If you WFH what time should you start work?

[EatPrayYoga]

If official hours are 9-5, is it a problem if you are not logged on by 9 every day?

I'm a team manager and one person on the team consistently logs on after 9 am. I know because our system shows a green or other colour next to everyone's names in an email so if I email the team I can see who is online and who isn't.

I usually send an email in a morning to confirm any things to be aware of for that day including who is not working that day and who is covering their work.

He usually logs on at about 9.05 but I'm not sure whether to mention this as he is only slightly late. He is in a junior role but wants to progress. There are other people in the same role who start work earlier than 9 to get things done so he stands out as doing less though I can't say who does more or less work in a day as their work is delegated by different members of the team.

I also realise we are in difficult times. He lives with parents and has no children or pets but I believe there are other adult siblings do not sure how easy or difficult the WFH circumstances are.

IABU to be unimpressed?

[Dee61]

Really 5 mins. My son is working from home. It costs me ! ok not a lot but what about the extra heating, electricity....making my internet slow as he is on it all day ! I think companies should think of this too.

[MadameBlobby]

And deadlines are often imposed by courts or tribunals. You can’t ignore judge’s orders or not comply with them on time.

[MadameBlobby]

@TrustTheGeneGenie

In fact it is unlikely you are doing your job well if you never work outside your contracted hours as particularly on our field there are deadlines to work to and sometimes not much notice

sounds more like bad management to me rather than the individual not doing their job very well. Ugh i could never work somewhere like that!

This is what working in law is like. To be good at it it requires a significant work ethic and self discipline. As I said try rocking up to a hearing 5 minutes late and see where that gets you, regardless of whether it’s “only 5 minutes”, or “doesn’t matter as long as the work gets done”. You’d have your arse handed to you on a plate.

Many posters on here clearly don’t understand the work ethic of legal practice

[DeeCeeCherry]

My observation was based entirely on his/her statement “On annual leave, away from work, yet still working. Come on...”

Was it now, Cheetas...

I thought it rather convenient that on weekdays OP is on annual leave yet working oh but not REALLY working as is on MN for ages, invested in thinking and talking about her colleague.

So which one is it? But I guess that doesn't register with you at all tho in terms of being a tad contradictory.

I based my observations on a Manager (!) who can't just simply ask a young person she's meant to be managing, to log on for work 5 minutes earlier. Instead, is spending time whilst away from office on leave, 'working but not working', on MN creating a thread and triggering a long post about said person.

Managers are supposed to manage. Management training is clearly in order here but then again you probably think this management style is fine, and fits in with your idea of . 'professional.'

[HollowTalk]

My son was like this in school (thank god he changed later) - I had so many parents' evenings where he'd say to his, "What? You said 50% was a pass. I got 50%. What's wrong with that?" and she'd thump her forehead and say, "For the love of god could you not just once aim for 51%?" He'd be mulish and say, "Why would I do that? 50 is a pass! I've passed!" Cue eyes rolling all around the room.

[HollowTalk]

You know something, I bet if you spoke to this guy's mother and his teachers in school they would all say the same - "He likes to do the bare minimum and has coasted throughout his life."

He's a game with people who are not doing the minimum, though. Who does he realistically think will get promoted or kept on?

[Bollss]

In fact it is unlikely you are doing your job well if you never work outside your contracted hours as particularly on our field there are deadlines to work to and sometimes not much notice

sounds more like bad management to me rather than the individual not doing their job very well. Ugh i could never work somewhere like that!

[EatPrayYoga]

You are a lawyer too though IIRC Xenia?

I don't know if you have RTFT but I mentioned this is a paralegal who wants a TC but he isn't online by 9 am and finishes on time. I'm not going to say anything about the five mins but I don't think he is doing as much as others to get a TC.

To anyone now in our profession, it is normal to work beyond your hours and to work on days off sometimes too. In fact it is unlikely you are doing your job well if you never work outside your contracted hours as particularly on our field there are deadlines to work to and sometimes not much notice. We need to be flexible and that might include starting late but not usually if you're a paralegal who never works late.

[Xenia]

I think he starts work at 9am and it takes 5 minutes before the equipment is shown as switched on. I have worked from home since 1994 and start once I get up but then take breaks as needed in the day and do work as it arises (I work for myself).

[Crystal87]

Yabu for moaning for the sake 5 mins when you're pissing about on Mumsnet while you're meant to be working.

[CheetasOnFajitas]

It’s a bit of a leap to assume that @DeeCeeCherry has never worked in a professional job!

@Wheresyourclapham, I said that @Deeceecherry had never worked in “a job that you can’t just down tools and switch off from.” Not that he/she had never worked in a professional job.

My observation was based entirely on his/her statement “On annual leave, away from work, yet still working. Come on...”

[Faultymain5]

It’s a bit of a leap to assume that @DeeCeeCherry has never worked in a professional job!

