Flexitime and work

R.C.Anderson said:
Easiest method would be to just not respond to the email until Monday. Treat it as if you were busy with other jobs, and didn't get a chance to read it until Monday.

Personally, unless it HAD to be done on Friday (in which case they shouldn't have just emailed, they should have called/visited my desk in person), I would leave it till Monday.
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This really ... we have flex time and personally I don't get overtime so I don't tend to work late (I'm in very early so I do more than my contracted hours anyway by a reasonable margin) ... I tend to work slightly later if I'm working from home than if I'm in the office as I don't have to leave at a certain time to get a train.

My boss is quite reasonable about it and knows that the majority of the time I would stay if there was a real emergency but the sort of things we get through as urgent really aren't. In the case given it would have probably be left until Monday morning as it would have probably ben done then prior to the requester getting in anyway.

Our bigger problem at the moment is project managers trying to get people to work entire weekends at the last minute ... which some people are happy to do as they want the overtime but when its many weeks in a row we have to say no for health and safety reasons.
 
Sagalout said:
Quite surprised at the attitude of most people on this. I've been in both positions. Have had plenty of jobs where no overtime is paid and have stopped back to help get things finished on time without thinking about it. I now own a company where we offer a level of flexi time but no overtime, and I don't think anyone that works for me would just go home if there was a problem that needed sorting. I guess it depends how you view your work place, work friends and how they treat you in general. Whist we don't pay overtime we do pay for lots of other things like friday bacon sandwiches, pub trips, socials etc which I think helps foster more of a genuine team mentality.
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I think this has been covered in the response that the flexi hours are considered in a Monday-Friday block, which rules out the ability for any extra time worked on a Friday to be gained back the following week.

If there was a policy of "get the work done, we don't really care about hours but don't take the mick", with a way of addressing issues like having too much to get done in an average week, then I don't think most people would care about getting out the door bang on time if there was an issue. Any out-of-hours work that is being billed to a client should be paid as OT though.

I stayed at work 40 minutes later than usual on Friday to get something done, but then I leave 15-20 minutes before my contracted hours each day and it doesn't bother anybody because the work is getting done.
 
No pay, no stay! Simple as that.

For me it's not just the money, but rather that the employer does not value your time, so why should you value theirs?

I get paid overtime, but have to work 60minutes to start accruing any overtime. I sometimes stay less than that because I know my employer values my time by choosing to pay overtime, so I value theirs as well by choosing to help when needed.
 
We have flexitime where I work, it hardly ever works in my favour. At time of writing I'm 174 hours up on my flexi, my manager is 300 hours up. I've always lost between 100 and 200 hours a year.

I'm contracted to do a 35 hour week. Starting next week I'm for the first time taking 2 weeks off, all flexi. Looking forward to it!
 
D.P. said:
Is you are salaried it is not free but part of the job contract.
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If you are working, for example, an hour a day for nothing does that not mean your wages have technically gone down.
Five hours a week X 50 weeks a year = 250 hours for free...
 
D.P. said:
Is you are salaried it is not free but part of the job contract.
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Then when negotiating your salary, it should be made very clear how much overtime you are likely to do over the year, so you can better judge if you are getting a reasonable level of pay for your hours.
 
Sagalout said:
Quite surprised at the attitude of most people on this. I've been in both positions. Have had plenty of jobs where no overtime is paid and have stopped back to help get things finished on time without thinking about it. I now own a company where we offer a level of flexi time but no overtime, and I don't think anyone that works for me would just go home if there was a problem that needed sorting. I guess it depends how you view your work place, work friends and how they treat you in general. Whist we don't pay overtime we do pay for lots of other things like friday bacon sandwiches, pub trips, socials etc which I think helps foster more of a genuine team mentality.
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When management builds that sort of working environment, people stop watching the clock and muck in to get the extra work done.

Alas, that's not the management I have.
 
