Being late for work - is it acceptable these days?

Exactly what knownowt said.

Unless I have a morning meeting, I tend to come in between 8.45 and 9.30. It matters not a jot.

It doesn't matter what your job title is - you were given a job for a certain salary to work set hours, and you don't respect the jon enough to turn up on time.

Wow, what a crap attitude

I've fired people for being persistently late, but this was for a job where turning up on time was absolutely essential as it was a customer-facing role. And they had the usual complement of verbal and written warnings beforehand.

On the other hand, with my present job it really doesn't matter. I work from 9am-5.15pm (so I can get home early enough to help put the kids to bed), while my boss works from something like 11am-7.15pm. We both pull our weight (we'd notice very quickly if we didn't), and we each do comfortably more than our contracted hours, so no-one's the least bit bothered if we decide to vary it a bit.

For instance, I was 20 minutes late today, but I'll just shave it off my lunch break.

No-one else in my office works their full contractual hours. It does get to me as I always do mine. There's one guy that comes in everyday about 10-15 mins late, then spends ages putting coffee on, making breakfast & eating it etc. So by the time he actually starts work it's about 45 mins after he's supposed to have started work. Not on, in my opinion. But then my boss is always late so what do you expect?!

In previous managerial roles I've held, consistent lateness certainly wouldn't be tolerated. Yes, we can all be late on the odd occasion due to exceptional reasons, but if you're just getting up late every day, that smacks of can't-be-arsed-ness to me.

Now I work in an agency with a fairly flat structure, I don't directly manage anyone. However, I get really annoyed with myself if I'm late for work. There's been some horrendous roadworks on the route into work, involving adding another half an hour at least onto the journey, so I just have to bite down on it and get up earlier. Still, I tried to get into the office today at 8.45am to watch a TV slot we'd sold in (I generally start at nine) and although I set off ridiculously early, I still couldn't get in before nine. How annoyed am I ?

That does sound like a crappy job. I worked at a hospital before where I am now, the staff moral was so low that things like time keeping did start to slide. I made an extra effort then to be on time etc because firstly it made me look about 100 times better than the other staff (I was very career orientated then ? ). This worked in my favour because when a couple of promotions came up I had both sets of managers asking me to apply for them.

I took the one that appealed to me most, got some experience and then moved on to a better job

Sorry, I was called into a meeting.

They don't make the time up, no. One of them does out-of-hours work, but gets time off in lieu for this, the other leaves after her 7 hours are completed.

KN, it affects me sometimes, as we work as a team and occasionally I need to speak to them about various issues. It's frustrating to have to wait an extra 20 minutes or longer to speak to them, and disruptive for internal customers in some cases.

I have mentioned it, in passing - comments such as "Oh, I wasn't sure you were coming in today" when they're very late, but these are shrugged off.

There is very much a 'tools down at 5pm' culture here. I finish at 4.45pm (I work compressed hours) and I had to fight tooth and nail to get them to agree to me working these hours, so it galls me that these two individuals can, it appears, pick and choose their working hours.

Nick, I'd eat in the canteen had they not taken it away! However, if anyone minded me eating breakfast at work (if anyone was in the office to mind at that time), I'd leave home later and get into work for 7.50am instead.

If you work in London there will always be instances where you are late due to transport issues - some are 5/10 minute issues and some are worthy of "I'm working from home today" But these are quite well documented on travel sites so you can see when people are bullshitting now. Back in the day it was a bit of an excuse (and I hold my hand up that on occasion I used it) but 9 times out of 10 it was genuine. But then I used to work through lunch (if I was more than a few minutes late) or work later in the evening. People were happy as long as you did that.

I know trains into London Bridge can be a nightmare (we moved because of it!) but if they are getting in late every day they need to leave earlier. Once in a while is fine but not all the time.

Can you get on without them there in the morning or does it hold you up?

I also don't understand - if you know you're rubbish in the mornings then do something about it? Wake up earlier, get earlier train whatever! Did I also read that even though you're late you leave at 4 on the dot?!

In response to the OP you're not being unreasonable I think its taking the micky in a big way!

