Forum | Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? by Juzzie |

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Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? 17:06 - Jul 21 with 7874 views

Scenario: You work in an office, the hours are 9-5. When it comes to home time do you stop work 5-10 mins before to shut down and prepare yourself to leave at 5pm or do you finish work at 5pm then shut down and get ready to leave?

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 17:12 - Jul 21 with 5413 views

colinallcars

I was in hospital recently and the nurses were doing twelve and a half hours shifts.

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 17:15 - Jul 21 with 5389 views

TomS

There is no straightforward answer. It depends on how busy you are and how important it is to clear whatever is on your desk before you leave.

I will try and stop work at the same time every day, but it doesn't always happen.

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 17:35 - Jul 21 with 5290 views

Juzzie

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 17:12 - Jul 21 by colinallcars
I was in hospital recently and the nurses were doing twelve and a half hours shifts.

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 17:54 - Jul 21 with 5214 views

R_from_afar

Always the latter for me: Down tools at 5pm so I actually leave after 5pm.

At my current company, our local office - now closed - was so small that there were no reception or security staff so the last person to leave would have to turn off all the lights, make sure all the windows were closed, put the blinds down, then set the alarm and lock up. If colleagues were being lazy and swanning off home without sorting out their area, that could all be a time-consuming palaver.

There was one guy who always sized up who was left in the office late on then packed up just before the others, to make sure he wasn't the last out and so avoided all the faff

"Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1."

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 18:08 - Jul 21 with 5133 views

SheffieldHoop

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 17:12 - Jul 21 by colinallcars
I was in hospital recently and the nurses were doing twelve and a half hours shifts.

Most nurses actually choose to do this as it gives them a fairly consistent 3-on 4-off pattern.

It works far better from a perspective of workforce deployment and employee satisfaction.

"Someone despises me. That's their problem." Marcus Aurelius

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 18:10 - Jul 21 with 5159 views

LythamR

it really depends on the work and the environment and what flexibility the management allow / encourages

strictly speaking if i were the boss i would question why i would be paying someone to get ready to go home however if the job entails leaving equipment such as a computer in a certain condition then that end of day task would be part of the job that should be completed by 5pm

There should be some give and take in such a situation, if there isnt and its a problem then seeking clarification from HR can often help

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 18:27 - Jul 21 with 5095 views

Logman

Finish at 5 p.m.

No-one is in that much of a hurry that they need to get away at 5 on the dot and if you pack up 5 minutes before it makes you look like a clock-watcher who really doesn't want to be there. It looks bad.

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 18:56 - Jul 21 with 5009 views

Rebalhoop

Don’t know how It works in an office,but factory work,you get 5 to 10 mins,washing up time .
so you leave,clock out whatever,bang on time.

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 19:03 - Jul 21 with 4985 views

s1cRanger

My 'official' hours are 9am till 5:30pm. I do client services work and I don't think I have ever done strict hours like that. Often start between 8 and 9 (sometimes earlier) and often finish around 7ish or later. Also put in some weekend work when required. No overtime and all part and parcel of the job.

In answer to the original post. I would start packing up at 5pm and leave after 5. Unless you really have somewhere to be what does it matter?

[Post edited 21 Jul 2022 19:05]

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 19:33 - Jul 21 with 4894 views

Discodroids

Following my covid related redundancy 18 months/2 years ago I had a rethink about what i wanted in life and took on a role for 3 days a week and My Mrs cut back to 4 days. We survive ok .

Do the Leigh on sea to fenchurch street shuttle run Mon, Wed and Thur 9.30 to 5.30. Straight home do not pass go on the way back . Don't miss the city 9-5 sqaure mile way of life. Booze piles on weight with extreme prejudice. If i have a hangover i spend the whole day eating shit on top of the 1o pints and Jalferzi i had the day before. It's just dealing with the spirit crushing boredom of normal life once the kids have flown the coop and left home.

My wifes watching 'Love Island' at the moment. And i've got the chigwell mother in law over saturday to talk about her piles , lupins and old flo next door who has typhus, consumption and can't chew her Oakhouse Lasagne without help from a potato ricer.

Thats life me old son.

[Post edited 21 Jul 2022 19:35]

"...The monkey is never dead, Dealer. The monkey never dies. When you kick him off, he just hides in a corner, waiting his turn."

