To be shocked at boss telling me off for being late back

[onlyafewdaystogo]

I am retiring from work next Wed, after many years working for this company. Last year our dept got a new Manager who's a bit of a stickler.

Anyhow, due to upcoming retirement several groups of colleagues have been taking me out for lunch in the last few days. Yesterday I went to an Italian restaurant with some people from another Dept that I have a lot of dealings with.

We had a lovely relaxing lunch and I got back to work at 3 o'clock instead of 2.30. My boss knew this group were taking me out. He called me into his office about an hour later and told me off for being late back from lunch and said it's the second time it's happened in recent days and I'd have to watch my timekeeping.

AIBU to be . It's always been the norm when someone is retiring that they spend the last week or so winding down and not really being bound by the normal time bands etc.

My colleagues were really surprised and annoyed when they heard.

Shit like this makes me glad my former office job was public sector and flexi. It's really opened my eyes as to how enslaving some workplaces are, and how easily some drones can become so brainwashed that an extra half hour taken at lunchtime for a special occasion - a celebration of years of a colleague's hard work - is seen as almost a hanging offence.

Tell him you'll aim to improve, apologise profusely and ask for a review in a months time.

But the other manager was on the lunch so unlikely to have gone moaning to the OPs team manager. Or are you suggesting that a manager of an unidentified other team have complained - in which case I think the company has more to worry about in the form of ineffective managers not doing their jobs rather than soon to be retiring long standing members of staff having a celebratory lunch but still returned to the office to do their non work

He’s jealous you are retiring
What a complete knob!
Tell him you’ll work it back when you can 🙈🙈🤣🤣

I'd call on sick

Make a complaint about him should he arrive one minute late over the next week. Also perhaps when you leave make a point of going around thanking others except him, if you can.

Yes, are we now adding managers of hypothetical third teams that may or may not exist to the equation too?

YANBU - Don't less asshole ruin your last week. We're your colleagues who are not leaving late back too?

I’d push it ask if he’s making it official demand a written copy of the verbal warning (telling off) cancel your retirement go off sick with work related stress for 6months at least until they start talking about paying you severance pay to leave.

Of course you would.

*WTFIsAGleepglorp

Apologise. Profusely.

Explain it's once 'in a lifetime' thing.

Offer to work later or to come in earlier the next day to make up the time

No! Do not do that!
Just fake smile and nod - and ignore.

Jeezus.

If a manager (in an office environment like the OP) can't draw a distinction between a retiring hard working employee having a slightly extended lunch on two occasions during the week they are retiring and any other staff taking long lunches without prior approval then they really need to undergo management training.

And as an in-house lawyer who does a lot of HR stuff, if any of our managers said they wanted to start disciplinary proceedings against the OP in this situation, I would laugh loudly and return them to their desk and query whether they even had the brain to be a manager in the first place. Custom and practice people. Wasting company resources on a pointless dick-swinging exercise?? Bonkers.

Ignore and enjoy your last few days
Congrats you made it

I’d push it ask if he’s making it official demand a written copy of the verbal warning (telling off) cancel your retirement go off sick with work related stress for 6months at least until they start talking about paying you severance pay to leave

I like it

Blimey! Or what, he will fire you?!

He's just being an arse.

But you don't retire for another week, and this happened yesterday, with another happening before that so your last week has now spread to two.

OMG! Late twice in your last two weeks OP [Shock] how very dare you.

I guess your work record up to then is all shot to pieces now. How ever will you survive your retirement with that hanging over you 😂

Enjoy!

God, is this still going?

Ask for some late ins. The emotional intelligence of a doorstop.

So you retire tomorrow? Congratulations!

What a strange man. You should have asked when he was taking you to lunch so you could organise the rest of your week, it's traditional for normal managers to take retiring employees out after all (with or without the teams). Normal companies expect someone to kick back a bit in their last few weeks and leave just after lunch on their last day. Some HR departments prefer anybody leaving (not just retirement) to finish about 3.30 so they can process cancelling access cards, IT access etc.

Imagine being so pathetic that you really care about this?!! Enjoy your retirement.

I don’t mean you by the way, OP! I mean your boss.

i spent 10 years in a very niche department of a very niche private sector company. i worked evenings, weekends, was on 24 hour call. i travelled at short notice and was happy to step up to get the job done. i loved my job and my manager was very flexible. it was a happy, productive team.

then. the awesome manager left, and their replacement made it clear that they expected ostentatious early starts, and for team members to pretty much remain at their desks until the cleaners had finished and Security were locking the building.

they nitpicked, bullied and micro-managed, and within a month had stressed me to breaking point. i left the office one evening, and resigned the next day with a covering med cert. never went back.

i still sometimes get a warm glow when i wonder how they managed the vital pay scale uprating on the worldwide, live Personnel system they were responsible for. it was high priority, and a large part of their job description, but any attempt by me at training them was resisted. it all turned out brilliantly, as it later emerged that they had fabricated their entire CV. ah well.

happy retirement, OP. fuck the lot of them. fuck ‘em all.

Tell him you'll make up the hours next month

Happy retirement x

What’s he gonna do? Give you a warning? Put it on your employee record? Sack you? Laugh in his mean face 🙂

I think everyone is missing the really important question here. Which is, which will last longer, this thread or the OP's employment?