To leave work at 5pm?

[sunshineandrainbowz]

My work hours are 9-5 but it seems all my colleagues stay later than that (I come to work on a morning to emails sent at 8/9pm!) and it gets commented on a lot that I shoot out the door at 5pm.

I don't particularly enjoy my job but I do it well and everything is done by 5pm but I get snarky comments that I leave at 5 and don't stay longer. I don't care for overtime pay etc. and just want to get home. (I've been here a year and the comments have been consistent)

Am I coming across as unprofessonal/is it making it obvious I don't absolutely love my job? My boss has never called me up on it it's just side eye and comments from coworkers but it's making me uncomfortable

AIBU/rude? (I have anxiety so I'm probably overthinking this)

[WinterAndRoughWeather]

I’m not angry, just disappointed.

You’re admitting that they don’t get TOIL despite putting in an extra 30 to 45 minutes most days.

You have a poor attitude to the value of your workers’ labour.

Yes, I was a union rep!

[Fettfrett]

@WinterAndRoughWeather

I’m not angry, just disappointed.

You’re admitting that they don’t get TOIL despite putting in an extra 30 to 45 minutes most days.

You have a poor attitude to the value of your workers’ labour.

Yes, I was a union rep!

How is a couple of times a week most days? And if it is their own choice, am I supposed to go over and switch off their computers and kick them out the building?

It may come as a surprise to you, but not everyone hates their job and not every employer is the big bad wolf. We have a really great culture at our work, and I also willingly give my time to do a good job because I feel like I'm contributing to something I feel proud of. I'm not senior management I just manage a team. To claim that everyone who isn't out the door at 5pm is just doing it to score points or is being forced into it is ridiculous. People who stop working at 4.50 to be out the door by 5, whether they have finished their work or not, are not working their full hours so yes, that does breed a bit of resentment.

[Lalaok]

@Fettfrett I feel like you’re being unreasonable.
I used to have a job where we were supposed to finish at 6 and my colleagues would stay late (8-9pm) to finish all the work whereas I would walk out every day at 6pm and not even feel bad. They said the overtime was paid but they would never give us what we were actually entitled to so ended up working for under minimum wage. What they actually needed to do was TO HIRE MORE STAFF but they were being incredibly stingy and running their staff into the ground and everyone left within a year.
Whatever happened to work life balance.

[WinterAndRoughWeather]

I love my job, but not enough to do it uncompensated.

You can tell yourself that your staff only stay late because they love your company so much that they’ll happily work for nothing, but your attitude is clear from your posts and is probably clear to them, too.

Good management is never the big bad wolf, either. Like I said, in my last office job the management would proactively make sure people took their TOIL, because they knew full well that it was their responsibility to foster an atmosphere where staff felt confident to take their time back without being judged “lazy”.

[FishyDuck]

@WinterAndRoughWeather

It's not about being uncompensated. It's about working your contracted hours to the minute and also being willing to do extra to support your colleagues and company when necessary.

[Scout2016]

@WinterAndRoughWeather I think we are on same page and I'm a past union rep too. 30 minutes here and there adds up, before you know it you're owed a day. Spread across the workforce you maybe need another employee, part time at least.

[WinterAndRoughWeather]

Most of the time it’s not even about needing more staff Scout. It’s clear from this thread that this is usually about management cultures fostering presenteeism rather than a real need for extra hours to be done.

My work is in the creative industries, so irregular hours are normal, even though we have specified core hours. Because we actually need to work irregular hours and aren’t just clocking out late to impress a foolish manager, we get proper TOIL.

[SerenDippitty]

When I was working my colleagues were mostly late starters and late finishers. I was always the first in and I’d often take quite important phone messages for them but was still looked at askance when I left at 5.15. I think you get noticed more if you stay late than if you are in early in the morning.

[SerenDippitty]

Most of the time it’s not even about needing more staff Scout. It’s clear from this thread that this is usually about management cultures fostering presenteeism rather than a real need for extra hours to be done.

This and technological advances mean virtual as well as physical presenteeism. It’s increasingly expected that staff should check emails even when on leave or off sick.

[roxfox]

@Fettfrett

I think it depends, if your work load is your own and you are completing all your own work that is fine.

I manage a team of 3 and we are so busy at the moment. We're all pitching in, 2 of the team are regularly doing overtime and helping out as much as they can. One person is refusing to do a single minute of overtime (she is 22, lives with parents and has no commitments). I will be putting the other 2 forward for a pay rise but not her. There will be a promotion opportunity within the next 12 months, and I won't consider her for interview. It will take a long time to change my opinion of her now, and it has been noted by higher management.

I suppose what I'm saying is if you are looking for progression, you have to show you're willing to go over and above and be a team player. If it is just a job, and you're not letting others down by not being a team player then no, it doesn't matter if you leave at 5 every day.

What if she works harder than the other two and gets shit done!??

If you have to continually work overtime you must not be doing your job properly or your job description is too expansive and you need to hire someone new.

Who are you to judge because she's young and doesn't have kids you think she should make herself available to you night and day. Jog on.

I hope they all quit on you for your stinky unappreciative attitude.

[RedOasis]

Your colleagues are BULLYING YOU and you have cause for grounds to ask your employer to address this. I used to get sarky comments for leaving at say 2pm, but with flexible working I had been there since 6am while my colleagues were sleeping. And I loudly pointed this out when I got sick of the comments. Besides it’s none of their business. What if you were leaving for medical treatment or something? So they think they are entitled to know that too?...

