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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

469 replies

onlyafewdaystogo · 23/01/2019 11:10

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 Shock. 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.

OP posts:
LagunaBubbles · 23/01/2019 13:37

Echt 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.

She did return. She made it clear she was only tidying her desk.

dancinginthehall · 23/01/2019 13:38

For a teacher Echt your reading and comprehension skills don't seem great. I hope you don't teach English.

DishingOutDone · 23/01/2019 13:39

I'm in the twat camp too - smile and nod, what an utter arsehole. Pity the people who are left behind with him. As long as you are not dropping your successor in it by leaving loads of work then who cares.

echt · 23/01/2019 13:40

echt You are the kind of management who causes people to be off with stress, anxiety, depression or a full blown break down !!! And yea, its happened to people I know . All because of a hard hearted , jobsworth MANAGER

Read my posts, why don't you, WhenTheRabbitsWentWild? I have been a manager and a union rep for most of my working life and have spent more hours ( unpaid and unremunerated in time) stepping up for workers who have been shafted by the managers, as well as those who took the fucking piss on their contract and STILL came to me to represent them.

The OP still hasn't said whether the new manager knew about the expected arrangements about retirees, i.e. for a week or more they do less and don't keep to normal hours ( see OP's OP). She's my nightmare union referral: insufficient info, pissing and moaning.

LanaorAna2 · 23/01/2019 13:40

Wot a silly fool. You're well out of that job.

WhoKnewBeefStew · 23/01/2019 13:40

He’s being a knob. Smile and apoligise and enjoy your next lunch out 😁 I’d be tempted to be late back on my last day Grin

Bluelady · 23/01/2019 13:40

Start a disciplinary with five working days to go? Can you imagine the manager's boss' face when the paperwork arrived on their desk? I can't believe the bollocks I read on MN sometimes.

WizardOfToss · 23/01/2019 13:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DameSquashalot · 23/01/2019 13:41

Soon you won't have to deal with this petty crap.

Enjoy your retirement. 😊

LagunaBubbles · 23/01/2019 13:42

The OP still hasn't said whether the new manager knew about the expected arrangements about retirees, i.e. for a week or more they do less and don't keep to normal hours ( see OP's OP

You missed her post at 13.32 then.

ReflectentMonatomism · 23/01/2019 13:42

Highly unlikely that he would be able to action what would likely be a first formal warning, a second/final warning and then disciplinary procedures.... LOL

He can sack her on the spot for gross misconduct for all the odds it makes. I suppose In theory that if she is retiring exactly in the stroke if forty years, to the day, and the sacking is unhelpful, and the pension scheme is DB and accrued Daily, it might reduce her pension by 0.048%, or 9 pounds per year on a pension of 20k.

dancinginthehall · 23/01/2019 13:43

echt she has said that the Manger is not new to the company and would be aware that retirees are not expected to stick to their normal time requirements in their last few days.

Obviously it's not written down anywhere but just generally understood, as it is in my workplace.

No one is saying that the Manager has breached any terms and conditions that would be appropriate for union attention - just that he's being a ridiculous twat.

HoustonBess · 23/01/2019 13:45

I hate it when companies do this, it's not like employees don't notch up enough unpaid overtime over the years!

Imnotswallowingthat · 23/01/2019 13:46

Have to laugh at the people posting about how the rules should be adhered to, no slacking etc while obviously being on MN during work time !!

AGHHHH · 23/01/2019 13:46

Yanbu, they're being pathetic. You're retiring after years of service ffs, most places would allow this and as you say, is meant to be the norm where you work.

SuperMummy1234 · 23/01/2019 13:46

I would imagine some else has complained and there he feels he has to be seen to ssser authority.

gamerwidow · 23/01/2019 13:46

This kind of pettiness is awful management behaviour. One of the managers I manage is forever alienating his staff with petty rules. It's caused me no end of trouble trying to smooth over issues to stop staff walking. Good managers realise that give and take creates a better more productive workforce. People will go the extra mile for you if they know you will return the flexibility with them.

Bittermints · 23/01/2019 13:46

Good luck in your retirement, OP. There is clearly a wide variation in culture between different employers represented on this thread. If OP was working as a senior nurse in a surgical team or a classroom teacher or on the tills in a supermarket with no slack at all in the shift pattern, of course she would have been unreasonable to go off for a long lunch without cover. But she isn't. Presumably people don't retire every few weeks. This is a rare event and time for the organisation and her colleagues to show appreciation for what she's done for them over umpteen years leading up to this. This is the kind of thing that makes people feel valued. Other colleagues will see the appreciation being shown to the OP and feel that what they do must also be noticed and valued too. This kind of thing is what builds teams, not nitpicking over timekeeping.

In my experience when a manager is fixated on doing things by the book and not allowing any exceptions good people who give above and beyond what they are contracted to do get very little thanks for it and on the odd occasion they need a bit of leeway they don't get it.

Managers with a bit more flexibility have to watch out they're not being taken advantage of but it usually pays dividends in goodwill.

ReflectentMonatomism · 23/01/2019 13:47

exactly on the stroke of forty years, to the day, and the sacking is upheld.

echt · 23/01/2019 13:47

Echt 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.

She did return. She made it clear she was only tidying her desk

I am basically at the stage where I'm tidying out my desk and doing last bits and pieces of filing. I have no real work to do as I'm not involved in any forthcoming projects or any committees as I won't be here after next week. My replacement won't be arriving for a couple of weeks so I have no 'training in' duties to attend to.

She is employed and there was work to do.

For a teacher Echt your reading and comprehension skills don't seem great. I hope you don't teach English

I do teach English. I'm not sure what you think I'm not comprehending.

MyPuppyIsADick · 23/01/2019 13:47

I'm a union rep too echt and it's clear from the OP that under the circumstances the manager is being an inflexible tool. OP states it's the norm at her company to wind down and 'not really be bound by the normal time bands' and she has since clarified he's not new to the company so would be aware of this. Personally in his shoes I couldn't be arsed making a drama over 30 minutes for a retiring member of staff.

Happy retirement OP! Grin

Expatworkingmum · 23/01/2019 13:50

Absolutely your extra 30 minutes should be yours to enjoy. I feel sad for anyone who has to work for a manager like yours, unless (per above poster), it’s a role where your presence at a specific time really counts.

Doesn’t sound like you had any reason to rush back other than to show your face. He was completely out of line.

Let’s hope your manager doesn’t employ a lot of millennials soon as I understand the new wave coming into the workforce is far more interested in flexibility and work/life balance, and his attitude would be very detrimental.

Bluelady · 23/01/2019 13:51

@gamerwidow, what are you doing to support that manager in treating their staff a bit more flexibly? It must be really tough having to deal with the fall out without being seen to undermine them.

dancinginthehall · 23/01/2019 13:51

Echt you've stated that the OP hasn't explained something that she has clearly explained. You also don't seem to understand the difference between and office environment and a classroom. You also keep implying that she is leaving work undone while on her long lunch when she has clarified, twice, that she has no actual work to do just final tidying up.

You don't come across as someone who calmly reads posts, takes them in, and reads between the lines. You come across as nit picking and inflexible.

echt · 23/01/2019 13:51

The OP still hasn't said whether the new manager knew about the expected arrangements about retirees, i.e. for a week or more they do less and don't keep to normal hours ( see OP's OP You missed her post at 13.32 then

Yes. For whatever reason, my laptop has stopped highlighting OP posts.