The Work Thread 2 - Get back to work!

[Errkal]

Just had a 1 to 1 with my boss to give me a word of warning about consistently being late. I'm late a lot, but I'm never late by literally any more than 3 minutes. Obviously I'm gonna leave earlier, but damn, when he asked why I'm late it was hard to not just say "would you try to make it on time to something you absolutely hate?" rather than just "traffic".

If you are always late by a few minutes, leave for work a few minutes earlier and problem solved. You know the traffic is going to be there so plan for it.

I guess it depends on the job, but for most people does it really matter if somebody is 3 minutes late?

I am almost always in before everybody else so nobody really knows if I am late in, but I really couldn’t care less if other people get in at 9.03. It makes no difference to anything.

It is something has always bugged me, it does matter because it is lazy, if you are meant to start at 9 you should be at your desk ready at 9 not strolling in the door at 9 or just after and not actually doing anything for 10 / 15 minutes while you get logged on etc.

[Moggy]

Just had a 1 to 1 with my boss to give me a word of warning about consistently being late. I'm late a lot, but I'm never late by literally any more than 3 minutes. Obviously I'm gonna leave earlier, but damn, when he asked why I'm late it was hard to not just say "would you try to make it on time to something you absolutely hate?" rather than just "traffic".

If you are always late by a few minutes, leave for work a few minutes earlier and problem solved. You know the traffic is going to be there so plan for it.

I guess it depends on the job, but for most people does it really matter if somebody is 3 minutes late?

I am almost always in before everybody else so nobody really knows if I am late in, but I really couldn’t care less if other people get in at 9.03. It makes no difference to anything.

It is something has always bugged me, it does matter because it is lazy, if you are meant to start at 9 you should be at your desk ready at 9 not strolling in the door at 9 or just after and not actually doing anything for 10 / 15 minutes while you get logged on etc.

Clock watching is a terrible thing. You should be concentrating on your work, not spending the precious company time on watching the clock tick until your colleagues get in.

It’s absolutely insane (for most jobs!) to care that somebody is in at 9.03 rather than 9.00.

Edit:

And it is doubly insane to think people want to spend their own time (unpaid!) on making sure that they are set up and ready to go before 9.00.

[Lagamorph]

If someone is a little late on occasion because of unusually heavy traffic or something then that's ok, but if you're consistently late in the same conditions, even if you're late by "just 3 minutes" then you're entirely deserving of a warning and further action if you don't improve.

If I can get to work on time with a 75 mile drive to get there, then most other people have no excuse.

[Errkal]

If someone is a little late on occasion then that's ok, but if you're consistently late, even by "just 3 minutes" then you're entirely deserving of a warning.

If I can get to work on time with a 75 mile drive to get there, then most other people have no excuse.

Exactly this, the odd time it happens, but if you are are late due to traffic every single day then you should get a warning, the traffic isn't a surprise so plan for it and leave earlier.

[Moggy]

If someone is a little late on occasion then that's ok, but if you're consistently late, even by "just 3 minutes" then you're entirely deserving of a warning.

If I can get to work on time with a 75 mile drive to get there, then most other people have no excuse.

Exactly this, the odd time it happens, but if you are are late due to traffic every single day then you should get a warning, the traffic isn't a surprise so plan for it and leave earlier.

And yet you both post on GRcade during work hours.....

[Lagamorph]

If someone is a little late on occasion then that's ok, but if you're consistently late, even by "just 3 minutes" then you're entirely deserving of a warning.

If I can get to work on time with a 75 mile drive to get there, then most other people have no excuse.

Exactly this, the odd time it happens, but if you are are late due to traffic every single day then you should get a warning, the traffic isn't a surprise so plan for it and leave earlier.

And yet you both post on GRcade during work hours.....

It's my day off shift so I'm not at work today.

Also, actually getting to work on time and doing work when you're there are different things entirely.

