Messed up my second week on the job

[CrestfallenOnTheLanding]

Started this job 2 weeks ago. It’s my first proper non-temp job ever.

I like it here. Everything is great. There’s 2 of us in this department when it’s originally supposed to be a department of 5. It’s the kind of work that is time sensitive — think something like the orders and returns department for an e-commerce website.

I finish work at 5. Today at 5 I was packing up getting ready to leave. My manager comes over and tells me that there’s still work to do. I don’t get paid for OT so I just said that my shift was over and that I had to leave as I’ve already made plans (not a lie).

WIBU?

You haven't messed up, you should never be expected to work for free no matter what the salary or responsibilities. It's still expected by some employers and, worryingly, accepted by some workers but that ship is fast sailing.

What you might want to do is approach the manager and say that you're aware of how much work there is and how time sensitive it is and that you are willing to come and go with hours occasionally as long as it's understood that you'll be able to claim time back. It might help establish a middle ground so you don't get ostracised for not being a "team player". Some workplaces have specific policies for this when overtime isn't a thing. I would only do it if there's an official policy though. That gives you cover to hold them accountable if a manager plays the arsehole when it comes to actually claiming the hours back.

That's only if you're happy to work like that, though. You're perfectly entitled to stick to what's in your contract and no more. As long as you're comfortable with the fact you won't be popular with the management if they have unreasonable expectations. They should know better but that isn't always the reality.

Salaried. We will never be able to take lieu time or leave early somedays though because there are always more emails to answer and even when there were 4 of them there was frequently a backlog!

You didn’t mess up, but….how far do you want to go? I just ask generally in terms of work/career?

For future- being willing to step up (Not of an employer is taking the piss of course), work hard and importantly NOT be seen as a clockwatcher is important.

i have learnt from man years working, you are only a number. if you start working overtime for free, it will be expected. There is there will be issues on days you cant work overtime.

Set your bondaries

Well then absolutely not. No overtime, no flexi, no TOIL, no deal!

It's worrying if there's a backlog even when the team is almost fully staffed. If the work is really so important and time sensitive then the company needs to look at staffing levels or take hard look at their processes to see if they can be improved to relieve pressure. Expecting staff to work under pressure 100% of the time long-term is a massive red flag.

Keep your boundaries and don't do anything you're not happy to do.

One member left on Mon to go on mat leave so it's a lot more hectic with just the two of us

Let's just hope they're not planning on the two of you picking up the extra and "forgetting" about replacing the one on leave; the "looking for someone" can take a very long time if others are prepared to fill in instead

Since it's clearly not the sort of high level, highly paid job where extra work goes with the territory you didn't "mess up" at all - in fact you may well have headed off any more silly requests of this sort

It depends what's in your contract. My says there will be occasional need for overtime however, we are flexible so this is in lieu. If you are required to do overtime then note it down.
If the contract says 9 to 5 then those are the hours you are being paid for. You are not working because its fun, you are working because you are being paid to do so, so if they don't pay then you are under no obligation to work. Saying that, don't choose to die on this hill before your probation period is over!

YANBU not to stay late but I think how you say it makes a lot of difference.

"Oh dear, I can't stay late tonight. Let's have a chat tomorrow about how we can stay on top of things while we're so short-staffed". Then have the chat and (If you'd be up for it) suggest paid overtime that you can plan for - if the company has budget for 5 staff and aren't paying at least 2 of them, they can afford to pay you OT in exceptional circumstances.

You have not messed up! They messed up!
genuinely had stuff to do or not, you finish at 5pm!

Absolutely this. We've glorified martyring ourselves in jobs for way too long.

OP, is there any other context to this?

For example if they'd asked at interview "there will be times you'll need to stay late at very little notice - will this be OK?" and you'd said yes, or if there had been a group message go out during that day to say "We've had a major increase in workload today due to an IT problem at one of our couriers meaning that 50% of orders weren't delivered, so we are asking everyone to who is able to stay late tonight to do so - we will ensure you're allowed to take this time up this side of Christmas. Please let your manager know if you're not able to." and you'd not responded to it, then that would put a rather different complexion on things.

100%

Start as you mean to go on: you are paid for X number of hours per week. If they need you for longer, they need to plan in advance, you need to agree, and they need to pay you for your extra time.