@Wheresyourclapham to be fair to @CheetasOnFajitas it's not much of a leap based on the response by @DeeCeeCherry. I have noticed many people commenting based on where they've worked which seems reasonable right up till the point where their lack of knowledge of the type of industry doesn't really help the situation.

I do think it strange that people think it's okay for people to get a promotion without extra effort. Reading between the lines of some of these responses, that is the impression being given.

[Wheresyourclapham]

@CheetasOnFajitas

Really!? Oh well, I must have accidentally missed a page or two of this thread then, as I always RTFT if I respond to a post.

I took some TOIL yesterday, but ended up working through most of it. I guess that must mean that I have a professional job?

It’s a bit of a leap to assume that @DeeCeeCherry has never worked in a professional job!

[CheetasOnFajitas]

In professional jobs it’s very common indeed to have to use days of leave to catch up on work. I work part time but did two calls and several emails today, one of my days off. When we are all wfh and have limited things to do outside the home it’s no big deal to log on for a little while even if officially out of office. And it’s also common to use times when you don’t have a diary full of meetings, and your out of office message is on so you are not being disturbed, to reflect a bit about elements of work that you haven’t had the headspace to focus on whilst doing the main job.

You’ve obviously never worked in a job that you can’t just down tools and switch off from. Bit of a leap to call someone a liar just because you can’t identify.

[DeeCeeCherry]

She was on annual leave the day she posted, and was also catching up on work in her own time

Sure CheetasOnFajitas. If you and she say so. How convenient.

On annual leave away from work, yet still working. Come on...

• Using that annual leave time to think about a junior colleague she's supposed to be managing, then typing on an internet forum about him? Rather than whilst at work just casually talking to him about logging on 5 minutes earlier?
  
  Perhaps you should try reading - between the lines, that is.
  
  Whatever way it's dressed up its STILL unprofessional, particularly for a manager.
  
  & a pretty odd way to spend time off. In fact it's all odd.
  
  As you were.

[LioneIRichTea]

I bet if he logged off at 5:05 you wouldn’t say anything

[CheetasOnFajitas]

@DeeCeeCherry @Wheresyourclapham

Try reading OP’s posts.

She was on annual leave the day she posted, and was also catching up on work in her own time.

[Wheresyourclapham]

DeeCeeCherry
‘You also put your post up at 10.16am and have been pretty interactive on it. At various times, too. Much of this is during 'office hours time', surely...?’

^This!

@EatPrayYoga
You replied to my post at 08:24. Unless you were scheduled to start work later than 09:00 or had a day off that day, you seem way too invested in what randoms on the net have to say.

I saw your response on the morning of 2nd, but only responding now as I’ve been busy.

Also, as @feistyoneyouare has said, it looks like you are only happy with the posts that agree with you!

[Wheresyourclapham]

@EatPrayYoga
Yes, it was a long post. I had a lot to say.

I RTFT, so I must’ve missed that information amongst all of the drip feeding.

Maybe you shouldn’t have posted on AIBU if you are sensitive to the opinions of strangers’ responses to a situation that you have shared with the Whole Wide World.

[DeeCeeCherry]

You also put your post up at 10.16am and have been pretty interactive on it. At various times, too. Much of this is during 'office hours time', surely...?

[DeeCeeCherry]

It seems strange for a manager to be consulting strangers on an internet forum as opposed to having a casual word with employee to ask him to log on by 9am. Makes it seem as if you just want to gossip and attract negative comments about him, which is unprofessional. In which case you're not actually doing your job and managing him, are you?

[H0liday00Dream]

I have worked with people who have consistently been late
One traveled by train
One had a very long car commute

It is irritating for the people who turn up on time every day

I once turned up 5 mins late for a job. The boss said that they would dock me 15 mins pay for every lateness. I never turned up late again

[sbhydrogen]

It's five minutes, come on. 🙄🙄

[MadameBlobby]

@VinylDetective

My boss would be unimpressed if I swanned off half an hour early every day because my “work was done” or decided to do my work at times that suited me

This is increasingly how people are managed so your boss is a dinosaur.

My boss is not a dinosaur. You have no idea what my job is and why I need to be there at set times.

This individual does not have the basic qualities of self discipline or respect to be an even vaguely competent lawyer.

[EatPrayYoga]

Do you mean you're only reading the ones that are agreeing with you?

No not at all. If you have RTFT I said very early on that I take on board the comments about 5 minutes not being a big deal and he could be at his desk at nine and just logged on slightly later.

Some of the comments, however, refer it depending on the role and sector, which I have explained. Some say it depends on his performance otherwise. which I have addressed. Some say flexibility works both ways ie starting late if he finishes late but I have said what the issue with this is. I cannot really take into account the comments saying people shouldn't work before 9 or after 5 as that's simply not how it works in our business.

I genuinely wanted people's views but at this stage I have given sufficient detail that the comments that are irrelevant to the particular situation or that ask questions that have been answered will mostly be ignored because they are a waste of time for everyone involved.