[Preezy]

There's a guy in my team who lives about 200 metres from our offices (lucky fella), by far the closest of anyone in the company, and yet he's consistently at least 5 minutes late every single day. He'll come in just after 9, turn on his PC, go and make a coffee and some toast, consume those and then gets settled into his desk by 9.15ish. No self-awareness at all, no apology, just comes in smiling. Most of us are logged in and ready to work when the clock hits 9. He also always finishes bang on 5.30 (as in he leaves the office at 5.30, so he's actually stopped working before then). He never makes any effort to stay even a tiny bit later to make up for the late start.

I guess in the long run it doesn't really matter, who cares etc, but it certainly doesn't help foster a good atmosphere within the team if someone appears to be taking the piss and everyone else is working to the agreed (and contracted) hours.

[Moggy]

If someone is a little late on occasion then that's ok, but if you're consistently late, even by "just 3 minutes" then you're entirely deserving of a warning.

If I can get to work on time with a 75 mile drive to get there, then most other people have no excuse.

Exactly this, the odd time it happens, but if you are are late due to traffic every single day then you should get a warning, the traffic isn't a surprise so plan for it and leave earlier.

And yet you both post on GRcade during work hours.....

It's my day off shift so I'm not at work today.

Also, actually getting to work on time and doing work when you're there are different things entirely.

You never post from work?

I agree that getting to work on time and actually doing work are two different things. One of them actually matters and one is irrelevant.

[Moggy]

Laga and Errkal are both alt accounts of Richard Branson.

twitter.com/richardbranson/status/1039145267222769665

twitter.com/richardbranson/status/761554956180660224

[Jenuall]

If someone is a little late on occasion then that's ok, but if you're consistently late, even by "just 3 minutes" then you're entirely deserving of a warning.

If I can get to work on time with a 75 mile drive to get there, then most other people have no excuse.

Exactly this, the odd time it happens, but if you are are late due to traffic every single day then you should get a warning, the traffic isn't a surprise so plan for it and leave earlier.

And yet you both post on GRcade during work hours.....

It's my day off shift so I'm not at work today.

Also, actually getting to work on time and doing work when you're there are different things entirely.

You never post from work?

I agree that getting to work on time and actually doing work are two different things. One of them actually matters and one is irrelevant.

This. Obviously people shouldn't be taking the piss but ultimately you are being employed to deliver some form of value - if you can deliver that same value whilst arriving 3 minutes late every so often then I couldn't give a flying strawberry float.

Some jobs absolutely have a time requirement to them - if you are the driver of the 9:00 bus or are responsible for answering a customer support line that opens at a set time then you sure as gooseberry fool need to be in that place in time to support that. But for a huge number of people flexibility over timing is an option and therefore quality of their output should be the most important measure of their performance.

[Winckle]

Laga and Errkal are both alt accounts of Richard Branson.

twitter.com/richardbranson/status/1039145267222769665

twitter.com/richardbranson/status/761554956180660224

If I was a man whose brand was plastered all over railway franchises, I'd not post these tweets without making damn sure they were running on time.

[Moggy]

If someone is a little late on occasion then that's ok, but if you're consistently late, even by "just 3 minutes" then you're entirely deserving of a warning.

If I can get to work on time with a 75 mile drive to get there, then most other people have no excuse.

Exactly this, the odd time it happens, but if you are are late due to traffic every single day then you should get a warning, the traffic isn't a surprise so plan for it and leave earlier.

And yet you both post on GRcade during work hours.....

It's my day off shift so I'm not at work today.

Also, actually getting to work on time and doing work when you're there are different things entirely.

You never post from work?

I agree that getting to work on time and actually doing work are two different things. One of them actually matters and one is irrelevant.

This. Obviously people shouldn't be taking the piss but ultimately you are being employed to deliver some form of value - if you can deliver that same value whilst arriving 3 minutes late every so often then I couldn't give a flying strawberry float.

Some jobs absolutely have a time requirement to them - if you are the driver of the 9:00 bus or are responsible for answering a customer support line that opens at a set time then you sure as gooseberry fool need to be in that place in time to support that. But for a huge number of people flexibility over timing is an option and therefore quality of their output should be the most important measure of their performance.