Having seen your updates about your role and the company, you haven't messed up at all.

As you had plans that meant you couldn’t stay, YANBU. In your shoes I’d have apologetic about not being able to pitch in though.

I think ideally both employees and employers should offer a bit of flexibility and goodwill. If after a few weeks it is only one way however and you are habitually doing more than your contracted hours then I’d be unhappy and raise it with management.

It also depends on the role, job and pay. Many jobs do expect staff to put in extra hours to meet deadlines but those roles are normally fairly well rewarded. DD1 works in marketing and sometimes works into the evening, there is no overtime. However on the flip side her employer has been very supportive and flexible when she has needed it too. She’s not in minimum wage either, she’s not on mega bucks but on a professional salary.

Sounds awful. I'd be looking elsewhere tbh.

"Sorry, I am unable to work late notice overtime, but I am happy to discuss overtime rates with you tomorrow for preplanned hours" 😁

just I think you should have approached the manager rather than them approach you.

It’s not OP job to manage the manager!

Yes set boundaries however also advise that you will only work extra if notice is given ask your paid overtime.

I agree with other posters, I think just getting up and leaving without saying anything, knowing there’s time sensitive work that won’t be done, is quite bad. Not that I think you should be working extra for free, of course not, but I would have gone to a manager to discuss

Crikey! Times have certainly changed

Never swanned off at 5pm in my life

Are you paid by the hour?

Team work means all pulling together to go as early as poss. Not leaving with urgent tasks completed

A good employer will be flexible with you if you are flexible for them

That's fine, if it works both ways but plenty of employers seem to expect total flexibility from their employees but refuse to reciprocate. After many years in the workplace, I no longer put myself out for employers who take the piss and expect me to work for nothing

"Swanned off at 5pm"! Fair enough, don't 'swan off' if your salary is high, but you can't expect the average worker, on minimum to average wages, to lower their already-poor hourly rate by working overtime for free to a rate that could drop below minimum!

Trouble is, good employers aren't that flexible. You arrive 15 minutes early to work each day, then you ask to leave 15 minutes early just one day, and it's frowns all round.

No, I say draw your boundaries and stick to them. If the work can't be done in the contracted hours, then payment for overtime can be discussed.

I don't know how to explain this without it being potentially outing but I guess I am disenchanted with this job as it's not at all as I imagined it to be.

Let's say my job scope has 7 bullet points. 1-4 are the ones I'm interested in and involve things like Power BI, Excel VBA etc. 5 is just a general daily thing that take no time so I don't mind it. 6 and 7 is a "when needed" scope which is very heavy on the operational side that's supposed to be done by the other 3 people who used to work here. Due to the severe manpower shortage, I spend almost all my time doing 6 and 7 and never any time doing 1-4 as that's not as crucial as the operational side of things.

The pay is extremely low but I didn't mind it because 1-4 would look good on my empty resume. 7 is not relevant to anything I want to do. Think I would be more amenable to flexibility if the pay was better (I'm paid £21k) and I didn't spend all my time doing 6 and 7.

Respectfully OP, whether you love the job or not isn’t really relevant to this? You’re being paid to do the job, so yes you don’t have to work extra hours for no extra pay (of course), but I do think it would have been a better idea to go to your manager and explain xyz is not going to be able to be done in time due to shortage, if you’re open to doing overtime paid, then you could negotiate that.

I always think it reflects well on a member of staff to be aware of your work load and any issues take them to a manager yourself, rather than wait to be pulled up on it. And although this job may not be your dream job, if you’re seen to be hard working and capable of taking initiative etc, you could always be promoted internally. Although I’m not saying you should work for free, and don’t feel you have to do paid overtime if you don’t want to, a member of staff who acknowledges work load issues and takes those to management looks a LOT better than one who goes ok 5pm I’m off.

You can spot the people that have never worked on ecom. Honestly OP you did the right thing. Take it from someone who ended up working 60 - 70 hour weeks getting shit on because she wanted to be ‘helpful’ the salary was not worth the 5.30am phone calls for operational issues

The manager can see what can’t be done though as he’s sat right across me doing the same job. It’s for example a shared document and he can see how many returns are left as he’s working through them too. Also he knows they can’t be done because even with 4 it was a stretch let alone 2.