written warning after 3 months on the job for being tardy (9am) - wtf

2/10

Had potential but pretty obvious troll.

Sounds like you were late. If you value the job, you prolly wanna address that.

Get there early and shut up and work.

Strange as it may seem a number of business still hold on to the idea that starting times are not fluid and that being prompt is an important part of your job description.

As an employer myself, I find arrivals to be a sticking point with me. I pay you to start working at 9am... if you are walking through the door at 9, that is no good. You will need to drop your lunch off in the fridge, take your coat off, boot up your computer, have to go to the bathroom, catch up with you co-worker etc... Meanwhile you haven't actually started to work and it's already 9:30...

I don't run a sweat shop or anything, and I'm all for some downtime during the day and stuff but if its first thing in the morning, what usually happens is people will realize that x employee wont start actually working until 9:30 so y employee will just simply start showing up later and later, and then z employee will do the same, and the the original x employee will be annoyed that y and z employee are showing up later than her and start showing up later as well, but AGAIN not start working for a half hour, so y and z AGAIN show up later and later. You see the cycle? I have seen it before so I think that showing up and actually WORKING at the time you are supposed to work is very important.

Do you show up for your doctor's appointment right at your appointment time? No, you show up 10-15 minutes before to check-in, deal with insurance paperwork or something, take off your coat, etc.

So if you are showing up at 9 for a 9am start, that alone is going to rub your manager the wrong way i bet, let alone showing up actually physically late. Just remember, it only takes ONE employee showing up late to make other co-workers annoyed and angry and resentful that will either cause a toxic rift in the workplace OR cause other co-workers to show up later as well creating that cycle I mentioned before.

better late than never I guess? wrote:

2/10

Had potential but pretty obvious troll.

Generous, but fair. I'm embarrassed I made it to side point 3 before troll alert went off.

I’m pretty sure you’re autistic, but I agree with the spirit of your post. I am also a major stickler for punctuality. OP, why on earth do you think it’s acceptable to have an 8:30 start time, yet consistently show up 20-30 minutes late? Showing up on time to work is not hard. Damn son.

When you own your own biz or get to call the shots, then you set the rules. Until then, don't be late.

Simple.

You're overthinking this. You've been coming in late. Your boss doesn't like that. Stop doing it. That's really all there is to it.

As for the idea that you shouldn't have to follow the rules because you'd be hard to replace: get over yourself. I've seen neurosurgeons get canned for going around with that exact attitude, and I feel safe in assuming that your skills are no more rare or lucrative. You're replaceable.

I agree with a lot of what you wrote here. Two comments:

1. When I do get in on time, the office is practically empty (perhaps, I'm your "employee z" who doesn't think it's important because others aren't there on time.)

2. I have a 0-60 start-up when I get in. Computer gets restarted every night (versus full shut down) so it is running within a few second - and within 5 minutes I'm back where I left the day before. Bathroom is right around the corner and I bring my first cup of coffee. Also, my lunch breaks are quick ~30 minutes; no smoke-breaks/mid-day errands (like many others) , and I don't have many conversations during the day.

Again, my question is, from what I've shared, is this a hard-ass boss trying to be bossy or is this a subtle indicator that I should be looking elsewhere? The HR letter itself says that further incidents of this kind could result in termination.

The level of work [I think] I'm doing should be the defining issue; I don't want to have a mid-year review that revolves around showing up 15 minutes late when I've solved a handful of the company's trouble spots.

You're coming in later than you're supposed to come in, you get a warning and you can't figure out why? How hard is it to work out that you got written up for coming in late because you've been coming in late?

You're not that special wrote:

You're overthinking this. You've been coming in late. Your boss doesn't like that. Stop doing it. That's really all there is to it.

As for the idea that you shouldn't have to follow the rules because you'd be hard to replace: get over yourself. I've seen neurosurgeons get canned for going around with that exact attitude, and I feel safe in assuming that your skills are no more rare or lucrative. You're replaceable.

Was the neurosurgeon canned for showing up 15 minutes late to an empty hospital? Regardless, completely different job/requirements/pay. Regardless, I'd put money on there being something else going on with that kind of termination (like a hard-ass boss that wanted to make a point).

Sure, I'm replaceable. But after the role going unfilled for several months, then me there for a few months, and then another few-to-several months unfilled... it would not look good to the business we need to be respected by.

I'm not looking for a free pass to do whatever I want. This isn't a job that absolutely requires a 8:30 start (ie. people dependent on my input at that hour). The work gets done and it wasn't getting done for months prior and the organization got in trouble.

Follow-up add-on question: 1. hard-ass boss 2. hint to leave 3. is this a place/(boss) I want to be/(work with)?

You're over complicating this. Doesn't matter whether the work requires an 8:30 start, only that they've told you that's when you need to be there. Question three is the only one you need to think deeply about.

concerned office worker wrote:

So its a newish job that I thought I was doing well at (projects getting done, responsive to team, proposing new projects, taking on extra tasks) and then last Friday, BAM, boss tells me I have a punctuality problem and follows it up with email cc'ing the division leader.

Then today, I'm signing a written warning from HR - whaaaat?

All this followed by OP admitting they have a punctuality problem and making no apparent plans to correct the situation.

You should be a concerned worker and thee to the office a lot earlier.

concerned office worker wrote:

is this a hard-ass boss trying to be bossy or is this a subtle indicator that I should be looking elsewhere?

I would be on time from now on, while quietly looking for a much better position for you.

Don't look elsewhere. Man up and ask for a promotion instead.

You're welcome.

ekw wrote:

As an employer myself, I find arrivals to be a sticking point with me. I pay you to start working at 9am... if you are walking through the door at 9, that is no good. You will need to drop your lunch off in the fridge, take your coat off, boot up your computer, have to go to the bathroom, catch up with you co-worker etc... Meanwhile you haven't actually started to work and it's already 9:30...

You know, you're a pretty sh1tty employer.

You know how I know that? Because the best advice I ever heard from a former employer/mentor was "as soon as you impose time restrictions on your employees, they will drop everything and run out the door at 5pm".

Flexi hours are a win win to both employer/employee. The employee waltzes in at a time that suits them, and the employer creates a culture to down the tools when a job is done instead of at a premature time. Quit being an amateur.

Be careful! Two more written warnings and you'll receive a demerit. Three demerits and you'll have a disciplinary violation. One more of those and you'll have to undergo written disciplinary review, written up by me and placed on the desk of my immediate supervisor.

Live to run wrote:

"as soon as you impose time restrictions on your employees, they will drop everything and run out the door at 5pm".

100%

I was out the door at 5 on the dot today. Had some loose ends that I would have normally hung around to do until 6 or 7 (I've stayed late in the past). That won't happen again.

And to the previous poster; yes, 8:30 will happen going forward and resumes/emails are currently being sent.