To refuse to stay late?

[Carlie97]

My core hours are 9am to 5pm. Other staff work til 6pm and most the same hours as me. My transport home leaves at 5.30pm and there isn't anything else til 9.00pm.

Those at work haven't forseen that one day this week there will be no one to stay until we close at 5.30pm and this happens regularly when other staff are on holiday or off sick. I've asked around the office and no one else will stay til 5.30pm even though they traipse in much later than their official start time. It's shit. AIBU to leave at 5pm anyway, tell the managers this and let them sort it? They don't give a shit and theres a rela hierarchy of 'theyre too important to deal with this stuff'. It's not my job either.

It sounds like this is your job to allocate someone to stay or stay yourself. When the late rota comes up don’t you ever put yourself on it? As a junior manager wouldn’t it be your job to pull staff who regularly arrive at work late and then don’t stay to make up hours? What are you managing if not the staff?

OP not your circus not your monkeys.

@tiramisugelato is a junior manager and not her job.

How do you know it's not her job? I've been in junior management and it absolutely was my job to make sure we had cover (and to provide that cover myself if nobody else was available).

Tell them that you either close up at 5pm or they order you a working Time Machine.

If you are a manager, do you not have staff that you can get to cover until 5:30pm?

Sounds like it is her circus and the monkeys are running amok

They're not my monkeys. They're line managed by other line managers.

If your hours finish at 5 then leave at 5, if your managers are any good they should know who leaves when and who is covering, it’s your managers job to find someone to cover not yours, do your work and leave at 5 as per your contract.

Leave at 5. It’s unacceptable of them, they are getting paid to manage this, not you

Right, but you all work in an office together, so surely as a junior manager, it's at least partially your responsibility to make sure it's staffed adequately?

Stay until 5.30 but: In advance get in writing that you will be paid extra plus your taxi home.

OP if they bat back “unfortunately my only transport option home means I have to leave at 5pm and no later. Unless the company will cover the cost of a taxi home, I will leave at 5pm.”

then you bat it back again. And you keep firm that you will be leaving at 5.

don't mention anyone being late etc etc.

Or when they bat it back to you, you go back with: it is not within the scope of my authority then ignore anything that comes back after that.

Make sure you are squeaky clean in terms of what you do, the hours you work etc etc.

It's a bit unclear to what extent you should be being flexible here. It sounds like you have no authority to require anyone else to stay, or to approve/reject vacation requests/etc. and the people that do have just headed off without ensuring the time is covered, that does make it seem unreasonable of the company to blame you if you leave as normal. At the same time, that step into management though generally, comparatively, poorly paid does come with some expectations that you need to make things work.

Not the point but I too am intrigued by the gap between the 5:30 train/bus and the 9pm one - assuming work, home, or both is/are super rural?

OP you are a manager by your own admission, even if classified as a junior manager. This sort of thing comes with the job title. You have to pick up the slack and shortfall.

tell them you can stay but will need a
taxi home

If I'd asked for help and none had been given I would leave at 5pm. Assuming the building was secure and the worst thing was that no-one could answer the phone for half an hour.

If it meant walking off and leaving the building unlocked or leaving a junior member of staff who had no means of locking up then I would feel I had to stay. Or tell the junior person to leave too and lock up.

As a junior manager this would be my way of managing a situation that otherwise means I can't get home for 3+ hours.

Why are you even worrying about this? Just walk out the door.

So where are the people you manage?

If its not your job to organise cover until 5.30pm then don't ! It really isn't your problem. Maybe email your manager and make them that nobody will here past 5pm. Unless you are contractually obliged to cover until 5.30pm when necessary, you dont have to justify your reasoning for not staying late!

Are the hours of 9am-5pm clearly set as such in your contract?

OR are the hours within some other range but you have always tended to work 9-5?

Take half a day’s sick leave to attend a dental appointment so you aren’t on the premises at 5:00 to 5:30.
Or, email your line manager to say you’ve left for the day and she needs to ensure someone is responsible for closing up. Then turn your phone off.
Basically, it’s not your responsibility and you are allowing yourself to feel obliged to be responsible. Difficult if at 5pm you find yourself the only person left, in which case you need to wriggle out of the situation.

So you’re a Junior Manager.

• Are any other Junior Managers leaving at 5, with you? If so, why does it fall on YOU to sort the issue?
• Do you manage the rotas/contract hours of the other colleagues leaving at 5? If not, who does? This person should be re-organising the rota.
• How many 6pm people are on holiday at the same time? Who approved the multiple holidays? It’s on THAT person to either a) not grant holiday to all of the 6pm people requesting holiday at the same time, or b) approve all of their holiday, AND arrange cover.