I let my Junion Assistant go because she was ALWAYS late - late in the morning, late back from lunch etc etc. No excuses, no apology just rocked up late! When challenged about it she said "she didn't like rigidity of time-keeping" ? So hopefully she didn't like the rigidity of employment either as she didn't last long after that!

It would drive me mad if a member of staff was regularly late - in fact this used to be the case and H had allowed it to happen (we are talking 5-10 minutes here only). I had to knock it on the head and make it clear that lateness was unacceptable.

If a member of staff was consistently late after being warned about it, ultimately I would sack them. To me it shows a lack of respect for the job. I do however appreciate that there are different environments/cultures where lateness is more acceptable.

L
xx

On average I'm 6 minutes late every day. I have to drop my son off at school; because of his disability, I do a hand-over to a learning support assistant at 8.45am which is five minutes later than the standard school start.

Work understands thankfully. And I catch up almost straight away as I scan quickly, and I work late or through my lunch-hour often enough to make up for it, so no-one's disadvantaged.

Actually it seriously annoys me in my job if people are late, especially after i've done a night shift. this is because the next shift are there to take over the desk so if they don't turn up, you don't get to go. which is nice.

luckily enough people tend to struggle in on time so you get to go, and sometimes a nice person from a double crewed desk will come over and take over while their tardy colleague arrives. but its bloody infuriating all the same.

It's not just London that has serious commuter jams, delays and traffic issues, though ?

Another staff member was on time at the weekend, but outside having a fag. That isn't acceptable either, to me.

L
xx

thats different though lou. if you are senior, and or a revenue earner, then its generally accepted that you ll also be doing work related things way outside usual office hours, plus working very late either sometimes, or usually. if youre part of the admin staff, or not a fee earner, and there isnt flexitime in place, then you should be there during your contracted hours.

WTF is "not good at mornings" about? People here are supposed to be grown ups, not Kevin the teenager!

Working hours in this culture are 9-5, generally. It drives me up the wall when people who can't be arsed to turn up at a reasonable time in the morning are running around complaining that admin staff won't suddenly do things for them at 5pm when admin staff (who have been in since 8:30pm) are due to go home. They're also the same people who point at people leaving at 5:30pm as slackers, but they turn up at 12, go for a 90 min lunch break and then boast about how they have to stay until late!

Exactly. I think it bothers me so much because a) One colleague has already had her hours changed because she's "Not good in the mornings", but still can't get to work on time, and b) They can have unofficial flexi hours, but I had to fight really hard to get my hours changed.

Perhaps I should leave 10 minutes early because "I'm not good at running from the station to home, to jump in my car, to get the kids from nursery by the time it shuts"...I wonder if that would go down well?

I don't necessarily leave exactly at 4 - depends on what I'm doing. I get my work done to a good standard, whatever is asked of me, and have been told they are happy with me. I was on a project in my second year that entailed me coming into work every day for seven months - couple of hours every sat and sun so it's not that I'm not flexible when needs be.

I do realise that it wouldn't be acceptable at other places, but here it is.

i didn't even get away with that when i was kieren the teenager. if we'd told our headmaster the bus was late, he'd would have just said 'well get up earlier and get an earlier bus' ?

When i used to work i was contracted 9-5 with 30 minutes lunch each day. My job involved seeing students and companies off site. When number one child reached school age I made an agreement with my manager that i would go straight to an appointment after dropping her off at school so i got to my first meetings at about 9-15 - and then turned in at the office at about lunchtime to pick up my stuff for the next day and to make appointments and other calls etc.

When i moved jobs i was more office based so i changed my hours to 9-15 - 5-15 to allow me to get in after dropping her at school. Again - the manager was happy with this.

I think sometimes you are likely to be late [public transport issues etc] but if it is regular then either you need to change your hours or change the way you get to work or even get up earlier ?

When I was working, I would always make every effort to be on time- usually earlier so I was ready to start work straight away at the start of my shift (others would turn up at the start time, but it would take 30 minutes for them to get the pc and systems fired up)

What I use to find though, and I wonder if anyone is else is the same, is that if I was late (because of a traffic accident, cancelled train ...) for some reason, it would seem to go in trends and I would often end up being late a couple of days in a row.

