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.

By the way the guy in the room next to me is leaving to go to a new job next week. By the sounds of it he is spending lots of time having jolly phone calls and not worrying too much about work. He was absolutely brilliant at his job while here and very pleasant to work with. I don't think anyone gives a damn if he takes his last few days easy and doesn't engage too much.

But then, there's not too many petty people around here.

Wow the mindsets of some people on here. And in my experience people who do everything by the book often spend so much time looking at the book and discussing every petty little issue that they're actually less productive than more flexible managers who just get on with the work and treat their staff like adults

In the end, "the book", i.e. the contract of hours, etc. is what the business/worker interface is. It is what protects the worker from exploitation and makes clear the duties of the employee. The OP has not returned to say whether her manager knew about the expected leniency on retirement, nor whether it had an impact on work, extending, as it did over couple of weeks.

a union rep and worker, I'm amazed that it's so widely perceived as "OK" to not do your job because you're on the way out.

As a teacher, I'm having a bit of a :o as to how that would go down with classes I teach, and their parents. Oh, and the teachers who would have to cover my late lunch. Possibly tell them how "joyless" and "miserable" they are.

Do you work for this man?

Bits got out out there. Dubonnet. :o

What a jobsworth. I'd ignore him and take an extra half hour tomorrow. What's he going to do fire you?

Fuckit. Cut out. Aargh.

I started work when I was eighteen and the section head was a lot older.
One day he was talking about his retirement and how he was winding down now.
I politely(?) asked how long he had to go.
'Six years' was the reply.

Many years later in my last week(s) I spent my time leisurely writing up procedure notes and deleting emails. Very time consuming tasks...
not six years' worth though.

Have a happy retirement OP

Echt the OP did come back and say that she is spending her days tidying out her desk and finishing her filing because she's no longer involved in day to day projects etc. So presumably not having any real impact on her colleagues.

By 'the book' I was talking about the kind of Managers who apply the rules rigidly no matter what the individual circumstances or situations.

And it's obvious that the OP isn't a teacher. Your comparison is ridiculous. I don't think anyone would say that a nurse could walk off the ward either.

But this is obviously and admin type job where the OP has completed all her tasks and is just tidying up.

It really depends on the job. One of our DC had a primary school teacher who was in her penultimate year before retirement. She literally had given up bothering about anything other than enjoying herself with the children. That worked for some DC, who were happy not to have to do anything, but it was disastrous for other DC. And of course none of the class made any real progress. Upcoming retirement is not always compatible with winding down.

Smile and nod. He is an idiot and probably wants to make his mark!

Enjoy your last week and enjoy your retirement.

Oh what a joyless jobsworth!

Tell him you'll make up the time next month! Just smile and nod, he's a spoilsport, don't let him ruin your last week.

Happy retirement by the way!

Oh, ignore him. He's small minded and petty- some people are, they really can't help it.

Have a lovely retirement!

Even if most companies do cut a bit of slack when people are retiring it’s not just the op that is having slack cut here. It’s all of the guests at the multiple farewell lunches that are happening. Surely one ‘do’ would be enough. Are there more in the pipeline?
Like a pp said the op isn’t sitting having lunch on her own so it’s not just her waltzing back in 30 mins late it’s everyone else attending as well. Maybe they have also been spoken to?

Echt: On the whole, though, the petty jobsworth managers are the ones who also expect staff to put in unpaid overtime and uncomplainingly take on extra work for no extra pay, and will rant at them about unprofessionalism and lack of team spirit if they complain.
We have a deep-rooted attitude problem with regard to work: those who are in positions of some kind of authority are all too inclined to regard those beneath them as feral scum who need to be rigidly controlled - and who are also easily replaceable when they 'break' ie burn out from overwork.

Yes, most workplaces will also have a few skivers and leadswingers, but most people are reasonably willing to do a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. It's a pity how much less than fair the pay often is.

I had an boss once who didn't have/want children, but disapproved that I was being given maternity leave. He refused to let the team do a card/collection for me, as "she is already getting maternity pay, she doesn't deserve a present as well".

I hope they defied him! How on earth can you 'refuse' to let grown adults do a card and collection?

If you're any good at prepping for retirement, then you'll have nothing real to do. Folders, filing, permanent out of office, contacts prepped. I run a lot of projects, and even for holidays I'm prepped so nobody needs me from lunchtime the last day before.

Though to be fair to the bloke, he probably doesn't want it to be some sort of standard expectation that retiring employees or those just leaving can spend their last week taking an extra half hour of other colleague's time.

Say, 1 person leaving has an extra half hour with a different 4 people every day... that's 10h business working time lost.

Managers like this making working in an office so awful. I had one once who, in my performance review, told me that greeting people on Mondays and asking about their weekends was unnecessary because we should be picking up instantly on anything that might have happened over the weekend.

This would be annoying at the best of times. But a) the job meant that anything that had happened over the weekend had already been picked up because we were ALWAYS on and part of the job was to keep eye on emails etc over the weekend. And by the time we arrived in on Mondays we'd all had a good old review of what was happening and b) colleagues worked for me and were much younger so generally the "how was your weekend" was fairly basic. We didn't go into long involved blow-by-blow accounts of the 3 day bender Mary had been on nor did I expound on how I'd spent the weekend entertaining a toddler. It was all very much, "great, thanks. Saw loads of friends and had a chilled Sunday" type stuff.

Such a twat. Everyone hated him. And he couldn't keep staff for love or money.

And it's obvious that the OP isn't a teacher. Your comparison is ridiculous. I don't think anyone would say that a nurse could walk off the ward either

Not a ridiculous comparison at all. The OP has not returned to say anything about her job that makes not being there, i.e. not doing the job OK. Nor has she said whether her manager knew about he expected leniency. You, Carnival make assumptions about her work that she has not made clear.

Manage a large team and think he was complete idiot..
I would completely not be bothered by this.

Though to be fair to the bloke, he probably doesn't want it to be some sort of standard expectation that retiring employees or those just leaving can spend their last week taking an extra half hour of other colleague's time

^

This.

Wow, there are some arseholes on MN.
If any of you knocking this are managers, then please take a look at yourself.
And if you aren't - then please never ever try to be one.
It's about give and take.
And I'd be my mortgage that the OP has done more than her fair share of unpaid overtime over the years she has been there.

Happy retirement OP.
But for now.... just 'smile and wave'

Sounds like a jobsworth. The people commenting saying you're out of order, glad I don't work with you

Happy Retirement OP

Hope that the OP is out enjoying another long, boozy lunch!

Stupid boy, his management career will be short and unsuccessful if this is how he behaves. "So sack me" would have been the perfect response to this.

Hope your retirement is as long and happy as your manager's attitude is ridiculous, OP.

And I'd be BET!!!!!