Can I be told to come in early?

Elinore

It's a bit off topic but i agree with the above.

We have just had a team reshuffle and there is a 'timeserved gent' he does the absolute bare minimum under the guise of having put in the hours over the years.

He has a aggressively negative attitude and an active detractor - a very recent example - we had a fantastically successful take your pet to work day during system overhaul day - so no work hours lost because all systems were down. He complained that he was petrified of dogs refused to 'work from home' or on another site they even booked out a meeting room so he could have a enclosed space for the day - but he refused because 'why should he' and then had a meltdown on the day stating that he was placed in an unsafe work environment and he was taking the matter further.

Not unlike to OP not realising the benefit to others - He wanted the day to be mandated leave as that's the way it had always been done before, no one gets a choice a leave day is used - but everyone else wanted to keep the days leave to use when they wished and have a admin, social and pets day. The business thought this was a great idea - everyone wins (and we were remarkably productive on the day too!). He was overruled and he hated it and actively set out to ensure next year it is not repeated.

Because of a 'fair for all' 'work life balance' bonus arrangement he got paid the same as the lads who absolutely work their socks off because they are really proud of the business, want their area to succeed and are willing put in the hours to ensure they are seen as a benefit (I should note here they don't stay over their hours, they are just passionate and efficient to get the most done within their working day). These guys are fantastic lads, they really are a great team of committed guys who enjoy their work, love the company they work for and actively promote and engage with their workplace. They really earned their bonus. Timeserved profited from their hard work whilst calling them all brown nosers.

It's a shame that 'being fair' sometimes means lifting up the the poorly performing to the detriment of those who should be recognised and rewarded.

I would prefer farmer Johnson's 'cut throat' wife any day of the week.

happyandcontented

Bonus criteria are usually set out in the company handbook/employment contract and I would be surprised if it said anything other than meet target x and y. There should be clearly defined SMART targets, not just a 'going over and above' caveat. That is very subjective.

It is unusual for a line manager to have personal control of a bonus payment, and not particularly desirable for either side as accusations of bias/personal favouritism could easily be levelled at them.

Sea_Shell

Who would you rather employ...the organised, accurate one who only works their hours, or the one who works longer hours but makes mistakes and is disorganised.

happyandcontented

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Who would you rather employ...the organised, accurate one who only works their hours, or the one who works longer hours but makes mistakes and is disorganised.

You see, that is a problem I have. I have a line manager who works late hours because she is so disorganised that she cannot get the required amount of work done in her core hours. She denigrates other LM's who leave work on time saying she doesn't know how they get through the work in the time, the implication is that they are leaving things undone or unfinished whilst she is going the extra mile. The truth is somewhat different.

Barny1979

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Who would you rather employ...the organised, accurate one who only works their hours, or the one who works longer hours but makes mistakes and is disorganised.

or maybe the ones who put in extra hours are organised as well, but when the usual workload increases, they step up to the plate?

TELLIT01

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Who would you rather employ...the organised, accurate one who only works their hours, or the one who works longer hours but makes mistakes and is disorganised.

After a major restructuring at the place I worked, my line manager pointed out that I was doing far fewer additional hours than many of the other people carrying out similar roles in other offices. My response was to ask which parts of my job I was not carrying out fully and effectively. He had to admit that there was nothing wrong with job I was doing, so I suggested he might wish to look at why others were unable to do the job within normal hours and were raking in massive amounts of overtime. I heard nothing more on the subject.

Sea_Shell

Exactly. It seems to be that you're seen not to be doing your best if you don't stay late...rather than the ones who do maybe aren't.

Work smarter, not longer!!

SingleSue

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Who would you rather employ...the organised, accurate one who only works their hours, or the one who works longer hours but makes mistakes and is disorganised.

I was the organised, accurate one...who also worked longer and helped out others who tended to stick to their hours.

I was also the one who got the biggest bonuses, the fastest progression and the higher pay rises.

happyandcontented

Barny1979 wrote: »

or maybe the ones who put in extra hours are organised as well, but when the usual workload increases, they step up to the plate?

Well, yes, of course, that does happen too, but the person I am speaking about does this all the time, not just during periods of a heavier workload.

Trust me, she is disorganised, forgetful, and spends too much time doing what others should be doing (and would do given the chance) than doing her own core work which she then passes off to her reports to do instead. This year she has been taken to task about it many times but she gets upset, vows to change and then slips back....and so it goes.

I have just reduced my hours because I cannot be bothered any more trying to change her, so she will now have to pick up some of my workload and the cycle will continue to repeat.

SummerSunshine2

I think people are failing to realize that

1) my work hours have been altered, at the last minute, without my consent or input
2) the work hours don’t reflect the needs of the business
3) the work hours aren’t benefiting me
4) I’m willing to work my usual hours

~all those who think I’m the ‘silly one’ are so Christmas minded that you think I should be ‘grateful’ for having my work hours changed when they don’t benefit me or the business.