Yup, my mate owns 1/3rd of a company with an actual good working environment - grew from 6 employees in 2010 to 25 today. One person has left in that time.

Contrast that to where I work currently where 2/3rds of the (35 total) staff have left in a year and about half of those positions have been replaced. Yet nobody seems to understand why people are leaving. Maybe ask them?
 
D.P. said:
Is you are salaried it is not free but part of the job contract.
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Nonsense. I've always been salaried but it's always been based on x no. of hours per week (normally 42 inc 1 hr lunch breaks). Salaried contracts normally have in them a clause along the lines of "and additional reasonable hours as required by the business". It's also perfectly normal to be salaried and eligible for overtime.

If there is more work than will fit in your standard hours then someone isn't doing their job properly and 99% it's management above you.

You're a mug if you let those additional hours become commonplace.
 
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UTmaniac said:
Then when negotiating your salary, it should be made very clear how much overtime you are likely to do over the year, so you can better judge if you are getting a reasonable level of pay for your hours.
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In some jobs that can partly depend on you - how good you are, how you manage your time, deadlines. Part of it can be down to your manager too - if you've got too much on your plate then he/she needs to take some of the heat off. In the end, in roles with salary/bonus, you're going to be compared with your colleagues and when that is done right it is about what you deliver.
Sometimes you may stay late if needed other times you might take a longer lunch break... not clock on clock off but taking a more adult approach where you manage your own time. In that context overtime/working for free doesn't necessarily apply - in fact in that situation someone working late might also be an unproductive person who can't manage their time, rewarding them with 'overtime' makes no sense. Why pay someone more for being bad at their job? Alternatively if someone stays later and delivers significantly more than expected they've got every right to demand a larger slice of the bonus pool and a fat pay rise.
 
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Are these messages for the problems via email or phone call ?

If it is email ignore it until monday, if phone you are screwed

What I would do would be at 10 minutes to leaving time, lock PC and go to the toilet, then at 3 clock out and go home

Company I work for are A-holes

Flexi only works for a week and does not carry on
Work 10 extra hours one week ..... come in 2 minutes late week after and get a warning!

A lot of employers just seem to take the **** these days
 
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FLEXI-TIME WARS

Recently 4 of us have been in front of Management because the other 3 have been arguing over it so I was asked to come up with a spreadsheet where everybody gets an equal share. It doesn't effect me because I always stay until 5pm where the other 3 want to go home early.
If I work until 5:10pm I will come 10 mins late in the morning, I never work for free and my bosses wouldn't let me.
 
The answers here seem to depend on whether or not you work for a good company who values your contribution and efforts (or not).

So that's the answer. If it would be appreciated (either in terms of a simple "thank you", or in terms of career/salary/bonus), then yes. Otherwise "no".

I understand the people who say they wouldn't - I've been there before. And now, as a manager, I try and make sure that it's rare that it happens. But when it does (such is the nature of the industry I work in), people are happy to put in the extra effort to get something over the line.
 
Uther said:
If you are working, for example, an hour a day for nothing does that not mean your wages have technically gone down.
Five hours a week X 50 weeks a year = 250 hours for free...
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Yes, but if you are not averaging what your contract states over the course of the year then you should tell your manager.

You are obviously getting too much work, although in some cases it could be you aren't cut out for the role. Obviously that differs person to person.

If your manager wants you to work an extra 5 hours per week, that should be in your contract and you should obviously be able to negotiate a higher salary.
 
muon said:
You are obviously getting too much work, although in some cases it could be you aren't cut out for the role. Obviously that differs person to person.
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that's the thing - if you're not in a McJob then pay per hour doesn't necessarily make sense as people can be very different in terms of their performance/productivity

someone working late might be super dedicated and angling for a promotion or might be overworked and their manager needs to give them less or they might be a bit naff compared to their colleagues and having to work late just to keep pace.... working late doesn't necessarily mean 'working for free' as you're not paid by the hour if you're on an annual salary + bonus.
 
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