Late

[greencreeper]

I sometimes think I'm the only one in the world who sees the bigger picture, and doesn't focus on the little details.

It's been pointed out, at work, that I was late three times in November. When I'm late, I know I'm late and try not be late again that month, so to my knowledge I was late only once. Upon checking my sign-on times it was discovered that two of the three lates were when I signed on one minute after my morning start time. I think it's likely that I signed on at exactly my start time, but the delay in processing the event has resulted in the time being one minute later. The facts cannot be disputed - I've tried and have been told that I need to accept that I have been late. Simple as. End of discussion. Of course, there's no recognition of the fact that I can often be found at my desk anywhere between five and twenty minutes after my finish time, when I'm the only one left in the room, everyone else having gone home. Or the Saturdays where I come in for an hour or two to resolve something or complete some task that has been requested. I see the bigger picture - the sum of the work I put in - and not that I have been one minute late on two occasions. I am now no longer eligible for a bonus because I have been late more than once. It's depressing to contemplate people and how they attain power, no matter how hopeless they are.

[bopdude]

I feel for ya mate, I belive in flexi-time, BIG time, as long as you don't take the phish and the job gets done, where's the harm ? It's the jobsworths that are behind your problem, nothing you can do exept grin and bear it or don't do the extra work, do as they do and all that

[Angua]

Clock watching never gets the best out of people and surely if you have to sign in they should also take note of when you sign out:

[greencreeper]

I think, well, I know, the manager has a thing for lateness - no tolerance at all. It does my head in

[Xaccers]

Start putting in overtime requests for every minute you spend there over your finish time.
Even if they deny every single one, point out that you're doing it to bring the matter to their attention in light of their bringing you being 1 minute late to your attention.
Any formal meetings over this matter, bring out a tape recorded and after asking if they're ok with it being recorded (then get them saying so on the recording) tape the whole conversation, so be careful with what you say.
Got my HR guy on the hop when they tried some dodgy stuff against me.

[greencreeper]

The trouble with that, xaccers, is that you end up labelled as "trouble" - a boat rocker. They don't like boat rockers. There was a time when I was arguing with pretty much every manager, challenging pretty much everything. It did me no favours so I just keep my head down and get on with it now. The way things are looking, with the politics, I won't be promoted, so I'll be leaving in April next year.

[danielf]

A former colleague of my wife would come in at 9.05 AM as he was coming in on a train that ran twice an hour, so it was either 8.35 or 9.05. He often stayed till half 7. Management spoke to him about being 'late'. He came in at 8.35 after that and buggered off 17.00 sharp. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot...

---------- Post added at 00:22 ---------- Previous post was at 00:20 ----------

Originally Posted by greencreeper

The way things are looking, with the politics, I won't be promoted, so I'll be leaving in April next year.

That's the spirit

[greencreeper]

There are Saturdays where I have come in and worked even though I'm not rota'd to work. Sure I get paid overtime - but had I not volunteered, no one else could have done the job or would have come in on Saturday. I'm not looking for recognition when I decide to do the work - but I'm certainly not expecting to be told that I've been one minute late on two occasions so, sorry, no bonus for you. If you're not gonna give me the praise, definitely don't give me a kick in the teeth.

[Chris W]

why not just clock in one minute early every day

[Matt D]

Originally Posted by greencreeper

I think, well, I know, the manager has a thing for lateness - no tolerance at all. It does my head in

I know what you mean.


I used to get the bus to work, & would sometimes get in at around ten past or quarter past nine, if the busses had been crap.

Whenever I was late, I would always make up the time.

Plus, I would often work a lot later than my normal finish time anyway, whether I was late or not, simply 'cos there's always loads to do, & we're always understaffed,


There was one month, where I had a tonne of stuff to do, & was stuck at work for maybe an extra hour or hour & 1/2 every single day, & yet I still got moaned at for the odd day I got in 10 minutes late.

[bopdude]

Although I do like flexi time, I can see a trend emerging here where it's the norm to be late, ( and thats ok ) thats not what I meant at all, ( and I don't think GC does either ) I can see managers POV when someone is 'persistently' late, but what GC is on about is IMHO slightly different.

[grandmaster]

I hate being late for anything, It winds me up.
I'm fairly fortunate in that the odd time i am late my line manager is understanding.
She knows what the traffic can be like and the fact that I have stayed late on many many occasions and never claim any reconpence (sp?).

I think I would be the same if i was a manager (unless the individual took the P of course)

Ryan

[eddie00001]

I think this is seems to be a problem with any call center environment, all the managers care about is the stats.

I used to work in a call center, worked my butt off, worked overtime and didn't claim, customers always happy, yet never got a bonus because my stats showed I was on the phone to customers for an average 1 min too long. My mate next to me always got a bonus (normally the highest), never did overtime, never did favours for management, and (as he admits) never helped a customer. I asked him how he did this and he said just get the customer off the phone as quickly as possible. Your bonus was calculated on time logged in (you actually got penalised for working longer, unless approved first), so you couldn't be one second late, and you average call time. Nothing about how good you were at your job. I followed his example and then kept getting my bonus too!

Now, in this job its all about getting the job done - much better and flexible.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by danielf

A former colleague of my wife would come in at 9.05 AM as he was coming in on a train that ran twice an hour, so it was either 8.35 or 9.05. He often stayed till half 7. Management spoke to him about being 'late'. He came in at 8.35 after that and buggered off 17.00 sharp. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot...

I did the same once.. Where I used to work, I did a *lot* of unpaid overtime (usually a couple of hours a day). After a couple of months doing this, I arrived late. Admittedly, it was 20 minutes, but my train had been cancelled. The Boss called me in to his office, and told me off for being 20 minutes late. I pointed out that I had been doing a lot of unpaid overtime, and was told that was irrelevant.

I nearly left the job. Especially as just before that, for two weeks, I was working from 7:00am to 7:00pm everyday on a one-off project (which I was paid overtime for).

So, I decided from then on that at soon as 5:00pm came around, I would leave, regardless of what I was doing. Not surprisingly, things suddenly took a lot longer (in terms of days).

[Hugh]

GC, sounds like your line manager is an *rse; I have managed lots of teams, and I always discuss reasons for tardiness, rather than a "one size fits all approach" - especially with the extra hours you are putting in.

All I would suggest is that you keep a track of all hours worked (including short lunch breaks), and if it happens again, show this as evidence.

If he/she/it takes no notice, file a grievance - if you are going to leave in April (why April, btw), this then may reflect badly on the jobsworth when you do.