Being asked to get to work before start time

[TooBored1]

I'm being asked to get to work earlier than my start time, to set up for the day. Is this legal?

I'm salaried, with set working hours, eg 8.30 to 4.30 with 30 mins for lunch. I work physically in an office.

We hot desk and, at our managers insistance, have to take our laptops home every night.

Our line manager is expecting us to arrive at 8.15 every day, to set up desk, turn laptop on etc before 8.30. This isn't about taking off coats/putting lunch in fridge/ making coffee, literally about physically setting up for work

And ditto re going home. We should pack up our desk in our own time.

Does anyone else's boss make them do this?

An office situation is a bit different but, in music circles, people often give a time for “baton up” meaning that players should be in their chairs, music on the music stand and stand adjusted as they need it and with their instrument ready so that a a rehearsal starts promptly, not just walking in, adjusting the reed for their clarinet or oboe, rosining their bow, finding their nail clippers or whatever. I don’t know for sure but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Musicians’ Union has some kind of guidance on this.

So this is either a new manager at some part of the managerial chain who has decided to impose this ‘rule’ for no reason.

Or it’s in response to a real or perceived issue with work not starting on time.

Any chance of a union rep or someone talking to HR or the manager and getting clearer information.

If there’s been a real problem with start times then you can discuss the hot desk / equipment issue and see if a more efficient option can be found.

For either scenario you need to start a conversation about all this extra unpaid time the team is putting in every week.

If they're dictating the actual time, they've increased your working hours and need to compensate you for them.

They should just require you to be ready to work at the start time.

I’d have to be.petty bitch and get there for 8.20am instead. Ten minutes seems plenty of time to turn a laptop on.

You should be sat at desk, logged in and ready to go at 8:30. I never used to log off until the clock hit 17:00 so was clocking off in my time.

Before the arrival of laptops etc it was expected that you would be at your desk starting work promptly at 8.30 can't see why that's any different now laptops are here. You are effectively not ready to work

I actually agree with you and am generally in work 15 mins plus before hand and frequently work late too. It's just they've started being petty and pulling people up for being 'late' if they occasionally arrive at 5 mins before start time.

To me, there should be give and take - and no customers etc who are being inconvenienced by me once in a blue moon arriving a couple minutes late cos the cat was sick on the floor...

The way they've set the office out, forces everyone to hot desk, so it does take 5-10 minutes to plug standard kit in and get screens etc set up.

So they expect you to work an extra 10-20 mins a day, unpaid, because of how they've chosen to set up the office? That'd be a nope from me.

Believe you me, I've tried.

Has this been the norm? Staff switch on computer at 8.30. make tea, have a little catch up and don't start work until 8.45?
Often when rules tighten, it's because things have become lax. To put it politely.

Sounds reasonable to me. If you start at half eight then you should arrive in plenty of time to get rid of your coat, park your belongings, set up your work station and be ready to go for half eight. It was a particularly peeve of mine to see people strolling in on the dot of the starting hour.

Agreed. That's why I said in the op that it's not about taking coats off. It's about their expectations that you should arrive 15 mins early to set up desk for the day. It's not as simple as turning a compute on, today I had to spend 5 minutes trying to find a chair.

Agreed, but they want us in 15 mins early to do this.

To me, there should be give and take

Completely agree, especially as I presume it was their decision not to have dedicated desks for employees, also it only takes a few minutes to set up a laptop and plug in etc

If my contracted work hours were 8.30-4.30 I would be expected to be able to join a meeting from 8.30.

If it was an online meeting, I would have to be logged in and ready to join. If in person would need to be in the meeting room.

So getting to work 5 minutes before hand would be typical, yes.

I think I'd be annoyed - they've made it all take longer than usual to set up and then get arsy about start times.

Personally I'd likely get in early anyway and set up and ready to by 8.30 as I image most would but dictaing 8.15 and then ignoring all the unpaid overtime OP ends up doing is annoying and likely to piss people off.

I have had companies be like this - not exact situation as has Dmum - and later they've been arses about something else - it's not a good signe IME being this petty and difficult.

If the company has chosen to introduce a hot desking system that requires staff to assemble their furniture and equipment on a daily basis, then that's fair enough, but they should then be willing to cover the cost of making that system work. Why should staff have to do this in their own time?

I’d have a word with them about either getting paid for the overtime you do; or stop doing it. If the set up is all part of your working day, it should be within your paid hours. They can’t have it both ways.

There was a thread on here recently about dentistry (and how easy dentists etc have it and how they should pretty much be working for free) and when I mentioned that as a dental hygienist I don’t get paid for setting up my surgery or closing it down every day which amounts to between 40-60 minutes a DAY of not being paid I got told i was ridiculous to think I should get paid for that and that others have it far worse than me so I should stop complaining. It seems only some professions should expect to get paid for setting up at work. From that previous thread it seems that at least dentists, teachers and shop workers should be happy to spend lots of unpaid time setting up for work.

I log in for my office hours via email so would necessarily have to have laptop set up before this happens.

Of course you should be paid for setting up the surgery. It sounds like an essential part of your job.

A bit of give and take on both sides goes a long way, but employers shouldn't take the piss.

Why does it take you 15 minutes to open your laptop and set up your desks?
You’ve created your own problem by beginning to pack up your desk at 4:15. Very weird behaviour.

I’m always at my desk with the computer on before my official start time, may only be 1 minute but I’m paid to work from x not be turning on equipment

I guess you need to be working from 8:30 so it depends on how fast you can move once you’ve arrived. As long as you’re ready for blast off at 8:30 you’re ok,

I think it's totally unreasonable. If people were spending time taking coats off, chatting, making coffee I would say do that in your own time, but if the company has decided to hot desk then setting up your work station is part of your job, as is locking things away at night.

If they need you to be working at your desk at 8.30am and they think it takes 15 minutes for you to set up they should pay you from 8.15am.

Probably not worth arguing about for 15 minutes though unless they are being really arsey about it. If you get in at 8.22am but are still working by 8.30am are they okay with that?

https://www.tuc.org.uk/guidance/our-employer-asks-us-turn-15-minutes-work-starts-doesnt-pay-us-time-shouldnt-come-under

If you are in a Union it's worth talking to them as the line from the TUC is that employers should pay for that preparation time.