4 ms·

At a previous employer, we were supposed to be in at 8:30am. Our boss even spoke to myself and a friend if we regularly arrived at 8:45, even if we didn't have

by jedc 17y ago

At a previous employer, we were supposed to be in at 8:30am. Our boss even spoke to myself and a friend if we regularly arrived at 8:45, even if we didn't have any specific appointments. (And we stayed plenty late at the end of the day.) I wouldn't have minded, except that he would regularly be 30-60 minutes late for meetings with clients! Yes, rules like this can be extremely stupid and counterproductive.

pw0ncakes 17y ago
This is a direct consequence of middle management. It works like this: marketing boss and accounting boss have to have everyone in at 9:00 for specific reasons (customers, time-specific responsibilities). Programming boss doesn't need his people in at 9 for any good reason, but his peers all need their subordinates in at that time, and he gets scared for his image among his peer group. If his people are more disheveled and work at weird times, he might look like he doesn't "have them under control". This is also why you get in more trouble for being 20 minutes late than for "throwing a sickie". The first is taken to reflect upon your boss, while the second isn't, even though it's a much bigger hit to productivity.
jrockway 17y ago
Hah. I remember having a job where my boss would complain about how late I was every day. He said I should come in earlier. I didn't. He asked me if I had trouble understanding his instructions. I told him I understood perfectly, but I just wasn't awake at that hour. He then asked, "so you're intentionally disobeying my instructions." I smiled and said yes. The issue was not raised again. (Compare this to my current job, where I got weird looks when I asked if I should be in at 9 on my first day. Little did I realize that this was a place where people came in at 7:00 pm and nobody batted an eye :)

4 ms·

At a previous employer, we were supposed to be in at 8:30am. Our boss even spoke to myself and a friend if we regularly arrived at 8:45, even if we didn't have

by jedc 17y ago

pw0ncakes 17y ago
This is a direct consequence of middle management. It works like this: marketing boss and accounting boss have to have everyone in at 9:00 for specific reasons (customers, time-specific responsibilities). Programming boss doesn't need his people in at 9 for any good reason, but his peers all need their subordinates in at that time, and he gets scared for his image among his peer group. If his people are more disheveled and work at weird times, he might look like he doesn't "have them under control". This is also why you get in more trouble for being 20 minutes late than for "throwing a sickie". The first is taken to reflect upon your boss, while the second isn't, even though it's a much bigger hit to productivity.
jrockway 17y ago
Hah. I remember having a job where my boss would complain about how late I was every day. He said I should come in earlier. I didn't. He asked me if I had trouble understanding his instructions. I told him I understood perfectly, but I just wasn't awake at that hour. He then asked, "so you're intentionally disobeying my instructions." I smiled and said yes. The issue was not raised again. (Compare this to my current job, where I got weird looks when I asked if I should be in at 9 on my first day. Little did I realize that this was a place where people came in at 7:00 pm and nobody batted an eye :)