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Original poster

Who else feels guilty when they leave work on time?

30 replies

reddaisy · 28/10/2010 19:47

The woman who covered my job is snapping at my heels putting in ridiculously long hours to impress the management and I mostly try to leave on time to get back to collect DD etc.

I know I am good at my job but I have gone from working all hours even when I was heavily pregnant to working bloody hard during the day but still trying to leave on time.

I actually have found that I am working more effectively now but I don't think that seems to matter.

Anyone else feel guilty for trying to work their hours?

OP posts:
reallytired · 28/10/2010 19:50

Quality is more important than quantity.

Are you worried about being made redunant?

Original poster
reddaisy · 28/10/2010 19:53

No, we are on skeleton staff as it is so fingers crossed I will keep my job for now.

I also only work 4 days now which contributes to me feeling like I'm not "present" enough.

OP posts:
Tortington · 28/10/2010 19:55

nope.

i get paid for certain hours. i;m not forging a career - i am working to get a wage to live. not the other way around.

i leave on the dot - i get there on the dot and im not bothered if other people get posts that i;m not getting, id rather eat my own arse than kiss someone elses.

Original poster
reddaisy · 28/10/2010 20:05

Grin Custardo, I have always refrained from kissing ass too but my god it is sickeningly rife in my office at the moment and the bitchiness does my head in.

My ML cover often tries to take credit for my work but I feel that I would look petty if I called her on it if that makes sense.

And I do still want to build my career but I feel that having a DD has stalled it as I'm less available than my boss and ML cover.

OP posts:
frgr · 28/10/2010 22:38

I leave on the dot, just as I arrive on the dot. I often work through lunch breaks, or stay 10 to 15 minutes late if there's a problem that needs dealing with. But I'm working in the charity sector where there are no real emergencies or VITAL things to be finished by the end of the day, as long as my projects are ticking over nicely. (In which case I just make sure that all the stakeholders are well informed with progress and appropriate mitigation and planning deals with it - I have no idea how people put up with badly managed work places where you end up still in the office at 8pm on a Friday night, it would drive me nuts.)

Basically as far as I'm concerned, my job really doesn't require overtime, I make sure my core objectives and project deadlines are met - I would view it as a lack of competence on my part if I had to keep doing overtime. I know this is a rare attitude though. I would wonder what a colleague is doing if they needed to work so many more hours than their core hours though - either that there is a management failure (too few people to do the work, not guiding people with enough training or prioritising tasks) or possibly an incompetence/trying-to-impress boss situation with the employee.

I was like this before kids too. If punctuality is a praised thing in an employee, punctuality for being at your desk for the start time should also reflect leaving your desk at the allotted finish time unless exceptional circumstances crop up. Not regularly.

Don't feel bad.

poorbuthappy · 28/10/2010 22:49

I remember having a row frank discussion with my boss in a meeting because he started ranting on about people leaving on time when there was still work to do.
At the time I was working in manufacturing so technically there was always work to do, but most of the really important stuff was the actual building and testing of the product which was usually due out the door the week previous.
I asked him quite bluntly how exactly it benefitted the shop floor if I stayed in work past 5pm. I pointed out that as I wasn't trained as a fitter or tester I couldn't actually help the shop floor.

I did stay late when I needed to. I didn't stay late when other people needed to. I was pregnant at the time so I think I may have been slightly more forthright than normal (ifs thats possible Grin) and funnily enough it wasn't mentioned again!

The other thing I will stress is do not let her take credit for your work...it is a slippery slope which will end in tears.

frgr · 29/10/2010 08:53

"ranting on about people leaving on time when there was still work to do"

If this was a regular occurance, would it not have been better management to look at what was going wrong that led to this situation? rather than ranting? I.e. are people just generally being inefficient, chatting too much, needing more training, or are they overworked (in which case task priorities need to be reinforced) or needing more experienced people, etc?

It never fails to amaze me that bosses think ranting about stuff like that is the professional or helpful thing to do. It's neither. And going through the tactic of "not mentioning it again" sort of reinforces that image I.e. no realy effort to get to the root of the problem on your boss' part Hmm Sounds like a crap boss.

Manda25 · 29/10/2010 10:09

I leave on the dot every day. We can ASK someone to stay on if we get stuck but they can say no and if they stay they get paid for the extra time.

mousymouse · 29/10/2010 10:13

not any more, but used to at the beginning. also had to do with my colleagues starting late and leaving late. so I was often the first one in the office and of course first out as well but didn't really work less hours than the others.
now I am fine with it and everyone knows that I have to leave at a certain time, so they know if they leave me stuff in the evenings I can do it in the mornings when they are not in yet.