[Mulledmum]

I’m absolutely baffled that an employee can be penalised for working their contracted hours, but declining overtime. Sounds like a great place to work!

[101jobs]

YADNBU

[Scout2016]

@SerenDippitty I agree. Switch everything off at home time. I don't mind a colleague texting my personal phone on my day off in an emergency. But my work phone and lap top go off at hometime unless it suits me not to.
I do work flexibly, I have to in my line of work. But I manage my own diary and time and my manager is fine with it because we are adults and trusted professionals and I get the job done.

[yelyah22]

This thread is SO depressing!

My workplace values people and the work they do - so if someone's got everything done that they can that day at 4:45 and they could:

• stay and start a tiny part of a bigger project that will take them two hours to get them to the 5pm mark and have to pick it up again tomorrow,

• or they could leave 15 minutes early

We tell them to go home. Every time. Equally, if someone was halfway through a bigger project at 5pm and they know there's 20 minutes left to finish it for the day, they can choose to finish it (if they want - but there is zero expectation) or they can go home because they have lives and the majority of people work to live, not the other way round. Many times, people will stay to finish the work (and they are paid for the overtime!), but many times people leave because they want to get home. So yes, overall, this might mean we lose out on 5, 10, 15 minutes' paid productivity here and there, but it also means our staff are happier, feel trusted to manage their workload, and valued for the time they do spend in the office that isn't part of their contracted hours. Funnily enough, at every annual performance review there's at least one person who says they're glad to be trusted and not made to feel like a clockwatcher. It'd be very obvious if someone was taking the piss or not finishing their work, and thankfully we employ adults and manage like adults and everyone gets stuff done, the odd quarter of an hour here and there doesn't make a difference to us but it does make a difference to them and how they feel.

[PleasePassTheCoffeeThanks]

What looks bad is getting ready at 4:59 and out of the door at 5:01 as it means basically you have been watching the clock instead of focusing on work.
If you don't start getting ready before 5 then no that is fine.

[Happynow001]

[quote sunshineandrainbowz]@cazzacat - they do offer overtime pay which is maybe the drive for why people do it? But shaming me for not doing it aswell is baffling[/quote]
Possibly because you are showing them up by getting your allocated work done properly and in time? Working over your allocated hours when there is a genuine need, and you can facilitate it, is one thing. Doing so every day, however, means either there is consistently too much work for the number of employees to do during the standard working day or that time management skills need to be reviewed.

[dadshere]

If any of them make a comment about you leaving ON TIME, just tell them that you are sorry for them that they are so inefficient at their job that they cannot complete it in the allotted time, but maybe if they try a bit harder during the day, they may be able to get their work done too.

[Happynow001]

@RiftGibbon

Same type of thing happened to me - I used to come in 30 minutes early every day and stay half an hour longer. Had to go to the doctors one day which was just round the corner, let my boss know I had to go. I was gone for 30 minutes max and he emailed me and told me I had to make up the time.
Something similar happened to me too. I was setting up new systems in my company and was working extremely long hours, including over the weekend in the office, as well as doing my Day to day job.

However I stopped all that when my boss, who knew about and benefited from the results of my overtime, asked me to make up time I needed to take for a medical appointment. He was very surprised when I stopped, but I gained more of my life back when I left to work for someone more reasonable.

[RiftGibbon]

Had similar in my first job too; also 9-5. I was at my desk at 9 (computers/machinery was on overnight so no startup time needed). My manager asked me to come in earlier "to be ready for the working day". I asked what time and she said 8.45. Then I asked what she wanted me to do when I got in. "Start work"
I asked if I would be paid for the extra 5 hours a month and she said no.
I didn't come in early.

[QueenCT]

We are salaried but work shifts. Log off at 1 second past 5 and out the door, along with out managers. Overtime is available but paid and optional. Contracted to 40hrs a week and don't have to work a minute more unless you want to

[sunshineandrainbowz]

Thanks for all your insight! It has been an interesting read.

For more clarification I'm working until 5pm - I do not shut my laptop down until then (so I guess I leave at around 5:05 after I've packed up etc). And I arrive at work around 8:50 to set everything up.

I work in an admin role where there are a set number of tasks (no phone interaction only email) and so I can easily know when all my work is done. As for helping everyone else on their tasks, I don't really know how to do their roles so I would probably be more of a hinderence than help haha!

All in all you've reassured me that I'm doing nothing wrong! Today's work culture seems insane.

[KeepingPlain]

If I was a manager, I'd actually be questioning workers who were staying late and why. Are they stressed at home and don't want to go home? Are they scared to go home? Are they stressed at work and struggling with the workload? Do they just need better time management skills and help in understanding how to manage their work? Or do they think it looks better if they stay late?

It doesn't. There's going to be a reason usually, and it's never a good one. You need to have a work/life balance, focusing on work only is no life. You end up stressed, resentful to the business and can end up ill. I only work past my hours if I really have to, as in something/someone else has stopped me from finishing early and otherwise it's a leave at 5 situation.

[Vinorosso74]

YANBU. I would sometimes stay a little later if I needed or wanted to get something finished but some people just faffed about and wanted to be seen by management. Thing was these people were the ones who often got the promotions as the managers were the same!
Before I left myself and a colleague sort of job shared each working 3 days. We were putting on extra time to keep on top of our shared workload. She would sometimes stay later whereas I had to collect DD so may do things at home. We got pulled up for not getting as much work done as two colleagues who were both full time. They expected 1.2 people to do the same as 2 people! We both agreed to work to rule and not worry about backlog. I left not long after.