Moaning over 5 minutes

ben_reza

There are a couple of threads today where working an extra 5 mins, or walking 5 mins to the office, or similar situations, have came up.

Just wondering, is anyone really that bothered about 5 mins.

The arguement that the 5 mins all add up, and that by the end of the year your technically owed £100... doesnt wash with me. Using that theory I will spend over £200 worth of time sat on the toilet this year. Should I pay that back?


Also, it seems that people in low paying, boring, unfulfilling jobs are the ones complaining. The same people who probably get away with anything they can, claim anything they can, and generally arnt actually that hard working. They dont realise but that is infact why they have a boring job and dont make anything more of themselves.

Am I really that wierd that I dont mind taking a work related phone call on a weekend or evening without claiming every second? Or I drive to a different site the other side of town without claiming milage? I dont mind clocking out then if someone asks me a questions, answering it. I dont even mind leaving the house early to drive to the train station, get the train into town, and the walk accross town to the office- and do all that and manage to get to my desk before the time I am contracted to start.

dickydonkin

Also, it seems that people in low paying, boring, unfulfilling jobs are the ones complaining. The same people who probably get away with anything they can, claim anything they can, and generally arnt actually that hard working. They dont realise but that is infact why they have a boring job and dont make anything more of themselves.

Do you not think that you have answered your own question here?

I suspect that when someone who is working their k**ckers off in a dreary unfulfilling job just cannot wait to put on their coats and go home after their shift and it could be argued that why should they work extra for virtually nothing.

For those who are reasonably paid and have never likely done such work in their lives, it may seem that these people are unjustified in complaining about their lot, however, those complaining about the extra 5 minutes always have the option of packing in their jobs and claiming benefits - which is the better option? Moaning - which costs the taxpayer
nothing, or Claiming - which does.

They dont realise but that is infact why they have a boring job and dont make anything more of themselves.

A boring job is a boring job. How for example can someone working on their own packing boxes or cleaning toilets for the minimum wage can make their job more fulfilling and how can they 'make more of it'?

I will reiterate what I stated earlier, many people who have been fortunate in their employment have no idea what crappy jobs are out there and have to be done (although they probably do - but have never done them) - but hey ho - so long as the 'moaners' come to work early without any extra pay, work with a smile on their face all day and work an extra few minutes after their finishing time, then all will be well because the job will be all the better for doing that.

Maybe those on average earnings or above may think differently if they were in these peoples shoes.

BOB_A_H

ben_reza wrote: »

There are a couple of threads today where working an extra 5 mins, or walking 5 mins to the office, or similar situations, have came up.

Just wondering, is anyone really that bothered about 5 mins.

The arguement that the 5 mins all add up, and that by the end of the year your technically owed £100... doesnt wash with me. Using that theory I will spend over £200 worth of time sat on the toilet this year. Should I pay that back?


Also, it seems that people in low paying, boring, unfulfilling jobs are the ones complaining. The same people who probably get away with anything they can, claim anything they can, and generally arnt actually that hard working. They dont realise but that is infact why they have a boring job and dont make anything more of themselves.

Am I really that wierd that I dont mind taking a work related phone call on a weekend or evening without claiming every second? Or I drive to a different site the other side of town without claiming milage? I dont mind clocking out then if someone asks me a questions, answering it. I dont even mind leaving the house early to drive to the train station, get the train into town, and the walk accross town to the office- and do all that and manage to get to my desk before the time I am contracted to start.


I can see where you are coming from with most of what you say. In my last job I often worked 20mins or so past my finish time for no financial reward. However, it backfired on me. Six months ago I was " grassed up " for allegedly washing up early. All the 20 mins here and half hours there were forgotten about.

What made this worse was that I was never given an official amount of time for washing up. For nearly 5 years I had asked to see a company handbook so that I was informed of such regulations. The company were never forthcoming with said handbook. To make matters worse, other employees were free to come and go at their leisure.

What I am ultimately trying to say is that flexibility should be a two way street.

Uncertain

ben_reza wrote: »

There are a couple of threads today where working an extra 5 mins, or walking 5 mins to the office, or similar situations, have came up.

Just wondering, is anyone really that bothered about 5 mins.

The arguement that the 5 mins all add up, and that by the end of the year your technically owed £100... doesnt wash with me. Using that theory I will spend over £200 worth of time sat on the toilet this year. Should I pay that back?


Also, it seems that people in low paying, boring, unfulfilling jobs are the ones complaining. The same people who probably get away with anything they can, claim anything they can, and generally arnt actually that hard working. They dont realise but that is infact why they have a boring job and dont make anything more of themselves.

