To leave work on time?

[lenalove]

I work in an admin role in finance (small company) and my contracted hours are 9-6. I only take my full lunch hour 2-3 times a week, the rest of the time eat at my desk and take 20-30 mins or so. I make a point of leaving between 6-6.30 daily (unless there is something specific I am asked to do/an important task that needs finishing) and yet I feel I am made to feel unreasonable and lazy by my colleagues (think little comments and funny looks).

AIBU to want to just get home after a long day and unwind? My attitude is if I have got done what I need to there's no point staying late just to "impress" - but am I wrong in thinking this?

Any advice/personal experience much appreciated!

YANBU unreasonable.

I used to have a boss who complained about me coming in later in the day when I did flexi time. But she would always dump work on me when she left before me. Then I started coming in the same time as her, but she would always make some remark about me going home earlier. I wasn't bloody working until 7pm when I started at 8am!! I left soon after.

Yanbu. Your time is valuable. Stop giving it for free as it becomes expected...then if you leave bang on time there are raised eyebrows and sarky comments.

Ignore them. If they want to waste their time working for free let them. If you don’t need to be there definitely go home.

If you're getting your work done YANBU , if you're not ask your manager for tips/support so you can be faster/more efficient and get out on time with everything done.

No. Leave on time. I always leave on time (usually don't take much of a lunch break but that's my choice - when I work from home I do). I get paid to work my contracted hours. I do a good job. I meet deadlines. What more do they need?

If anyone accuses you of clock watching say that what matters is output, not presenteeism.

It's not the hours you work, it's how you work the hours. I go in early and I literally feel clammy with sweat on the odd occasion with actual graft, but I'm out the door like my arse is on fire at home time.

If you are doing what is expected of you during your working hours, then go on time. Staying late gives the impression you cannot organise yourself to do your job in your specified hours - obviously this does not apply in all jobs but I cannot imagine an admin job for a small company has career depending late night deadlines you need to meet.

YANBU and YABU at the same time I'm afraid.

Yes, you have set work hours. But every workplace has it's own culture. If this workplace has a culture of longer hours, then you just won't be thought well of if you don't arrive early, and you leave on time every day. You can do it, but you will pay the price.

It would probably be inadvisable to use your short lunch hour as an excuse to go earlier - if everyone else takes their full hour, I suggest you do too.

Sensible to vary your leaving time - you say you leave between 6 and 6.30 so it looks as though you'e doing this. It's people who leave on the dot every day who get accused of being clockwatchers. Always remember that what your manager thinks is more important than what your colleagues think.

If colleague are behaving as you describe, it sounds an unhealthy work environment, so worth looking for something better.

Personally I assume if you have to work over every day that you are being horribly inefficient. Ignore them and look for a better job where this is not the prevalent office atmosphere.

Take your lunch break, leave on time (barring any last-minute emergencies), be efficient. Do not feed into the presenteeism culture.

Unless there were very exceptional circumstances I would take the full lunch break and leave at 6pm every day - why should you stay any longer?

Most of the offices I worked in had flexi time. But in other jobs I would leave on time. Most people have jobs and not careers. I’ve always had the attitude that it’s just a job but then I’ve never been a career minded person.

I’m self employed now

If there is more work than can be done in the hours you are paid for, I would be regularly asking your manager to prioritise your workload. No one should complain if you've done all the high priority stuff before you go. Obviously it's a good idea to be a bit flexible - e.g. stay a bit longer when there is a one-off exceptional project going on.

YANBU. IME there's something about leaving on time, specifically, that seems to attract this sort of behaviour.

I had a job where most people came in a bit late and stayed late. I'm an early bird so would come in early and leave earlier than them. I used to get looks and a 'vibe' that I was somehow slacking, even though I did at least the same hours as everyone else.

Take your lunch hour and don't leave 'between 6-6.30' –leave at 6pm. Next time anyone makes a comment, assume a blankly pleasant expression and ask them mildly to say it again. Most people will be embarrassed and backtrack.

I never accept a job where I can see any evidence of competitive overtime. Don't get into it, leave on time.

Some of the looks are probably envy that you are organised and brave enough to leave on time

My time is valuable - if an employer wants it, they can pay me accordingly.

Someone is profiting from my work, why should that be someone else and not me?

When I work in excess of my contracted hours (professional salaried role) I clock it to TOIL and take it back.

No-one should fucking care if you get your work done. I hate working in places where presenteeism is rife. I have had to leave dead on 5 in several places for childcare reasons.

Why is clock-watching such a bad thing?

Obviously if you are not doing the work then its an issue but I know what tasks I have to do and allocate them the relevant time.

But come the end of the day then I will finish at my time and not ten minutes afterwards - that adds up to nearly an extra hour a week for which I am not paid.

I had a job where most people came in a bit late and stayed late. I'm an early bird so would come in early and leave earlier than them. I used to get looks and a 'vibe' that I was somehow slacking, even though I did at least the same hours as everyone else

I've had that too - if you get in at 8am nobody cares or acknowledges it but if normal hours are 9-5 and you leave at 6, that is considered to be a good thing. Why? Years ago I had a job where I got in at 8 but left at 5 to collect my son from nursery and my boss was always remarking on it. But if I'd got in at 9 and left at 6 that would have been fine.

You're not at all unreasonable, you work over your contracted hours anyway. However there are some senior jobs in which people work whatever hours needed to get a job done including late evenings, meetings etc. People compensate for that by a very high salary, bonuses and wonderful holidays. I wouldn't have thought admin would fit into that category though.

Maybe the colleagues who work late are doing so because they are not efficient enough to manage their jobs within their contracted hours.

9-6 or 6.30 without a regular hour for lunch is a very long day.

That sounds like a toxic workplace to me. I can't stand people who seem to think being at work for 14 hours a day makes them important.

I really hate this kind of guilt-tripping crap. I head up HR for a growing company and we cheerily wish each other a nice evening/good weekend when people leave- regardless of the time! When I'm in the office, I leave just before 5pm so I can get home for 6pm to collect my kids and no one raises an eyebrow - I'm very productive, I don't often take a lunch break and I'm good at what I do.

Presenteeism is a sign of a very poor company culture and your work colleagues are absolute mugs for a) working late due to presenteeism and b) demonstrating their bitterness about it by being complete tools to you.

Yanbu because the work is getting done and you are working your hours (plus a bit extra). If they want you to work longer they need to pay overtime. Unless you are in a senior management role with a salary to match there is no reason to work extra unless you are chasing a promotion.