When should my paid shift actually start and finish?

DigSunPap

DullGreyGuy said:

DigSunPap said:

From working in pubs for years I would always clock in and clock out exactly as they time my shift would be on the rota. Coming in early and staying late for big multi-million pound corporations I don't think is worth it as they do not value your time. It was different when I worked for a family business as you feel more valued and I would be happy to stay late and start early as we had a good relationship.

Really depends where you are in your career and what you do for a living. 

My work is naturally peak/trough in nature... there are times when there is little to do (probably 20hrs a week) and there are times (not often thankfully) when  100hrs a week are required. Anyone who just did their 40 hours no matter the position in the cycle aren't going to get very far. There is no need for the presenteeism of being clocked in for 40 hours when there is nothing to do and you will fail your annual review when you tell your manager you lost the court case as prepping the docs to submit in time would have taken 45 hours effort but you refuse to work more than 40 so submitted them a day late. 

Whilst the "corporate" may not appreciate your extra hours appropriately, people can and, in my experience, do. Have known people being promoted and bringing their best team up the ladder with them... wasn't just the people that did the longest hours, its a matter of quality and quantity not quantity alone, but certainly wasn't the ones refusing to do things beyond 5pm. 

If you are in your twilight years and just coasting to retirement, don't want any promotions etc then absolutely you can stick to the letter of the contract and possibly hope that a redundancy opportunity comes along. 

Very valid points. For sure depends on where you are in your career. I just never had the best experiences in the corporate world - but I do like to go the extra mile when I feel like it is appreciated by my superiors.