Colleague buggering off home early. As their manager, would this bother you?

[Marie2022]

I have been in post for a few weeks and have had some problems with one of my direct reports. Nothing serious, mainly of the “Not my job” type of response from her, regarding things that very clearly are her job.

I sent her an email a few days ago at a time when she should have seen it. She didn’t reply. At which point someone said that she wasn’t actually there. The following day I asked her to confirm her hours, which she did.

I have just checked the CCTV for the past 2 weeks and she has been leaving 10-20 minutes early every single day.

Is this a big deal? As a manager, would this bother you? I just want to get some opinions before I do anything.

Many thanks.

If people get their job done, who cares? What you're describing is presenteeism.

I would go out the back and then wait at the door to catch her in the act of leaving.

Check the morning CCTV to see if she is coming in early so you’re armed with those facts before you speak to her.

I went on management training a few years back and they taught me that being a people pleasing or conflict avoidant manager is one of the most destructive management styles for a team. It means you let some people get away with things that if the whole team did, would significantly impact on team performance.

It depends entirely on the level of responsibility. If the employee, and those around her, are contracted to work certain hours, then the rippling disgruntlement of colleagues, their disdain for OP not enforcing the contract, and the toxic fallout to the working environment will be difficult to come back from.
And the work isn’t getting done. The employee is refusing to do certain jobs.
You sound irrationally defensive of a work-shy trouble-maker.

Having been a manager and watched others in my team do this I feel your pain.
There needs to be a conversation to find out what she is thinking before you come in heavy. If you need favours in the future, pulling up her JD this early on may cause more friction.

Next time she says not my job, say something like 'whose job is this to do within the depth?' I was under the impression that as (insert job title) this is part of your role. Let her respond because that might give you an insight into what is going on. She may be a shirker, but she may have had years of watching others take the p!ss whilst she has been dumped on.
With the leaving early, ask directly if there is an existing agreement that she leaves early. Just get the facts straight because you only have evidence of one occasion according to your OP.

I don't take the piss at work and I get really angry when my boss clumps everyone together because she can't handle difficult individuals. She recently told us the company expected all staff to be onsite at all times which is a lie as WFH is negotiable in our policy. Being a good manager means being flexible and reasonable but being able to challenge when needed.

I turn my emails off when working on a major project. Advice from a training course on time management- you can put out of office on to say when the account will be monitored. My managers phone me if something is urgent - especially if close to end of working day to discuss whether I have capacity to deal with whatever it is

I think when you’re new in post it’s good to tread softly and get the team onside. You can always get people to stay later and to agree that something’s their job, but unfortunately it’s all to easy for the colleague in question to stay the extra 20mins grudgingly and do very little, or accidentally on purpose do a terrible job on the tasks they’ve decided is not their job.
Have you had many meetings with your team yet? Might be good to do this and several one to ones to get a handle on what they think their roles are, what can be improved, and in the one to ones their more long term career goals etc. JDs are often partial works of fiction as a role evolves and there are staffing changes etc. sometimes people just forget that something is part of what they are supposed to do and feel defensive if someone points out they essentially haven’t been doing their job for maybe years!
What I’m getting at generally is you need to find positive leverage for them to want to work well for you and keep you onside. You can tell them it’s their job to do something and that’s fair, but what you really want is to get them enthusiastic about engaging with your aims and agenda- this will take a bit more skill on your part.
Recruitment isn’t easy at the moment, your direct reports may be well aware they hold the cards in that respect, so best to do everything you can to be a manager who they want to see “win”, or you might find they not only won’t cooperate but will delight in monitoring your own mistakes and missteps.
I agree that reviewing CCT is a breach of boundaries, any sort of monitoring like that makes a manager seem cowardly and petty (even if that’s not the case) approaching people directly, treating them as equals, and assuming they are doing the right thing is always a preferable approach. There is likely a very good reason (from their perspective anyway) that they leave 20mins early.

If you want to stick to the letter of the job description then don't be surprised if the answer's no when you ask someone to stay late. A bit of flexibility is part of dealing with adults - but it goes both ways.

I'd focus on getting the work done – as long as that's the case it doesn't really matter if someone leaves 10 minutes early. In any case they might not be taking their full breaks. If it's not done, they can't. Set realistic deadlines and ensure they are met.

Do you have 1-2-1s with her? Both these things need addressing.

It is a big deal yeah, it also would bother me. You need to communicate to her her full job discription and tell her that she is payed to stay until such and such a time.
The whole this isn't my job description can be forgiven because she may not be aware it is part of her role.
The leaving 15-20 minutes early is a big deal and needs addressing. She is payed for that time and also like someone mentioned above, it gets other colleagues backs up, she shouldnt have a privillage of leaving shift 15-20 minutes early, thats not fair on others. I would of said much sooner than you are.
Also keep her on side, be firm and clear in the way you communicate this to her. Dont be checking cctv, thats out of order on your part. and if she finds out you did that, it will get her back up. Just communicate that is key.