JarethTheGoblinKingsTIGHTS · 29/10/2010 10:16

God no. I leave on the dot, but I am prepared to stay late if there is a genuine need for it (rather than someone just putting in the hours)

If I've got a particularly heavy work load I just work bloody hard, often through lunch, and always manage to leave on time.

Besides.. I've done 10+ years of working stupid hours because I could, and because it was beneficial to me. Now I work to live, not the other way round

poorbuthappy · 29/10/2010 12:59

In his defence he was a very good boss 99% of the time. He would just have the odd blip sometimes!

marge2 · 29/10/2010 13:05

Never - If I don' t leave on time I am late for school pick up! Boss understands that!

slipperandpjsmum · 29/10/2010 22:23

Presentiusum!!! I may have spelt that wrong. At my place people are there at 7.30 and would still be there at 7.30pm if the place didn't shut at 6.30pm. Its very draining and destructive, many a relationship has fallen by the way side as a result. There are only 3 of us across 4 teams that have children. Our workload out weighs our hours and there is no flexibility in deadlines as its court work. There is lots of research to support the fact that the longer the hours the more the productivity goes down. We feel like work horses, no investment, just work us to death and replace us

DeadPoncy · 30/10/2010 13:03

Why feel guilty for leaving on time if you've been effective? Do others feel guilty for pissing about on Facebook and with "banter" all day? Honestly, this sort of two-facedness (one of them with cat's-bum-mouth and the other a lemon face) drives me mad.

Original poster
reddaisy · 30/10/2010 17:36

Thanks for the views. I just feel that I get frowned upon when I leave on time. Doesn't help that I also often do the early shift at work which means I have been in up to three hours before other departments so it probably looks like I am going half way through the day to them when I have done my full shift and often without a break.

I get comments from colleagues like: "So, will we be seeing you tomorrow then?" And I only have ONE day off a week so the majority of the time I am there.

It really annoys me, when actually I think in general a bit more organisation from everyone at my workplace would mean more people could leave on time.

OP posts:
lucyflawless · 30/10/2010 20:05

My current boss is a cow. I mean a really unpleasent person.

A colleague and I both have Tuesdays off. We both have children. She asked if I could babysit colleagues' children so colleague could come in and do a presentation last Tuesday.

That's all you need to know about her.

Witch.

lucyflawless · 30/10/2010 20:06

And yes, she does cat's bum face about everything I do - whether it's leaving on time or turning up on time.

Witch.

witchinthewindows · 30/10/2010 20:44

I leave on time too. Others in the office work through lunch etc, but you never really get any thanks for it. Obviously if stuff is to be done then I stay as my job is something no-one else does so it has to be me. I would go bananas if I didn't get my full break to be honest, as my brain just needs to switch off for a bit. As it is I work 9 hours a day, which is quite enough with a young family to look after as well.

Don't let the sarky bitchiness get to you.

DeadPoncy · 30/10/2010 22:20

It is hard, especially at the moment, so don't anyone think I am making light of the pressure. But I am cross on your behalf.

mamatomany · 30/10/2010 22:25

Do not let her take credit for your work that is heading for trouble and you'll regret not saying something, I speak from experience.

Original poster
reddaisy · 30/10/2010 22:33

What happened mamatomany? I can't really mention it without point blank saying: "That was my idea!" and as we are suppposed to work as a team then I feel it would make me look petty.

But she has no problem making out things were her idea.

OP posts:
Original poster
reddaisy · 30/10/2010 22:35

Jareth - I also feel like now I work to live rather than vice versa. It does usually help put work gripes into context.

OP posts:
mamatomany · 30/10/2010 22:37

I would point blank say "that was my idea", look she is the one undermining your position, who will be the sorry one when one day in the future she is promoted over you or god forbid kept on instead of you because of all the fantastic ideas she has Hmm
I was totally intimidated by an older girl who blatantly nicked my sales, many years later I met my manager in a bar and he admitted they knew what was going on but were waiting for me to grow a pair and tell him. I reckon she took about £100k off me in total, not to mention the fact that she was promoted etc.
Completely my own fault though I should have told her to fuck off the first time she did it :(

Original poster
reddaisy · 30/10/2010 22:42

Shock Oh no! I hope she came unstuck later when she had no-one to steal from.

This isn't as bad as that but still niggles me. I certainly don't lack in confidence but some people seem to be shameless when it comes to self promotion and brown nosing. Shudder.

OP posts:
mamatomany · 30/10/2010 22:46

Unfortunately no she has had an extremely successful career and no doubt shat on everyone she came across to get where she is today. Those types never seem to get theirs.
Just remember you have a baby to fight for now, you're stronger because of it not weaker :)

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