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 23:08 - Jul 21 with 4640 views

Rangersw12

Ready to leave by 5pm

Flip side is people should be ready to start by 9 am so swings and roundabouts

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 23:50 - Jul 21 with 4548 views

SheffieldHoop

All depends on the job.

Back when I had a job where I had to be in the office to run a service, I'd generally always be a bit late and end up working later. I'm never good at getting up and leaving anyway.

Nowadays my job is a bit more chilled out, with no service level agreements, and the team mostly works from home (There isn't enough desks for us all in the office) - I mainly watch KPIs. So long as the main jobs for the day are done and our team inbox is clear, I'm good for people to go and do whatever they need to do.

"Someone despises me. That's their problem." Marcus Aurelius

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 00:03 - Jul 22 with 4549 views

NewBee

When I used to work in an office, I might have been last in at the start of the day, but I always made sure to be first out at the day's end.

I mean, you can't be late twice in one day, can you?

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 00:28 - Jul 22 with 4530 views

Boston

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 00:03 - Jul 22 by NewBee
When I used to work in an office, I might have been last in at the start of the day, but I always made sure to be first out at the day's end. I mean, you can't be late twice in one day, can you?

..and there are times you have to end your morning break otherwise you'll miss your lunch!

Poll:

Thank God The Seaons Over.

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 00:33 - Jul 22 with 4518 views

Boston

I'm a morning type, love summer for the early sunrise. So, in early, out early.

Poll:

Thank God The Seaons Over.

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 01:19 - Jul 22 with 4489 views

Benny_the_Ball

I think it depends on how you start your day. If you roll in at 9am and then take 10-15minutes to get going then it's only fair that you work until at least 5pm before winding down. If, however, you clock in earlier and get started before 9am then colleagues are less likely to begrudge you preparing for a 5pm sharp exit.

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 02:54 - Jul 22 with 4455 views

PunteR

On site 8 till 4pm usually. Takes 15-20 minutes to load and unload my tools on a good day. That's part of my working day. I'm offski by 4pm.
My travelling and expenses is all included in my day.plus any paperwork when I get home. Bills,invoicing ,quotes etc.

Occasional providers of half decent House music.

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 05:51 - Jul 22 with 4384 views

Hoopstar

Working in a charity we closed our office post Covid as almost everyone had moved out of London and it saved us around 10% of our outgoings.

Just have a pretty flexible approach really now - have to do your 8 hours between 7-7 with core hours of being available for meetings of 10-3. Do end up working an hour or so more most days but without a commute it doesn't feel like much of a hardship. I also frequently take two hour breaks and go for a run or 40 minute work out in the middle of the day when I don't have meetings or presentations or whatever to be at. Makes a huge difference to being able to maintain an active lifestyle

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 06:56 - Jul 22 with 4328 views

Lblock

I've been in offices where the staircase is like Jumanji at 5pm with the admin support.

When I'm on sites usually most trades are gone by 4pm but we'll have others on price working on and we're always open till 6pm. We have to make sure our labourers and Supervision are last to leave as they make sure left safe and secure.

My core hours are 8 to 6 and always have been - that has normally meant in by 7:30am and away by 6:15pm. However, I've always loved the flexability in my job and the fact that in most places I've worked I can do 7am to 10pm or even ghost shifts. The trade of being if I disappear for half a day or more it's just what happens. All about the work being done and managing yourself around times of pressure points and times of less pressure.

WFH has been a killer though and led to more 14 hour days than ever. I'm convinced this is the reason I've had to have surgery on my spine.

Cherish and enjoy life.... this ain't no dress rehearsal

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 09:14 - Jul 22 with 4167 views

ted_hendrix

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 19:33 - Jul 21 by Discodroids

[Post edited 21 Jul 2022 19:35]

*My wifes watching 'Love Island' at the moment.*

Oh dear, you have my sympathy Mr D.

My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic.

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 11:07 - Jul 22 with 4032 views

A40Bosh

In my company, which is a global hospitality company the C Suite don't consider any concept of 9-5 if you are employed on a "management" contract. My hours are officially 9-6 Mon-Fri - which is a nonsense.

