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 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"?

That's why I went on to say it's better to focus on whether the job is getting done rather than the exact leaving time. But I do take on board what others have said about getting colleagues' backs up. Important to be consistent.

I suspect that OP wouldn’t be quite so concerned with the employee buggering off if she had finished her tasks and didn’t refuse to do tasks assigned to her (in such a rude way!)

Never assume anything, fact check.

Where I worked when I was 18, I used to hang back and waited for a guy to finish 15 mins after me in another dept as I got a lift from him. My supv told me that a few people had approached him as I was clocking out 15 mins later and said it was unfair i was getting "overtime" lol. So fact check

If the worker is defrauding the co by leaving early and that is what it is, take it to the top. However, be aware if the worker is a sycophant ect and if so, you cant do a lot IMO.

NB, I've only read the first couple of posts.

I suspect that OP wouldn’t be quite so concerned with the employee buggering off if she had finished her tasks and didn’t refuse to do tasks assigned to her (in such a rude way!)

Well, indeed!

^^ completely agree. Towards the end of the day, i'm usually finishing up work. Not necessarily looking at new emails 10 mins before home time.
If she is getting her work completed on time, i don't see the problem with leaving early. Also as someone else said, she might have an agreement to leave early prior to you working there. i would be checking that rather than CCTV.

I think you need to call her into your office and tell her you have concerns over her performance. 1. Her response to your request to do job in her job description. 2. Leaving work before end of day. Spell out neither is acceptable. Tell her you expect X piece of work completed by Z and handed back to you. I would give a verbal warning over persistent leaving early without asking your permission. Point out she is being paid to work from X to Y. Show her copy of job description and contract which will show working hours. If she lies to you and says she did not leave early, tell her you asked for her one afternoon and was told she had left. If she tries to lie and say it was a one off, suggest you look over CCTV together to see when she left. Make clear notes of discussion and ask her to sign notes to agree nature of discussion. If she continues to leave early or refuses to do work I would issue a written warning. You should have clear disciplinary procedures for your company set out so follow those and make it crystal clear to her you are doing so.

Without knowing the job its difficult to know if it reasonable. So many people here are fortunate in having flexible jobs. If she was a receptionist at the local gp would it be OK for her to shut up shop 20 minutes early? Some jobs expect you to be there just in case there is that last minute need.

As for ignoring the late in the day email a simple reply to say that you'd deal with it in the morning might be acceptable.

I’m shocked that you were checking CCTV!! That’s so inappropriate and a violation of privacy. She’s leaving work early, not breaking out of jail!

That being said, she shouldn’t be leaving early, you should have just dealt with it better. I mean 20 mins a day is 400 mins a month. I worked out that by leaving 20 mins early every single day, she’s getting the equivalent of 11.5 extra annual leave days a year! That could be costing the company thousands.

20 x 5= 100 mins a week
100 x 52 = 5200 mins
5200/60 = 86.6
86.6/7.5 (assuming full time day) = 11.5 days

Deffo tell her, and everyone else, the core hours. And for her, look at the JD and maybe consider a 4 week work plan giving her specific work and she should fill in a ‘time sheet’ detailing what she’s been doing. She should also give you access to her Outlook diary. You could also try a daily catch up for 10 mins before her allocated end time to see how things are going.

It clearly says in the op that she asked the person to confirm her working hours, she said "yes those are my hours". It was after this that OP caught her out in the lie.
if she worked flexitime she had ample opportunity to say "well my core hours are 8-4 but miss X agreed I would work through my lunch and leave at 3.30 on xxx days"

I’m shocked that you were checking CCTV!! That’s so inappropriate and a violation of privacy
she's presumably leaving via a communal entrance where other members of staff come and go. She's not in the bathroom.

Listen to this advice! Clearly the voice of experience. Especially the advice to be kind and calm, if you treat your team with generosity chances are they will repay you with respect and loyalty in the long run.