I have to say that I am shocked that if someone is consistantly 15 minutes late for work, they don't get up 15 minutes earlier, lateness is disrespectful to you employer and your colleagues!

I think it depends on the job you do and your position in the company.

Our juniors would get fire and brimstone rained down on them if they were late, as they open the office and man the phones. However, if I am late it's not a problem as I am a manager, I plan my own workload and work a hell of a lot of extra hours.

I used to get really cross with an old member of my staff who was consistently 10 - 20 minutes late every day, as it impacted upon work that needed to be done at a specific time. However, if the work wasn't time sensitive I wouldn't care a jot about their time keeping as long as everything got done to a high standard.

Incidentally, my staff were due in at 12 and aren't here and that is pissing me off

L
xx

Absolutely NOT, unless they're making up the time at the end of the day.

As a manager I had a member of staff who travelled 15 minutes on hospital provided transport, and still couldn't make it in on time! Her excuse .. I was unreasonable, and it was only 10/15 minutes anyway.

I think it drove me mad, because I managed a walk / bus / train / bus / walk journey lasting 2.5hours, and was late just twice in two years when there were huge train disruptions.

TBH, I blame your manager, maybe they're just there for an easy life?

Oh I know that - when I worked in Bristol and Birmingham it used to be a nightmare too but being a few minutes late was less tolerated there than it was in our London offices.

My current job has flexitime so it's up to you when you get in as long as you're there for core hours. When I worked in academia there was no set start time, but then there were no fixed hours and no fixed holidays either so it was up to you - but if you didn't put the hours in it was you who would lose out.

However I have worked in companies where there were fixed hours and whilst being late for an unavoidable traffic problem was no problem (though I still made up the time), being late because I couldn't get out of bed in time would have been totally unacceptable.

I would deem it immensely unprofessional to be persistently late. I would be very unhappy about a member of my team doing that and I would look unfavourably on that person when it came to things like promotions as a result.

But then I have a pathological fear of being late for anything, something that causes me headaches now I have a baby who won't watch the clock ?

Absolutely.

Esp if you're customer-facing or admin or IT staff providing a service to your colleagues or have to answer a phone. Ie, jobs when your lateness means that someone else has to pick up your slack or go without.

And whatever you think, if you're constantly late in that kind of job, it will be noticed by people and your career prospects with the company will be suffering...

plus, if youre contracted hours are 9-5, and youre always 15 mins late, and leave at 5 on the nose, then over the course of a year youre effectively stealing nearly 2 weeks of wages from your employer.

Pretty much what Hazel said (well apart from the baby bit)

As long as I do the core hours 10-12, 2-4 and fit my 37.5 hours round that I can come in when I like and go when I like, I tend to do 8-4.15 with 45 mins for lunch

I think giving the excuse 'Im rubbish in the mornings' is very feeble, just get up earlier!!

I hate being late for stuff too, I always try and make sure I am 5 mins early for most things, and always

Pretty much what Hazel said (well apart from the baby bit)

As long as I do the core hours 10-12, 2-4 and fit my 37.5 hours round that I can come in when I like and go when I like, I tend to do 8-4.15 with 45 mins for lunch

I think giving the excuse 'Im rubbish in the mornings' is very feeble, just get up earlier!!

I hate being late for stuff too, I always try and make sure I am 5 mins early for most things, and always end up

Pretty much what Hazel said (well apart from the baby bit)

As long as I do the core hours 10-12, 2-4 and fit my 37.5 hours round that I can come in when I like and go when I like, I tend to do 8-4.15 with 45 mins for lunch

I think giving the excuse 'Im rubbish in the mornings' is very feeble, just get up earlier!!

I hate being late for stuff too, I always try and make sure I am 5 mins early for most things, and always end

Pretty much what Hazel said (well apart from the baby bit)

As long as I do the core hours 10-12, 2-4 and fit my 37.5 hours round that I can come in when I like and go when I like, I tend to do 8-4.15 with 45 mins for lunch

I think giving the excuse 'Im rubbish in the mornings' is very feeble, just get up earlier!!

I hate being late for stuff too, I always try and make sure I am 5 mins early for most things, and always end up hanging