Absolutely, there are jobs that require people to be punctual and people should then be on time.

But the majority of jobs, especially office jobs, don’t really have that requirement, other than as a petty “but your contracted hours are…”

If the work is getting done and it doesn’t negatively impact anybody else (not counting the crazy clock watchers), then I couldn’t give a gooseberry fool if somebody works 5 or 6 hours instead of the contractual 7 hours.

[Moggy]

Laga and Errkal are both alt accounts of Richard Branson.

twitter.com/richardbranson/status/1039145267222769665

twitter.com/richardbranson/status/761554956180660224

If I was a man whose brand was plastered all over railway franchises, I'd not post these tweets without making damn sure they were running on time.

I saw one of those tweets before posting in this thread today. I saw it because somebody had commented with “You have obviously never waited for one of your own trains then!”.

[Jezo]

If someone is a little late on occasion because of unusually heavy traffic or something then that's ok, but if you're consistently late in the same conditions, even if you're late by "just 3 minutes" then you're entirely deserving of a warning and further action if you don't improve.

If I can get to work on time with a 75 mile drive to get there, then most other people have no excuse.

Agreed. Like I said, my only real excuse is that I hate work, which isn't a valid excuse lol. Having said that, I do 20-30 minutes at the end of the day outside of contracted hours which I feel more than makes up for the 1-3 minutes I'm late a lot of days. But then it comes down to the principals I guess.

There's a guy in my team who lives about 200 metres from our offices (lucky fella), by far the closest of anyone in the company, and yet he's consistently at least 5 minutes late every single day. He'll come in just after 9, turn on his PC, go and make a coffee and some toast, consume those and then gets settled into his desk by 9.15ish. No self-awareness at all, no apology, just comes in smiling. Most of us are logged in and ready to work when the clock hits 9. He also always finishes bang on 5.30 (as in he leaves the office at 5.30, so he's actually stopped working before then). He never makes any effort to stay even a tiny bit later to make up for the late start.

I guess in the long run it doesn't really matter, who cares etc, but it certainly doesn't help foster a good atmosphere within the team if someone appears to be taking the piss and everyone else is working to the agreed (and contracted) hours.

But if he can do that and get away with it, why don't you do it as well? It's like you say the atmosphere gets dimmed because of the guy 'taking the piss' on how he goes about his work day, as if everyone wishes they could do the same, that is, they want to work less as well, that is, why aren't you all actually just upset about having to work rather than projecting it onto that guy?

[Lagamorph]

It isn't in my contract of employment to never take a break from work and use my phone. Intact I'm both legally and contractually obligated to take breaks.
It is in my contract of employment to turn up on time.

[Moggy]

It isn't in my contract of employment to never take a break from work and use my phone.
It is in my contract of employment to turn up on time.

And you better damn well follow the letter of every word of that contract!

[sawyerpip]

Hypothetical for you. You get the bus to work. The timings of the bus mean you can get to the office at either 8:35 or 9:05. Your contracted hours are 9-5 and cannot be changed. Would anyone actually argue you should get into work 25 minutes early to make sure you're on time?

[Bunni]

I literally did that for years. No choice though, need to be in for handover.

[Corazon de Leon]

I mean you should go with the earlier one, but I’d more than likely just have a word with my manager and try to come to an agreement on the matter before purposefully turning up late every day.

[Moggy]

Hypothetical for you. You get the bus to work. The timings of the bus mean you can get to the office at either 8:35 or 9:05. Your contracted hours are 9-5 and cannot be changed. Would anyone actually argue you should get into work 25 minutes early to make sure you're on time?

It all depends on the job.

Bunny for instance is a nurse and needs to do a handover and so she’d need to be there on time, which would mean being early.

I work in an office where timing isn’t essential to the role. The contract might specify a time, but it doesn’t really effect anybody else so it’s beyond me why anybody would give a gooseberry fool (as long as the work was done).