Going home early if all the work is done, not an issue
But the work wasn’t done because the OP sent an email that required a response.

If I have a clear schedule at lunchtime that doesn’t mean I can go home because the works done. I have to wait until the end of my contracted hours incase a new task comes in.

This is not at all true

It depends on the type of job. If she is very organised and efficient and is getting all her work done to an acceptable standard before slipping off ten minutes early, that's fine. If she's not or it's a job where she needs to be available to take phone calls, deal with customers etc to a specific time then no, not acceptable.

I'd just ask what's going on tbh. It might be she needs to leave early for childcare or something else.

This is the issue for me. If you work somewhere where it's flexible; e.g. anyone can take just half hour for lunch and leave early letting the manager know, or negotiate flexitime, and everyone know this, then that's ok. But if one person is perceived as taking the piss, and pick and choosing their tasks, impacting on the rest of the team, it can become a bit issue and cause a toxic environment (speaking from experience).

You need a 1:1 with all the staff you manage, and to set expectations for them, taking into account their home lives, e.g. picking up children. But you need to be seen to manage.

If you want to stick to the letter of the job description then don't be surprised if the answer's no when you ask someone to stay late. A bit of flexibility is part of dealing with adults - but it goes both ways

Flexibility does indeed go both ways, but how much is the employee offering if even her actual role's considered "not her job"?

I think leaving early because of childcare issues is worse than leaving early because she started early or has nothing left to do.

Childcare won't fix itself and if she's employed to work those hours she needs to be available even if she's not present.

Does she get to work 10 mins early? Have a shorter lunch break?

You sound like a micromanager and I don’t think I’d like to work for you. Least of all spying on people by CCTV!

Actually, no I've changed my mind. If I finished my own work early, I would ask colleagues if I could help them with anything or gather everyone's used mugs and go and do some washing up!!

Before I retired I was a manager for many years so pretty experienced although not infallible! In your shoes I would ask to have a private chat with her. I would ask her if she had any problems outside of work that you should be aware of, tell her you don't need to know the details, unless she wishes to tell you, but you've noticed she often leaves earlier than she should. If she has a problem such as child care needs, you can decide between you how to tackle this to meet the needs of the business. (Shorter lunch breaks, earlier start, a specific task she can do at home.) Others have already said it's unfair on colleagues if she is not working her conditioned hours. You can also tackle the 'not my job' issue. Ask her if she needs help with aspects of her job, does she just dislike certain tasks, needs additional training... Be kind. If you dislike her be even kinder! It's important to be fair. Tell her you're happy to discuss any problems with her but you need her to do the full job and work all her hours. If she says she's had it agreed to leave early etc follow it up with HR or whoever's agreed it. Don't discuss her with colleagues other than HR or your senior manager. Don't be defensive. If she says, 'you've been checking up on me', just say it's part of your role. Keep calm, if she shouts don't shout back! If you feel out of your depth ask advice from a senior manager.

First rule of management - dont assume. Ask.

Does she work over her lunch hour? Does she start early at all? Is the workplace culture one where you're trusted to flex your own time to add up?

In my workplace this would be absolutely fine and you would come across as a frankly crazy micro manager checking CCTV before even I dont know, perhaps, talking to her about it?

Ask. She may well have a perfectly reasonable explanation. If you go in heavy as a first approach when it's all above board you'll sour your relationship with your team for ever.

That’s not an excuse. At all.
if that is the case, she needs to either sort out childcare or find a different job. Creating a toxic work environment because of your own poor planning (this has been going on for weeks according to the OP) is selfish in the extreme.

Of course you are right to check CCTV. If she told you she was in the building but her car was then you are allowed to say something about that.

If she leaves early every day without permission then that is theft of time. You are paying her for work when she's not working. What if everybody did it?

As far as her saying certain things are not in her job description, the only thing you can do is get hold of her job description and check it. If they are in her job description then you can pull her up on it.

She sounds a right stroppy one!

If you want to stick to the letter of the job description then don't be surprised if the answer's no when you ask someone to stay late

This in spades, assuming this is an office type roll.

I finish a few minutes early often, or nip somewhere for half an hour in the day. Work get enough free hours out of me because I'm diligent and a good worker and my boss is aware of this so he let's me be. If he wanted me to stick to my hours exactly then I would - but it certainly wouldn't work out better for the business!

I also wouldn't expect a reply to an email within 20 minutes op, that's way ott. I aim to respond to emails within 24 hours - anything received toward the end of the day I probably wouldn't even glance at until the next morning.