The op would have had to have jumped through significant hoops to “check CCTV footage”

did you op?

Had something similar where we work, but worse. It was a wife in a team managed by her husband, she had very questionable working hours and there came a point when she had not been seen for a while so we checked the swiping in and out info and she has done been in 4 or 5 times in 3 months! Anyway we were only given the card entry data on the understanding it would not be mentioned as it was not the intention that data be used in this way and so permission would need to be sought from employees etc etc.

so I think you will need to orchestrate some situations where you wait until near the end of day to ask to speak about something. You can then say I noticed you weren’t around and the same over a number of days. Gather your evidence this way and then approach your colleague. Keep an eye on start times and lunch break times to get a better picture. It might be something as simple as she starts a bit early so that she can be on time to catch a certain train. Get the full picture first.

I think the fact that another established team member has already let you know she's taking the piss speaks volumes. I bet the team are sick of her shirking parts of her job and leaving 20 mins early for them to pick up the slack. There was a cf like this in my team years ago and it's really demoralising for the rest of the staff. What if everyone else just decided to do the same? Thankfully senior management did a check of everyone's log ins/outs and the cf was sacked. Another colleague who was doing it but not on such a large scale had the hours he hadn't worked deducted from his salary. It was a substantial amount.

If she comes in early and therefore does her contracted hours, and isn't leaving in core hours, I can't see the problem.

The not my job response would drive me nuts though.

Rather depends on their job doesn't it. For example, if part of her job is answering the phone until the end of the day it means someone else has to cover it instead of doing their own work.
Not everybody works a job where as long as various tasks are done in the day it doesn't matter when you do them.

That's irrelevant. CCTV is for safety and security. It's not to be used for checking up on people.

You might find this interesting www.lawdonut.co.uk/business/data-protection-and-it/data-protection/using-cctv-for-workplace-monitoring

The op doesn't say what the job is.
maybe she works on a hotel reception desk where leaving early leaves the desk short staffed

CCTV is there for security in the vast majority of buildings and constantly monitored by most companies. It is actually everywhere these days, pubs, streets etc

A request to check it at the entrance/exits for times etc is not a GDPR issue.

if the op goes to management with this, she will be disciplined.

she completely contravened the use of CCTV

I suspect she has a legacy agreement that she leaves early which has never been formally documented. If she gets her core work done (which you haven't disputed), and done well, no problem. You haven't checked whether she does a shorter lunchbreak or starts early. The 'not my job' thing is a bit more worrying, but there might be reasons why. Her JD might say that she will also help out with xyz if necessary, if xyz department need help, or have a catch all clause about any other duties. In the past this might have meant that xyz department are lazy or inefficient, and that they have taken the attitude that this employee will always help, so loads of work has been dumped on her. Or the previous person in xyz department was a total control freak or a bit underemployed, or just very efficient, so never got her to do anything, so she has forgotten this is in her JD, and maybe doesn't even know how to do it.

Sit her down,have a chat, and stop being creepy and checking CCTV.

If she is working in a different office I would find a reason to pop over there at 5 mins to leaving time, if she’s not there I would ask why. As a manager you have to keep staff on their toes or some will take the piss, it won’t make you popular but that’s why you’re paid extra, do your job!.

Where I work managers don’t allow any bending rules, the one exception is a doctors appointment, they are tough but fair.

I fail to see how that link is relevant. It clearly states you may use cctv in these exact circumstances if the employee has been advised.
its in my contract that our premises are covered by cctv and these may be used as evidence in disciplinary action - and indeed they have been. I work for a large public sector organisation with over 7500 employees where all misconduct hearings are conducted and defences by legally qualified chairs/barristers so if this evidence was inadmissible it would have been thrown out.

@DaphneDeloresMoorhead almost no workplace has it written into contracts that they're monitored by CCTV that will be used against them in disciplinary proceedings. That's batshit.

id want to know and ask why she thinks it's not part of her job? find out and then work on a solution