Our sites operations teams are mostly paid hourly and can work as many hours as they want, but if things are slack they risk being told to finish early.

For those of us in middle management roles, the concept of a working day or week does not exist in the hospitality industry, because if the site is open regardless of time of day, regardless of whether you officially work in support or not, you get contacted when you are a "Head of" and you are unofficially expected to pitch in at all hours. They don't tell you that at interview!

Which is why, after working in the role for 4 years ,I resigned on Monday this week and will be out of the lunatic asylum on 2nd Sept.

When I plan to go to bed on a Friday night at 10pm, as I am supposed to be teeing off at 08:30 Saturday morning, I don't want to still be up at 1am being moaned at by the US Ops Director because LA cannot take payments and then it turns out some numpty bartender in Los Angeles unplugged the spare point of sale terminal behind their bar to charge his phone and unwittingly killed the payment gateway. ... Oh, and then at 10am next morning when I am keying in my score in to my phone on the 8th hole, my phone starts ringing and it is my boss asking us why there was an issue in LA last night and she is sorry to ring me but I did not respond to the Work Chat and then WhatsApp messages she left earlier on Saturday morning.

The lot of them can f.u.c.....k right off. I'm going to be 55 in Oct and want to enjoy my evenings and weekends and not feel guilty about not reading phone messages in the evening and weekends.

Poll:

With no leg room, knees killing me, do I just go now or stay for the 2nd half o?

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 12:51 - Jul 22 with 3877 views

robith

I try to finish bang on the dot, because I don't know how to set the alarm and having worked there for 7 years, am too embarrassed to ask

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 13:05 - Jul 22 with 3843 views

QPR_Jim

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 06:56 - Jul 22 by Lblock

I think you're right with the admin support, within our company there's a running joke about the marketing team heading out bang on 5pm, you can hear them finishing up and packing, washing their cups up etc from about 4:45, the door closing behind them just as the clock ticks over the 5pm. We used to have two admin's from separate teams at separate ends off the office who'd clearly message each other so that they could meet at the exit at the same time and leave together. They weren't the sharpest so I can only imagine the amount of time they put into planning that each day.

Amongst the engineers we used to have a guy who'd pretty much shut down at 4 despite us finishing at 5, he'd make a comment about his head being done in and basically do no hard tasks for the rest of the day.

Personally I've always taken the approach that you mention, if there's a deadline or someone waiting on site for me to produce something I can't just say oh well it's 5pm I'm off. I've been up until the early hours on occasions making sure there's information issued and awaiting people the next day. When times are less pressured I tend to work until 5pm then stop when I come to a good place to leave something so that I don't end up re-doing things the next day.

I don't tend to see it as a company work/pay issue worrying about overtime, it's more about my own reputation. I was always told that you're only as good as your last job and I think that's very true.

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 13:06 - Jul 22 with 3840 views

BklynRanger

I'm sure you're asking the question for a good reason, Juzzie, so fair enough.

But my opinion is I don't see the point of quibbling over it either way - it should be more about what you get done during a working day than fine margins around clocking off.

We all end up working longer than we're contracted for anyway. Fcuking industrial revolution... Bring back feudalism - those were the days.

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 13:47 - Jul 22 with 3761 views

R_from_afar

Finish at 5pm or leave at 5pm? on 13:05 - Jul 22 by QPR_Jim

"We used to have two admin's from separate teams at separate ends off the office who'd clearly message each other so that they could meet at the exit at the same time and leave together".

That reminds me of a couple of people I used to work with at a large technology company in the 1990s/early 2000s. They were fairly junior but poorly supervised - I think their manager might even have been based at another site - and got into the habit of sloping off early. It got earlier and earlier such that they were often leaving mid-afternoon.

Where we all sat was very open plan so their behaviour did not go unnoticed and some of us started trying to guess when they would bunk off. There was one time when sometime was spot on with their guess and there were loud cheers as the skivers walked out. They turned and scowled at us but were none the wiser

Oh, and at another place, there was this senior manager who would bunk off early providing her superior was either not in or had already left himself. A mate told me she was always monitoring her superior's whereabouts and he was spot on: I once counted a dozen checks by her in just an hour or so. She nearly wore the carpet out between her desk and her superior's office

"Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1."

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