes. But no, you want to be an office manager who locks the doors to imprison the staff. Reach for the fake stars!

It's illegal to lock staff in

It's illegal to claim that 5 minutes where you imprison staff at the end of the day is unpaid break.

Even call centres aren't as shit as this

I guess it depends on your job.

I have a busy, professional job and it would just be bizarre for me to get up and walk out every day at the same time, as if I worked shifts and clocked on/off.

Having said that, I hate presenteeism and so if you have finished your work (and not just a lightweight version of it), by all means go ahead.

Agree that CalF is lying. You cannot attached 5 minutes onto the end of the day that isn't paid and say its contracted. And if you do, it doesn't make the contract legal. You can write any contract you want, it isn't legally binding until a court says it is, and that would be an unfair term, hence not legally binding. You were almost believable until that point.

It does fascinate me how long it is assumed people take to pack away. I am a teacher so can leave at any time after 3pm (children finish 10 minutes before that) and take my work away with me. However, I do work with a computer and therefore am familiar with the concept of turning it off and logging out of systems ...

So... Cross off attendance program - 5 seconds
Hit start - shutdown - 5 seconds
Pick up bag and coat - 5 seconds
Walk to nearest exit - 30 seconds...

Less than a minute... Would be seriously irritating if I was then forced to wait another 15 seconds to get out... That is about an hour a year in non-educational settings...

@AskAuntLydia

No-one is being "imprisoned". There's no reason for the main entrance to be open during working hours.

@kittymamma

The staff are contracted until 5.05pm and their contracts say they have to be on site during contracted hours. It's not illegal.

It takes the staff time to shut down their PCs and go to their lockers to collect belongings. The one minute gap is to account for that and to ensure those tasks aren't done during work time

I'm now imagining that you work in some kind of Matrix type environment. Are you sure you employ humans?

Why couldn’t those tasks be done in work time? These tasks are for work.

I come in early when I can. If I worked for a place like your I would give ZERO shits about my work or giving anything extra. Ghastly

We pay overtime .. so unless it's been pre-agreed we kick people out the door whatever time their shift finishes !

No-one is being "imprisoned". There's no reason for the main entrance to be open during working hours.

Well yes there is purely from a psychological point of view. The set up immediately prevents an environment of trust. It will make people feel uncomfortable.

I am in and out the office due to my job, but the other day I let a spider out, thank goodness he wasn't in your office, he would have been doomed to a life of being imprisoned. Though I did find him in the loos, so I am guessing he wouldn't have been discovered anyway as you can't have those pesky workers being allowed to go to the loo.

@SmithyStreet

It's the same in the office, except instead of door codes it can be opened by senior management.

Do the PCs have to be logged off and powered down every night CalF?

Because if that’s a requirement, then it’s work and should be done during work time.

And honestly, if you treat people like shit then their productivity is going to be shit. Your staff retention must be terrible. How can you think that caging people like animals is going to be in any way good for the company?

@JaniceBattersby

Switching off a PC is not 'work'. Even if it was, the staff are contracted until 5.05pm.

Stop feeding the troll...

@kittymamma

Why do you think I'm a troll? I can assure you I'm not.

Lets see, a quote from another thread, posted by you:
A 15 year old girl needs her own bedroom. The fact that she could have one but you are choosing to deny her it is even worse. I'd be relocating the living room to the roof if it meant my DC could have their own bedroom... do you value and respect her that little? What kind of message does that send...

Another extreme response with an unreasonable expectation. Here you have "lock 'em in till home time" and there you have "how horrible you are not to give up your living room for a child that has been living with you a week". Now either, you are an overly emotional person, who tends to live in the extremes (oh the drama) or you are deliberately composing responses to create a reaction. I suspect the latter, and if I am wrong, then I hope you are not overly outraged at such a suggestion .

However, I have given you the courtesy of a response, but I am not going to choose to converse with you any longer. You may keep up your pretence but I am not convinced and am not going to engage in your game.