If you start work at 9 am, is it OK to walk through the door at 9 am ?

[mmhhhkkkk]

Or is that a bit ' late ' ?

If you start work at 9am then you start work at 9am. If walking through the door at that time means that you are instantly working then it's ok. If not then you are late.

How do you not already know this OP?

Everyone at my workplace turns up at their start time. Including the managers so I don't worry too much about being ready to start at my exact start time. I get my work done.

Another teacher here.

Our bell goes at 8:50am. Realistically, I need to be in at 7:30am in order to be properly prepared for the day. However as I’m only contracted to start at 08:50, I could technically rock up just in time to bring my class in from their line in the playground…

I once had an office job in my early twenties that was 0900-1730. However, I was informed that in order to look keen, I should log on at 0830 and never leave before 1800.

Depends if you walk in and are ready to start work at 9am.

I have to get changed, put my stuff in my locker, put my lunch in the fridge etc. So if I walked in at 9am I would be late.

I think it's fairly unreasonable to expect someone to be logged on by 9am. They are not being paid for that time beforehand.

In ye olden days it could take 10 minutes for a computer to boot up so you'd need to be in by 8.45 I guess despite not being paid for that time They are a bit better now, though.

But when I had a Saturday job I had to be ready to start at 9 and had to hang around after the shop had closed while the tills were cashed up. I reckon they got about 20 minutes gratis out of the staff! It's wrong.

I had a fucking useless team member have a huge go at me once because he clocked his hours to the minute but the flexitime system rounded it to the nearest 5. He wanted me to know he was being robbed of 10 minutes of flex. (Or similar - I can’t remember the maths!)

This same person did not appreciate being told his morning porridge and extended shit break should take place before clocking in.

Personally, I hate clocking systems, I think they encourage crap nitpicking behaviour and point scoring between employers and employees.

@Thanksihateit

I was once hauled into the boss’ office for arriving at 9am (job was 9-5).

I had to catch a bus to get to the office - and I could either get a ridiculously early one which would get me in for 8.10, or a later one which should have got me in for 8.45. But this one was often a bit late. I was always happy to stay later if needed but this wasn’t good enough

I wasn’t kicking about in town for 40 minutes waiting for the office to open - I used to risk the later bus. Usually it was fine. I now have a job with flexitime which suits me perfectly

This. I once had a job where you actually clocked in. If you were more then 3 minutes late, you lost 15 mins pay for every other minute. But you got no credit for staying later or arriving earlier. This was before computers and wasn't customer-facing. Just a bog standard office job with an inflexible employer.

In my experience those who arrive at 9am, faff about with coffee/lunch etc are also the ones first put the door on the dot

@canigooutyet

Contracted hours should be you are there ready to work not just walking in. End of day, tools down at the specified time.

Just one person can cost a company 50 minutes a week. Spread that cost over several staff, and over a year that's a lot of money people are paid to walk in, take their coats off etc.

Had one company that started docking those unworked hours over the month.

How does that work for those that are 10 minutes early each day then stay 5 , 10 minutes later finishing off . One day you walk in at 9.01 but you are still ahead but a lot of employers don’t care about the extra 20 minutes a day you’ve worked it’s the fact that you were late is the issue . If employers were more flexible they’d keep staff . I get the ones that waltz in make a drink , chat go and put lunch away , nip to the loo then start work then 10 minutes before finishing it’s faff about in the kitchen , washing cups , go to loo then makes for the door at 4.59pm those are the ones taking the piss and are actually wasting at least 20 minutes a day of company time.

I clock in when I turn my computer on (we are supposed to turn them off overnight due to fire risk).

If you start work at 9 then you should be ready to go at that time, although I'd caveat that with if your computer takes ages to load then you shouldn't need to turn up ages beforehand and sit and look at it load- most jobs there's something you can be doing whilst it fires up; although we would also do the first person in would turn everyone's on ready for them. Now I need to be there for the start of handover, I usually get there a bit earlier just in case there's traffic etc, and gives time to put my stuff away, get changed, get a drink and gather my thoughts.

If you are ready to start work then yes

I work in an office job but I don't think anyone would care if I came in at 9.05am.

I work across different time zones (my boss and other team member are 2 hours behind me) and it's not unusual for me to work into the evening or stay for late meetings due to people being in other time zones. So no one would bat an eyelid, because it's all give and take really.

I would say if you're on the premises at 9, it's acceptable.
We are workers not automatons!

No. It’s late

That depends on the job. Late for teaching!

If you need to change into a uniform or do a hand-over to previous shift, it's CF.

How is possible to be exactly on time every day? I have a very short journey, sometimes it takes me 6 minutes sometimes 10. When I commuted further it regularly took somewhere between 40 and 60 minutes. On a very bad day it could take all morning and I would be late then, but I always allowed just over the hour.

@UnbeatenMum

IANAL but would think that in terms of employment law booting up your computer would be considered work. Going to make porridge before you've even started obviously isn't. If you have a 9am meeting or need to be online then obviously you need to arrive before 9 but that should be paid time.

I agree, switching on the computer should be considered work. It's not exactly something you're doing for fun.

I always get in early though.

Some folk in my team didn't manage to get logged on until after 4pm today so I'm going with being there and ready to log on at 9. It's not staff's fault if systems take forever to load.

I don't mind a few minutes either way but if i was being pedantic, and I needed to be logged on for 9 then i'd start logging off to be logged out for 5 if that was the hours.

If I were cleaning I'd turn up at 9 and get out the equipment. Not turn up early get out the equipment ready for 9.

You're paid to work, not to be in the building.

Are most office jobs that petty?

It's not being petty. It's employees taking the piss.

You have to actually be doing your job at 9am. So if you are then fine.
If you step through the door at 9, go put the kettle on, take your coat off, fire up your pc or log on to your till or man your station or whatever you do and you are not actively doing your work until 915 or so then you're late.

If you walk in at 9, start work at 9.01 or 9.02 and work on when needed - not a pisstake.

If you do like one of my team (he and I had words quite often about it) and often walk in at 9, go and make your coffee, have a chat with the people in the offices round about and finally sit down to do some work around 9.20 then it’s an absolute pisstake. So glad he’s retired now.

Years ago I used to work in a shop where the tills were right next to the door

If you didn't have a coat or a bag you could've literally walked in the door at 9am and served your first customer at 2 seconds past

The tills were all switched on centrally so no waiting time involved

That's probably not very common though.