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!)

Ultimately you and your manager and the terms of your contract.

I think accurate times are essential for an office and for managers to see. For example when I became depressed I started working 7am-7pm so I got the job done. I didn’t realise what was happening to me, just worried about keeping my job. I was not productive at all. I actually recorded accurately on my time sheet which never got checked. There were people who arrived early and left early and the other way so no one noticed I was there all day. Of course pretty soon it fell apart.

Not saying that applies to you OP but longer doesn’t necessarily mean more productive. Also if your manager changes then won’t know your work ethic so already being in the habit of time recording may be useful.
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Also depends on whether you are missing some of the mundane stuff that gets done more 9-5. If it’s relevant can trainees or new staff shadow you or is it harder to arrange?

All my team are remote and across time zones. What I want to know is when I can reasonably get a response from them.

Keep a timesheet like they do, then you know what hours you're working. I find it helps remind me if I start working silly hours, rather than just compelling me to work my hours. I think the key thing is being available enough in the day that co-workers can get hold of you.

Depending entirely on the job. I absolutely couldn’t do my job if I couldn’t get hold of people during working hours. It would cause problems if something needed an urgent response, and in our line of work it does, if colleagues were working entirely to their own timetables. Likewise we have a lot of meetings as we collaborate on large projects and those happen between about 10 and 5 and it’s not ok for people to decline because it doesn’t suit them. If it is a day without meetings it’s fine to be a bit more flexible - start earlier or later / take a long lunch break but I would still expect colleagues to be broadly contactable

If your job requires any sort of collaboration then I imagine it’s going to make things difficult if you’re working in the middle of the night. Even more so if your colleagues don’t even know when you’re going to be working. If you work completely on your own then it probably doesn’t matter so much.

so why can’t the admin staff do the same?

How can you ‘literally take a break from work right now to work’?!

As many have already said, record what times you stop and start work, each time you stop and start, in a spreadsheet - even if the xompany doesn't ask for it, and no one else seems to care...then, if anyone complains, or alleges you're not doing the hours, you can provide detailed records. You may feel that you shouldn't have to, but it'll just make it a lot harder for any complaint to gain momentum.

Surely your colleagues approach of keeping an eye on hours worked, and balancing the time taken off for personal tasks is totally normal? You seem to see that as some kind of imposition.

Your approach is either arrogant, or actually hiding the fact that deep down you suspect that your hours wouldn't add up...and therefore don't want to write them down

Totally depends on the kind of work.

Does someone else have to cover for you if you're not available?

Do you give instructions to subordinates who then may need to ask you questions before/while carrying out the work? And in what timeframe do they need to? If it can wait till the next day, then no problem I guess.

Do you have a lot of team meetings that are already a nightmare to organise with people's other work commitments? If so, it's not fair on colleagues to add a different work schedule to that difficulty.

If none of these are true, then, why not?

No, it's on you to us office hours if that's the rule of your organisation. It's part of the right to disconnect.

It depends on your work as others have said. If you are always available during core hours and that's something like 10-4 then there is no problem.

Where there is an issue is if you need to get hold of colleagues and they are not available. For example I work in an organisation where half the people work in a different time zone so are not available after 1pm. Then you have people who are not available for some or all of 8.30-9.30 or 2.30-3.30 because they do school runs. And the person who starts at 11 but works until 7. And the person who starts at 7 and works until 3. If you then have to factor in people who work at ad-hoc times in the day as the mood suits them, the chances of being able to schedule a meeting for more than about 2 people fade to virtually zero.

Well, it's acceptable at OP's workplace apparently.
If I wasn't told I had to fill in a timesheet, I wouldn't do it either because it's an extra task.
It's up to OP's management to decide what they want.

Exactly, but OP has said that she has core hours so you have a chance of being able to organise the meeting during core hours.

it's very, very normal to have timesheets 'to the minute.' It has been the case in every job I've ever worked and tbh if your org HAS timesheets that everyone else uses it's more odd they don't expect you to. In my experience jobs are either 'timesheet everything' or 'work as you want,' never a mix of both.

It's all very well for you to say you work above and beyond but unless you keep track of everything how do you actually know that? I know that I often think 'must nearly be time to finish now,' but because I started slightly later and had 45mins for lunch, actually have an hour to go, and vice versa - sometimes when I get into the zone and then check the time I've worked an hour over.

You might very well not be a pisstaker but surely you can see how doing it your way would be ideal for someone who was, and very hard for their manager to evidence if everyone else was doing the same! I'm sure you'd be the first to complain if a colleague was never available when you needed them.

I also don't see how other people manage their time is stifling you. Just sounds like an excuse to judge tbh.

Other people wfh and/or working odd hours wouldn't bother me at all unless it had a direct and negative impact on my role. If I couldn't get things done because they were uncontactable when needed, it would be rather inconvenient.

Where I work we can work between 5am and 10 pm but have to have an overnight break of 11 hours. But you do need to be around for meetings - otherwise it’s flexible. (I do record my hours, and if they were very unusual my manager would/should have a welfare chat.)

So in your 7am to 9pm day you didn't have lunch? Coffee break? Nip to the toilet? Put washing on? I bet you didn't work straight through but you'll definitely count everything for taking time back. Record your hours to the minute on a spreadsheet and you'll probably get quite a nasty shock - oh wait, that's why you don't record your hours.....

I work in a team that easily has obscure hours. Working 1pm-9pm is a common “shift” for us - we’re not shift workers. It’s just the nature of our role. My manager still wants to know my rough shift pattern and I’m expected to keep a time sheet. If I’m going to do random hours, I need to let her know so she knows when to expect me online - she doesn’t care as long as it’s not all the time.

We have core hours but in practice everyone works flexibly except for customer support teams. During Covid everyone was working too much so our Exec offered extra days around Easter. We have a signature to the effect of I may send emails at any time but don’t expect a response outside of your normal working hours