To leave my 9-5 job at 2pm if I finish my final meeting of the day early

[lindoee]

I've never given this much thought. I've got a decent job. I earn 36k a year. I often have to attend meetings. I never have to stay at work later than 15 mins past 5 but usually you are expected not to leave the building any earlier than 5.

I have two meetings a week that have an estimated end time of 5pm. One usually finishes around 4pm and I head home after that (by the time I got back to the office it would already be 5 anyway).

The other can finish any time from 2-4pm. I have always understood that after the final meeting of the day, I can finish for the day. Everyone else does and it seems to be the norm around here. We are pretty much flexible workers but I am wondering if the expectation is to work the final hours from home.

I live just with my son so I have never discussed this with anyone before but I told my parents today and they were shocked I left at 2pm. A full 3 hours earlier than I am paid for. I don't work from home after the meeting.

AIBU to not return to my office after this meeting? This particular meeting is a 5 minute walk away from my office. The meeting that finishes around 4pm is almost an hour drive away from the office.

Yes, you should walk back to the office and work for a few more hours. I can't believe you are having to ask this.

So you are in the office for an extra 30 mins a day four days a week and think you are working your hours. You’re not though, are you? Or do you need a calculator to work that out?

Yeah, you'd be fired for gross misconduct in my office for that.

i am also at the assertion they "get their money's worth" with your 8.40 start which actually just means you get in at 8.40 and start at 9

YABU not to go back to the office after the 2pm meeting as it's such a short distance away.

It's very easy to check without you knowing.
Ex-colleague used to take the piss like this. Go home straight from meetings. Boss was aware because of paper trails that would be requested every couple of months. Not that colleague was aware.
Then came the day that the colleague was needed and mobile wasn't being answered so, the meeting venue was called to be told everyone had left a couple of hours ago.
Gross misconduct and an additional policy put in place that even if it made no sense to go back, you had to go back to actually tap out for the day.

Depends if you're doing your job properly or not.

I'm not one for presenteeism so there's really no need for you to go back to the office, but I think you should log on from home.

Flexible working means you can take the three hours, but you make it up another time and stay later. Not that you can just finish whenever you like. Can't believe you even have to ask.

I think YABVU. I am all for give and take on both sides and flexible working but this sounds like an ongoing thing that you will just pack up and end work when the meeting is done regardless of whether that is 2, 3, 4 or 5!? You mentioned you could WFH so yes I would bloody well expect you tk eother stay in the office where the meeting is till 5, go back to your office till 5, or WFH.

You are expected not to leave the building before 5, but if you arrange an off-site meeting even just 5 minutes away that makes it OK to leave three hours earlier instead? That would be at least a disciplinary or gross misconduct in my HR experience!

The expectation is that you return to the office!

If I was your boss and found out you were doing this, we'd be having some fairly serious words. I think it's really dishonest, actually.

Not entirely sure why you asked OP? You don’t think you’re being unreasonable, do you?

Also if this is true
"I have always understood that after the final meeting of the day, I can finish for the day. Everyone else does and it seems to be the norm around here. "

Why don't you tell your boss openly you are doing this and see what their response is???
Answer: because you know they will be like WTAF lindoee?!?!

Of course you should be working from home you're not fulfilling your contractual hours.

I work in HR and have a lot of flexibility in my job in how I do it where I do it when I plan to do things but I still make sure I've worked my hours round that unprecedented level of flexibility and I'm very conscious about taking the piss. Does your boss know that you're doing that ?

If it is against policy then everyone is breaking the rules as I am pretty sure everyone does it

If they all jumped off a cliff,would you do that too? Just because ''everyone does it'' doesn't make it right.

I’d be very surprised if your boss was ok with you leaving 3 hours early when you are a 5 min walk away.

You aren’t working extra hours so how do you justify it??

i'd have gone home after the 4pm meeting, and would go into the office after the 2pm meeting, you've effectively awarded yourself an extra half days leave.

I was a lazy pisstaker but even I wouldn't have gone home after a meeting that ended at 2pm. Not even if it was an hour away from my office and I passed my house on the way back (which did happen).

I work flexibly, it's in my contract. We're all highly educated, well paid professionals and we're trusted to work at least our contracted hours, As it's flexible we can decide when we do our hours, though we would always tend to say yes to a meeting.

What you're doing seems different. I don't have to record my hours, but I do, for my own peace of mind - to protect myself in case there's ever an issue, and also just to keep an eye on how much unpaid overtime I'm doing. The difference is that we all work many many hours unpaid over time over the year, so when we can get away early for some reason, it's fine.

You'll get so many different replies based on people's own experience of workplaces.

Tbh I think it just depends on the job and work culture. If there's a culture of 'work hard/leave early after meetings' sounds fine to me. It's not like most office work is life of death (I'm presuming)

Getting in early is up to you.
Leaving three hours early is entirely wrong and if you were a member of my team and I found out, it would trigger disciplinary action.

I was a lazy pisstaker too and I would have went back to the office. Unless it was a one off. Probably would have stopped for a nice lunch on way back though

That's a whole afternoon off!

How would you feel if you bumped into your manager after you had left? E.g. If you had popped to do some shopping on the way home? That will give you your answer.

Those three hours add up to a lot of lost work time over a year.

The 4pm meeting; sure going straight home from I would expect since it takes an hour to go back to the office. But I would expect you to work from home for an hour to make up the time (unless you regularly work over your contracted hours).

As far as the 2pm meeting goes, unless it’s been agreed with your manager then I think you are massively unreasonable to go home and effectively take a free afternoon off without permission.

And when I say many hours, I mean some weeks I will work 10+ hours more, sometimes double, some weeks I've worked over 5 TIMES my contracted hours, and I don't get paid for it (civil service). So the odd early finish or day off is fine.

In your case, I think you're taking the piss.

No one knows when my meeting actually finishes.

Well that makes me think you're just looking for validation. "I can get away with it" isn't much of an excuse. Presumably your job doesn't just consist of meetings; isn't there desk work you can get on with in the office in the 2.05pm-5pm slot after this meeting finishes?