Am I really that wierd that I dont mind taking a work related phone call on a weekend or evening without claiming every second? Or I drive to a different site the other side of town without claiming milage? I dont mind clocking out then if someone asks me a questions, answering it. I dont even mind leaving the house early to drive to the train station, get the train into town, and the walk accross town to the office- and do all that and manage to get to my desk before the time I am contracted to start.

There is a good deal of sense in what you say here.

It really comes down to if you are happy with the "bottom line" or the "overall package".

Generally people resort to the fine print when they are unhappy, whether this is for good reason or not.

There are both employees and employers who will take, take, take and give as little as possible. Generally it is counterproductive.

However I have seen examples of staff who are in early, stay late, don't claim expenses etc etc but are, frankly, useless. Equally I've seen the opposite, late every day, ducks off for an odd hour here and there but actually gets far more useful work done that the "diligent" one.

Managing people is not easy and most "issues" are symptoms of a bigger problem.

MissMotivation

FWIW I think complaining about 5 mins is exceptionally petty! As an employer a little bit of give and take is appreciated. An an employee I regularly used to work until 8/9pm at night (officially finished at 6pm) however, if I needed to come in late or finish early then there was never a problem.

As an employer if someone was that inflexible then I would seriously think about their future.

Pete111

No OP you are not weird. I find these threads rather pointless also.

I guess you have two main categories of people starting them

1) People who hate their jobs and get no recognition of any extra time/effort they do or have put in so are upset when they get 'done' for being late or a small but annoying change is made that they feel costs them. I have some small sympathy with these folks but my general advice would be to suck it up and, if it was a major issue, look for a better job.

2) Serial whingers and/or stuck in the 70's socialist types who have a unnatural and all consuming hatred of management without the ability to see their own (usually massive) failings as an employee. The ones who spout bile about those putting in extra effort being brown nosers etc (whilst showing no ambition whatsoever themeselves) are particularly loathesome IMHO. There is probably no way to help these posters.

P

Zazen999

I think it's very funny.

Those moaning about the 5 minutes here and there are basically just inching their way closer to their P45.

Hermia

MissMotivation wrote: »

FWIW I think complaining about 5 mins is exceptionally petty! As an employer a little bit of give and take is appreciated. An an employee I regularly used to work until 8/9pm at night (officially finished at 6pm) however, if I needed to come in late or finish early then there was never a problem.

I think when you have that sort of give and take attitude these problems don't occur. I think it's when employers are inflexible that employees get moany. I have worked in a few places where people have put in so much unpaid overtime, yet if they have to come in 15 minutes late one day the boss throws a wobbly and makes them pay back every minute. I had a colleague who did hundreds of hours of unpaid overtime since she had been with the company. One morning her train crashed and she was late as the fire brigade had to rescue them from their carriage. The boss insisted she had to make the time up that night!

Mudd14

Swings and roundabouts, if you are petty enough to argue the point of 5 mins dont complain when you are pulled up for being 5 minutes late.

I have worked 2-3 hours past the time I leave work to get things done but there is an understanding that I can come in late one other day. I would rather work with that trust and understanding with my employer.

kirkwisebeard

In my current job i often work unpaid overtime.... sometimes hours of it... I get just over the minimum wage... my only boundaries are that i won't exceed my tachograph hours.... and you know what... I don't give a stuff.... you know why?? first, I know that when its slack, my boss won't mind me having a two hour lunch break, or me watching top gear on the tvs in the shop.... and if i need time off at short notice, its always fine... but mostly its down to the fact that i'm in a customer service thingy.... anyone here know how awful it feels waiting in all day, having taken a day off work possibly without pay, to have your new bed delivered, only to find out at eight at night that the delivery guy went home at five cos he don't get overtime....?? well, I have, and i'd feel guilty doing it to others... so all my stuff gets delivered on the due day, unless the customer isn't in... and even then i'll sometimes go back later.... its all about feeling good about myself, and doing my job well.. some things you can't measure with money.... now, a while back i was employed by a boss who didn't understand flexibility.... liked us to work late, but didn't like us finishing early... well, he got a lecture in flexibility, and i just carried on working late sometimes, and skipping off when it was slack.... he cracked before i did....

ceridwen

give and take is what its about - in jobs as in life.

OP needs to remember that some people "moan about 5 minutes" because they are "takers" - but a lot of the time that people do such moaning its because they have "given" - but then the employer has not responded by "giving back". Giving and taking has to be a two-way street and its so often the case that giving by the employee is regarded as just a "one way street - ie cul de sac" and the employer just accepts it and doesnt realise that they are under a moral obligation to reciprocate.

Its just the same rules as we have personally - as in if I go out with a friend for a drink or something - then they might pay one time, but I realise that that means its my turn to pay next time - or vice-versa. Exactly the same rules apply in the workplace.