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?

It is completely unreasonable for them
to ask you to start earlier than your start time. Setting up your computer is part of your salaried job and you need to be paid for that time. I’m shocked by some responses on here saying the company is being reasonable.

We have to be ready to start at our start time which practically means getting there 10 mins before
then log out on time exactly and pack up after
it’s a call centre though so everything is bloody timed

Hmm, so it's 'just' an extra 15 minutes at each end of the working day when the employee does it, but if an employee asked them for 'just' an extra half hour out of each day to pick up dry cleaning, extended lunch break, a bit of shopping, read your book etc., I think we all know what would happen in most workplaces. Even if they did agree to it, it would be added straight on to your unpaid lunch break and your salary reduced to take account of it.

A manager is either uselessly incompetent or deceitful (or both) if they are unable to factor in the full working time - including essential set-up and set-down - when arranging and paying for staffing for that time.

Worst case scenario is that your key work starts at 8:30, but everybody is expected to be in for 8:15... then, a year down the line, once the strict culture is ingrained, they then decide to unofficially make 8:15 the actual starting time - after all, people are already there for that time - so you now have to come in at 8 to be sure you're ready to begin for the 8:15 start etc. etc. All still 'unofficial but expected', mind, so you don't get paid any extra for it.

I'd be half minded to ask the manager if the company is struggling financially, seeing as they're now relying on unpaid volunteering for a significant part of the working day and apparently unable to pay for the whole working day.

I imagine many people work overtime-nurses cleaning up a mess before clocking off, police can’t just ditch custody and go home because they’re meant to finish at 7am etc, it’s the pettiness of management whinging about people being 2 minutes late, but said workers then working 2 hours unpaid overtime is outrageous. Why can’t you claim overtime/TOIL?

You need to be at your desk ready to work from 8.30 so isn’t it a bit obvious you need to arrive before that?

They are there ready to work from 8:30 - the first task in the working day, as dictated by the company's implemented hot-desking and take-your-laptop home policies, is to prepare your desk and assemble your IT equipment.

You have not understood the situation. The company hotdesk ie OP needs to find a desk and set up all of their computer/workstation/headset.

I do not know the legal situation of this.

In your shoes if I have been working there more than 2 years I am pushing back. It's their decision to use hotdesking. If I have been working there less than 2 years I grumble and fall in line.

STOP working above and beyond. Give and take should work both ways.

Arguably, though, your desk should also be ready for you to work at from 8.30am. And that is the employer's responsibility imo.

As an aside, does it really take 15 mins to boot up your laptop? They might want to invest in some new tech...

Yes, quite. Is your office in the 1980s?

Our union (giant, global company) started a fight about this and won, anything that's to do with software or hardware setup needs to be done on works hours. Because ultimately they provide the software and hardware. If they want you in quicker, they need to review how long it takes to set up.
We (and people on this thread) have been suckered into believing we should work for free in situations like this.

The 15 is from them, not me. Btw, I am in time/early every day but this is just one of several petty new rules...

Do other people also have an issue with it

Yes - what I mean is, you don’t walk through the door at 8.30 if your start time is 8.30. You should be ready to work at 8.30

I understand what you meant, and in principle, I agree.

However, if your employer has decided to set things up in such a way that you need to spend 15 mins each day setting up your desk, then that needs to be factored in as part of your working day, and the employer needs to cover the costs of that time.

Yes they do, tbh. I want to make it clear the team is generally very hard working. We have been v v short-staffed for months and very willingly pulled together to get projects completed on time. We've accepted lots of new work and responsibilities and actively engaged in lean processes /driven innovations to improve performance.

I trust my team to do their jobs properly and on time and know they will (well up to now would) go the extra mile when needed, and are very rarely late/not ready to work on time.

There is NO culture of people being habitually late, faffing around with coffee/coats etc, it's just a senior manager throwing their weight around

Exactly - and no one does walk through the door on the dot, then spend 10 mins making coffee.

They are clearly taking the piss if you’re short staffed and all working overtime etc. just stop working for free-all of you. Get some advice from ACAS

I think it's outrageous to expect you to be there 15 minutes early. You are available to work if you are sitting at your desk at 8:30. The switching on of your laptop is part of your work.

If they need you to set up and shut down, and are saying that takes time then they need to be paying for that time. So they need to be paying you 8.15 - 5.15 etc instead of 8.30 - 5

You shouldn’t have to be in work 15mins before your contracted hours, I don’t think they can push this as you aren’t being paid for this time, they are just trying to squeeze more hours out of everyone
Are all senior managers in at 8.15 and if not is it because they have dedicated desks

No, that's bullshit. If the employer supplied IT takes 15 minutes to set up, then that's 15 minutes they have to pay you for.

If not thats 60 hours a year you're doing for free! Almost 2 whole weeks of work.

Fuck that! Talk to your union if you have one, or start job hunting. Nobody should be exploited like this.

I’d say it’s their choice to have hot desks rather than a set desk for each member of staff- so they set up/ pack away of the workspace and adjustments of any chairs/ DSE equipment should be on their time. They are already saving money through reduced office space as folk can share desks - they can’t have it both ways. They are responsible for your health and safety at work so need to provide you with sufficient time to set up your workspace in accordance with DSE guidelines.

I agree. I’ve only ever managed people once, one would arrive at 09:00:00 on the dot, then faff about getting ready for the day, maybe starting to actually do some work after 10-15 minutes. They would starting packing up around 4:45, and be out of the door at 05:00:00. This person also got on the phone making personal calls the second I went for lunch and took various other liberties. That said, I dealt with that person’s issues individually, I didn’t penalise everyone by bringing in unreasonable demands such as those being imposed on the OP.

Seems to me that workers are being pushed harder and harder. No wonder so many struggle to maintain a healthy work/life balance these days.

Same where I work. But they're not petty twats and don't monitor to the minute what time people start and finish, although anyone who was consistently late would soon be spoken to.