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.

Agree with everyone else. It also sounds like your workload is very light -there is no way I could take an afternoon off every week without falling behind.

I could not do what you have described, but then apparently I have unreasonably high standards.

You are clearly working for a company that trusts their employees and treats them.like adults - you say most people are flexible. If you work hard and do the job you are paid to do it's fine. Most people in more senior positions do this anyway as they are actually trusted to do the job they are hired to do.

How is it “the done thing” to routinely finish almost half a day early? Go back to the office and carry on doing the work you are being paid for. Working hard the rest of the time does not offset that, hard rir is expected - no one employs anyone to work inefficiently!!

Meh - depends on what everyone else does. If the done thing is to head off a bit early in your organisation in such cases then you're not doing anything dreadful (or rather, everyone is).

You're so lucky to get to leave at 2😅😅 surely you can't get away with being paid during that time? You're not working! Just go back to the office or ask for permission to do the remainder of work from home.

Most people in more senior positions do this anyway as they are actually trusted to do the job they are hired to do.

They just don’t, they don’t clock off at 2pm if a meeting is 5 mins walk from the office. That’s taking the mickey totally. Senior people who decide to work from home generally WORK, you know, like log on and do their job. OP says she doesn’t work at that tome. She’s having a laugh

alibongo5 I don't think she's coming back

No she's not. She's sloped off early.

You’re not leaving early Op you’re managing yout time effectively. Senior roles require flexibility because often require overtime and sometimes you might be in meetings from 7am - 6pm with only coffee to sustain you — so to offset those days it’s perfectly fine to have days where you finish early / work from your mobile

@Cherries101 the op has said that she never works more than 15 minutes late. And this three hour "holiday" is every week.

I’m all for an early dart for me and my team when the occasion arises, but I’m sorry 2pm finish 5 mins away from the office is not acceptable

BitOut she’s sloped off early - brilliant!

5 minutes away from your normal office, you are definitely taking the piss to bog off home at 2pm. only exception would be in a week where you had already stayed late on a couple of other evenings then it might be reasonable. you could definitely get a decent lump of work done if you went back to your desk, so you should.

If you're finished you're finished, why drag it out...

BTW I have a non existent work ethic in case it wasn't screaming ky obvious.

Screamingly.

Senior roles require flexibility because often require overtime and sometimes you might be in meetings from 7am - 6pm with only coffee to sustain you — so to offset those days it’s perfectly fine to have days where you finish early / work from your mobile

It would only be "perfectly fine" if the employers/managers knew about it and gave express permission for it. OP admits they have no idea.

I used to work in a shop where stock unpacking began at 7.30am but the shop didn't open until 10:am. The guy who was in charge of stock had his ours as 7:30am to 4:30pm every day. When the stock delivery was going to be a small one he'd start a half hour or hour late and just saw it as a perk of the job.

Eventually head office found out and gave him the choice of either paying back the wages he'd wrongly taken or making up the hours. He was not happy!

I would be disciplining you. Leaving at 2pm on a regular basis is outrageous.

OP, imagine this scenario. You leave the meeting at 2pm and go to a shopping centre. While you're trying on clothes in Zara at 3.30pm, you bump into a senior manager who is on a day's leave. How do you feel?

If you were paying a cleaner for 8 hours work and she left after 5, would you think it was reasonable to pay her for the full 8 hours?

Being a "professional" does not make it any more acceptable , you know?

Totally ridiculous. If you are 5 mins from the office and done by 2pm, you go back to the office! Don’t you have work to do?! The 4pm example is fine, the other one is taking the absolute piss out of your employers. You are lucky they trust you to manage your time so don’t throw it back in their faces!

@DeepanKrispanEven employers/managers have never given me expressed permission. I query their flexible working policy when starting the role so if something like a 7.30am meeting happens I know I can disappear for an hour in the day/finish an hour early at some point in that week. There is always too much work to just take what is effectively half a day off weekly.

Yeah, surely the answer is that you should ask your boss? Then you’ll have your answer.

^^ This. And do it via email so you have evidence should you need it in the future when someone challenges you for taking whole afternoons off.

I was going to come on and say flexibility etc, you’ll more than make up for it at home etc with what you do in the evenings, especially on the day you leave early. But no, you come in 20 minutes early (I can’t believe you even mention this- it’s only enough time to make a coffee, get logged on, etc) and never work in the evening. So leaving 3 hours early for no reason is an absolute piss take in my view

If the 2pm meetings were once a year, that would be ok to perceive the early finish as a perk of the job.

Every week? I think you should start logging on from home, at the very least.

I have known several senior people be brought down over slightly bending the rules, mostly on expenses. Their behaviour was openly tolerated for years, until the organisation changed its mind and then boom, they turned to the ready-made evidence.

This would be completely normal for myself and DH who are on slightly higher salaries, one public and one private sector - we wouldn't travel back to the office at 2pm, we would log on at home though and just keep an eye on emails, write up notes etc. And just generally be contactable.