Would you mind colleagues working irregular hours from home if work is done

[TheLobsterClub]

WFH at odd hours - what would you do?

So for many years I worked very conventional hours and was office-based, but things got a ton more flexible when were moved to WFH during Covid and never really went back. I've always managed by own workload very well, over and above what's expected normally, but have still made sure I've taken time back in terms of popping out to get my hair done, early finishes at times, etc. (I wouldn't do this if I had important meetings obviously).

The last couple of years personally have played havoc with any sort of schedule or routine. Surgical menopause plus struggles with sleeping properly, and right now the horrendous heat means that my sleep and waking cycles are all over the place. So for example I'm literally taking a break from work right now to work.

However, my colleagues are so steadfast in recording the hours they work e.g. they will go and pick grandkids up from school and have it scheduled as a late lunch break at 3.30pm - they keep timesheets of what they've worked to the minute. It's stifling.

I guess my question is would you care what hours/times of day someone worked at as long as the hours were getting done or would you pull them up on for example working at 11pm at night? I hate micromanagement and just want to get on with things. (TBH I wish the NHS allowed working from abroad and I'd quite happily be a digital nomad!)

It depends on the type of work, doesn't it? My team covers a service from 08:00-17:00, and while we have a certain amount of flexibility it's not that flexible. But as long as we have at least one person covering the service, and people are available for meetings, then we can usually work round it.

Previous job - we supported systems all round the world, we had 24/7 on-call, we had out of hours work, often with maintenance windows in the small hours, plus calls with AsiaPac and the USA - wouldn't have been much of a problem.

@EBearhug the service I support works 24/7, but there's never been any requirement in my role for 24/7 working - it's very much a support function but I wouldn't be approached in a crisis

If you are sure you are doing your hours then keep track of them so you have a record in case of dispute. Only opinion that matters is your line manager (and possibly their line manager). Are they happy?

The challenge with working outside core office hours is that it’s difficult and frustrating for colleagues to get hold of you to discuss issues. Fine if you need a meeting, but often a short chat is what’s needed, and that’s tricky when you’re working at 11pm and your colleagues signed off at 5pm having been unable to reach you,

I think it depends on the line of work. I work in the evenings at times especially during the summer: but as I manage a team I’m available at all time via email, teams and phone. A member of my team deals with the public and I expect her, and it is written in her contract that she needs to be at the laptop 9-5.

i’m very clear in my timesheet about the hours that I work.

Oh they're definitely getting my hours out of me - for example on Monday this week I did 7am until 9pm!

My line manager is largely AWOL (not helped by his two weeks leave after my week off and the 1:1 the week before being cancelled) so have no idea what he thinks and his line manager probably doesn't care as long as the cogs are turning...

We have an enormous amount of flexibility (subject to meeting business needs) but the trade of is we track the time we work. I don't have an issue with that. I'm well up on hours which gives me the freedom to do things like take a short day tomorrow and take the kids to the pool while they are off school.

Well you should properly document your hours, but like PP said, it depends on the type of work. If it’s solo project type work or a niche caseload for which you alone are responsible, then I think it doesn’t matter so long as the work is done on time and to a good standard. My LM is happy for me to work fairly unconventional hours some of the time as she knows she’ll get the output.

If it was the kind of job where you need to be regularly contactable then that’s different and you need to be logged on during regular working hours.

So if you are recording it in your timesheet and your hours are up then i'm not sure what your question is?

I regularly did. 9pm-midnight shift to get my work done as a single mum to young kids and I was by no means the only one at my workplace

I'm not recording it officially anywhere, I just know that's what I did

Just log your hours properly. And yes, put your working pattern for the day in your calendar, as your colleagues do. It's an important part of working as a team!

Yes this is what I do too. It's about transparency and communication.

It’s far easier if the majority of the team are working the same hours. If I go in the office and want to speak to someone at 3pm, I’ll be fed up if they have packed up for the day but not to worry because they’ll be back online at 10pm - what good is that?

I am always available during core office hours - that's my point

@LochLoughton but I don't always know what my pattern will be... it quite often depends on my illness, how I've slept, etc. E.g. tonight I didn't think I'd be working so late but I don't feel sleepy which is unusual

So you're working core hours (what 10am - 4pm?) and then making up the other hours at whatever time suits you? You say you work load extra but still make sure to take the time back.

I'm not really sure what the issue is.
If there is no requirement to keep meticulous time sheets, your manager is happy and you have a good working relationship with your colleagues then there's no issue is there?

In my entirely remote company we all manage our own time, but there is an expectation that we are the normal office hours of our country so I'll know that my US colleagues are up and about mid/late afternoon.

Explain your circumstances to your line manager and ask if this is OK. It's better than you being off sick

I wouldn’t mind at all. But it’s between you and your employer. It’s not your colleagues business at all.

No, not at all. As long as my team can support key customer meetings during core working hours (9-4) then I don’t care at all when the rest of their work is done. I do have one manager though who will email at 11pm then get snotty by 9:30am when his email isn’t answered, 30 business minutes after he sent it.

Some jobs in the NHS have a lot of flexibility over hours worked across the day/week as long as the work is done.
But everywhere I know of will have some rosters or logs so the organisation knows who’s worked when, for governance reasons.
The NHS is also usually fairly strict on people taking regular breaks for H&S reasons.

Your Trust will have written policies on all of this so that is probably what your colleagues are following. Make sure you’re also following those and your colleagues will surely be fine with what you’re doing.

I know you say you don’t know in advance how you’ll be on any given day but, as long as you’re available for your service during core hours, why don’t you just record the rest of your hours worked at the end of the week?

I work irregular hours some days, ie I will go to the gym for over an hour early afternoon and then work later. I haven’t asked anyone and I really don’t think anyone would care. I know colleagues pop out to do school runs, go and watch sports days, have a longer lunch with friends. We are very flexible and not micromanaged. But that’s my place of work. Yours may be different.

when I started my boss even said she was fine with me having hairdresser appointments in working time as long as I made the time up.

What do you mean by core working hours - is that 10-4, 11-3, something else?

You seem very anti recording your hours which I don't really understand. What's the problem with just writing down each day when you've worked?

So you're always fully available during core office hours (9-5?) but then also working at 11pm? You must generate a lot of TOIL

It totally depends on the nature of your job. As long as you take a fair share of all the different aspects of the workload, I'm not sure anyone would mind. But if working at 11pm rather than 11am means you miss e.g. most of the client facing work, and leave all of this to colleagues, then this would probably be an issue for other members od your team.

I’m very used to it as my team is spread across multiple timezones. As long as the work is done we don’t care. Obviously people need to turn up for meetings, which are sometimes outside of core hours in their time zone.

I wouldn't care at all, unless it was my manager. My manager is the only person I might need an urgent response from. Anyone else I can drop an email and they can get back to me when they're ready.
I personally stick to core hours unless their is a business need for me to work out of hours. I prefer routine and I want my working day done and dusted by 5 so I can wind down.

So what's the issue? It's really unclear what your question is?

It's not at all unusual to work in the evenings. I just let people know I don't expect them to respond outside normal working hours (so they don't feel the pressure to reply at 11pm!);