Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

To think my manager could have been a bit more understanding?

86 replies

Onceandforallitsallfine · 20/07/2020 20:22

Got a formal warning from my manager for being late to work this morning. All ready to go out the door, DD asks for a quick drink of milk, quickly got her a cup of milk and next minute she pours it all over me causing me to have to get changed again and then be late for work.

OP posts:

TitianaTitsling · 20/07/2020 21:54

That's ridiculous, is it a power thing from your manager?

weebarra · 20/07/2020 21:57

I'm a manager and when client facing staff are on duty, they have to be ready to work by 9. If they were 15 minutes late, I'd expect a quick call or text so I know I don't have to look for cover.
I wouldn't have an issue if the last time you were late was January.

Aquamarine1029 · 20/07/2020 21:59

Are there other issues with your job performance?

1Morewineplease · 20/07/2020 22:00

Yes it does seem a bit harsh but you were warned earlier this year. Do you arrive punctually otherwise? Are you late a minute or two often?
If I’d had a formal warning earlier in the year, I’d have not given my daughter another ‘quick drink ‘ as we were leaving.

DancingInDespair · 20/07/2020 22:01

@weebarra

I'm a manager and when client facing staff are on duty, they have to be ready to work by 9. If they were 15 minutes late, I'd expect a quick call or text so I know I don't have to look for cover. I wouldn't have an issue if the last time you were late was January.

Yep. My first manager (when I was 16) used to get really annoyed if we clocked in at 9am. 9am was when we were supposed to be on the floor, ready to start working, not running in. It sounds a bit harsh, but it set me up well. I am almost always at my desk and ready to go at my start time. Other colleagues are trialling in, getting coffee, turning on their computers....

Alloverthegrapevine · 20/07/2020 22:04

DH is an Army Cadet instructor. He teaches his cadets that if you're not 5 min early, you're late.

Starbuggy · 20/07/2020 22:05

If it really was just this one thing then YANBU.

But why not just let whoever was going to be looking after your DD for the day get her a drink? And why did it make you 15 mins late? Do you usually dash in bang on your start time (so you’re not actually starting work on time?) or are there any other performance issues?

I would be amazed if a manager who knew what they were doing gave a formal warning just for one incidence of lateness though. But sometimes I think managers are scared to tackle subjective things like bad attitude so they latch onto something concrete and measurable like lateness.

Ughmaybenot · 20/07/2020 22:07

On the face of it, that seems harsh.
But on the flip side, it sounds like you made up a lie to cover general poor time keeping. How on earth did throwing on a different outfit make you 15 minutes late?!

pregnancydiet · 20/07/2020 22:11

It seems harsh but I can't imagine being that tight for timing that I wouldn't have time to get changed quickly.

SockYarn · 20/07/2020 22:12

Op was also late in January. Doesn't say whether she's been at work through the pandemic or at home.

Lateness from one member of a team when everyone else is sitting down ready to start is poor and damages morale.

SockYarn · 20/07/2020 22:12

Op was also late in January. Doesn't say whether she's been at work through the pandemic or at home.

Lateness from one member of a team when everyone else is sitting down ready to start is poor and damages morale.

Thisseatisnotavailable · 20/07/2020 22:17

How on earth does it take you 15 minutes to get changed?

Patch23042 · 20/07/2020 22:20

It seems harsh on the face of it.

Nicknacky · 20/07/2020 22:21

Did you have to relieve a member of staff therefore making them late finishing?

GnomeDePlume · 20/07/2020 22:23

Did you inform your line manager you were running late?

As a manager my real bugbear is people being late for okay reasons but not having the courtesy to tell me they are running late.

Absolutely guaranteed that when someone does this is the day that someone is looking for them at 9am on the dot. Manager is then stuck looking like a prat because they dont know where a member of their team is.

DancingInDespair · 20/07/2020 22:25

@Patch23042

It seems harsh on the face of it.

Actually I can see that. Depending on whats been milked-on, you may need to find new tights, outfit etc. You might also need to run a flannel around any milked-on skin.

DancingInDespair · 20/07/2020 22:25

Sorry- quoted wrong post! it was in reply to the one asking how it takes 15 minutes to change.

FluffyKittensinabasket · 20/07/2020 22:30

Personally I couldn’t work anywhere without flexitime. I can’t imagine having to be in for 0900 and getting a formal warning if I’m late.

madcatladyforever · 20/07/2020 22:38

You need to think up better excuses. I had a boss like that once and I gave him a very graphic description of how my peri menopausal period had bled through everything I was wearing and the car seat (not true I overselept). It was never mentioned again.
Some bosses will head spin if it's anything at all to do with children.

BumbleBeee69 · 20/07/2020 23:09

was today your first day back ?

StrawBeretMoose · 20/07/2020 23:16

It is harsh, and don't know why people think it should only add a few minutes on to arrival time, when leaving a few minutes later can mean hitting traffic or getting the next bus.

DH is an Army Cadet instructor. He teaches his cadets that if you're not 5 min early, you're late. This is a load of bollocks. If you're 5 minutes early or 1 minute early you're early.

AintOverUntilTheCatLadySings · 20/07/2020 23:29

Maybe the OP has to get public transport, so getting changed meant a later bus or train which resulted in being 15minutes late

BritWifeinUSA · 20/07/2020 23:30

Depends on the job. A pilot being 15 minutes late is different from an office worker in a non-customer facing role being 15 minutes late and a midwife being 15 minutes late is another story too. Context is key.

I doubt that this is the full story. It was either considerably more than 15 minutes or it was not the first time. Even here in the USA, the land of at-will employment and very few employee rights, being 15 minutes late every 6 months would not lead to a formal warning.

StopMakingATitOfUrselfNPissOff · 20/07/2020 23:33

How old is your kid? Why would you give them milk seconds before leaving the house anyway?
It seems a bit harsh on the face of it but assume there's a back story

cabbageking · 21/07/2020 00:10

If you were late end of January and were furloughed from March and have only recently gone back to work. We may be talking 2 late occasions in as little as 7 or 8 working week? You may be new to the job? You may have been very late last time? Too little information to say if it was harsh or valid sorry.

Flip

1 2 3 4