Sticky situation- discuss with boss or director?

Simon11

Hi All

I'm hoping if someone could give some advice.... This is long but it gives the full picture.

A few months ago, I began a new job which involved moving to another city away from where I have lived all my life. I have made the effort to move for the role, which is higher up the ladder and during a social at the start of starting, I asked my director whether there would be any problems with leaving the office early on Fridays- with this being no problem for him.

I'm keen to continue volunteering in my role running weekly scout meetings in my local area, which I have been doing for several years. The meetings begin at 7pm on Fridays and with a few hours commute, I'm keen to leave the office at 3pm ideally or 4pm the latest so that I can arrive home and have time to have dinner and prepare for the meeting.

However my direct boss isn't being very understanding and at times has refused to let me leave. I have always declared that I am always prepared to stay behind any day of the week including Friday should there be urgent work that is required. However if there isn't anything important going on and the work is completed, I would like to leave to catch the train I require.

However an event which occurred a few weeks ago has taken the biscuit and it has really frustrated me. The director went out of the office (On a non workactivity) on a Friday afternoon and as a result my boss wouldn't let me leave until he returned. His thought was that it would look bad if he returned and his department wasn't there after 4pm. This resulted in me missing the train home which is only hourly, with the late service being peak so had to stand for the whole of the 2 hours commute and thus was late for the meeting. Although it's not the fault of my bosses, it does leave my in a sticky situation if there is only one leader present at the meeting at the beginning as I'm unable to be there.

I've informed my boss several times my situation however he seems more interested in looking good for the director. I'm on good terms with the director, having joined him with other members in a sporty social activity once a week.

As I'm not able to get my boss to understand the full situation, I'm thinking of speaking directly with my director.

The pros are:

-My role as a volunteer running a meeting, involve lots of skills including managing youngsters and adults which would help in my future role at the company

-If probed about hours, every day I come into work well before the 9am start, so that I can begin to run off reports which are sent to the director-therefore meaning that he gets hold of the important information earlier in the morning. In total if I were to leave at 3pm on Friday, I would still have done more hours during the week than contracted.

-My role is quite specialised and even more specialised if you have industry knowledge. Therefore I believe, that if I were to quit, it would take them at least 3 months to hire someone, then at least 9-12 months to get them up to scratch with what they need to know.

-I only have a few weeks left but I'm still only on a week notice.

The negatives are:

-The director would discuss with my Boss who may have a hunch against me as I showed him up and could sway future decisions
-Could lose my job with it all being political however I have plenty of cash to last at least a year.

Thanks for all advice, it's really bugging me as everything else in the job is perfect. It's only a simple request and it's not like everyone is really doing much work on a Friday afternoon. I don't wish to work in a role where I have to stay until my boss leaves just to look good- I want to work hard and efficiently. If I was requesting to leave just to get to the pub ealier, I could fully understand but I'm giving out the whole of my Friday evenings so I can improve some youngsters lives and get them off the street.

What would you do?

Savvy_Sue

I'm not sure what I'd do, but is the company large enough to have an HR dept? If it is, I might start there with a request to formally amend my hours to leave at 3 pm on a Friday.

Simon11

I could ask HR but would it be more polite to ask again my boss or approach the director?

Savvy_Sue

I'm thinking this through a bit. It doesn't sound as if you have formally asked your boss if it's OK to leave early on Fridays. And you asked the Director in a social setting rather than formally.

Do you ever have the two of them in the same place at the same time, in a position where you could 'just check' that it's OK to leave if there's nothing urgent to finish off?

If not, I think you have to formally ask your direct boss for an amendment to your hours. So you'd be starting at x o'clock instead of 9, and finishing at 3 pm on Fridays.

However, you can understand that there is a risk of this setting a precedent: if you are allowed this variation, why can't everyone finish at 3 pm on Fridays?

Sambucus_Nigra

Ask the Director whether he has told your boss that he personally has given you permission to leave at 3 on Fridays due to your voluntary work

Itsgottabedone

I wonder what your boss would have to say if he was posting on this forum?

"I've got an issue with a new employee who is a great asset to my team but is creating a problem about working hours on a Friday. There was no mention at interview that he wanted to leave work early on Fridays, and he doesn't seem to realise that an early start to the weekend would be an attractive proposition for all of us. Admittedly, the reason for his early departure is to fulfil a long-standing voluntary commitment, but I don't think that's my problem. To make matters worse, he's spoken to our director about this and now I'm cast in the role of the bad guy." ?

You say that the reason you need to leave early is to have dinner and prepare for the scout meeting. Could the preparation be done on the train home? Could you make a sandwich and leave in the fridge ready for a quick getaway from home to get to the scout meeting on time?

Madjock

why can't you skip dinner?
why can't you join a scout group in your new location?
you have chosen to take a job in a different city, you can't guilt your employer into doing what you want, that's a bit childish.
don't bet on being irreplacable, noone is so specialised that they couldn't be replaced.

paddyrg

I would deal directly with your boss, and ask them for help/advice. If you cut them out, they will feel rightfuly agrieved. Ask if you can book in 20 mins for a chat in a meeting room and lay your case - you love the job, and you also feel voluntary work is important for your community/broader society. You always make sure all the work is done, your hours completed, directors notes waiting for them before 9am etc. You really want to formalise a way to be able to guarantee the scouts can also rely on you, perhaps leaving at 4pm just one day in the week. Ask for their help and advice on how to do this, as you recognise you are useful to the company but on a short contract, don't want to let down a long-standing arrangement.

Asking people for help and advice is a great way to get them on your side and to understand the problem you face, and to understand that you respect them. They may suggest HR, etc - let it be their suggestion.

Also, help yourself by pulling the scout prep forward where possible, have a hot lunch on Friday and a sandwich on the train home, get changed at the scout hut, etc.

mountainofdebt

Sorry but whilst I think it great that you volunteer with young people (am involved in a similar organisation and too many people want their children to be involved but don't want to get involved themselves) I think that you are being abit cheeky expecting to go early nearly every friday.

Also I agree you handled it very badly in the beginning - not only was it not formally requested but you didn't respect the chain of command and yes I know it may be childish of the boss but put yourself in his shoes.....one of his staff ( a new member to boot) asks at an informal occasion the director directly. Perhaps the director thought you were only sounding him out rather than making an actual request?

Failing all that - why not move to a group in your new area?

nimbo

With this long standing commitment did you discuss / bring it up either at interview or when you accepted the job?

If you did than they should honour it if they said they would if not then it's kind of tough... If you didn't then it can't have been that important - I always remember to mention previous commitments / holidays because if I didn't and I then missed out I would be gutted...

When I worked flexi Friday was the day that no one wanted to stay a minute later than they had to... Why should you get special treatment? Unless it has been prearranged from the day you started?

And to say that you are keeping kids of the street is just a little bit hyperbolic... It makes them sound destitute, and if a colleague said that I would assume they were working with the homeless.

Savvy_Sue

See, this is what I love about MSE, I make a suggestion at silly o'clock, and lots of other people have made better suggestions by the time I'm up again...