At what point are you officially "late" for work? Or do you consider it taking your break first thing? Or does your employer really not notice?
ever been caught not noticing?

If I'm "late" it's cause I wanted to get their earlier myself.

I usually have to be at my job by 9:45 a.m.- if I'm there at 9:46, I'm LATE. After the third time, I'm FIRED. I've been there 7 years.
[Edited 11/16/09 5:00am]

Dayclear said:

so your boss doesnt just dock your pay?

when it's your girlfriend's period.

You're late if you get there after the time you are required to be there.

No exceptions.

Dayclear said:

Do you work at Auto Zone? I was at an Auto Zone the other day, and the cashier explained their policy to me (they were understaffed, and we got to talking about it). That is their exact policy.

Evvy said:

Yeah, but after the 3rd time, you're outta there! I work at the largest mall on the east coast of the United states and they've got a reputation to uphold. In most jobs now you can be very easily replaced within a couple of hours!
[
[Edited 11/16/09 5:53am]

Dayclear said:

right, a minute late and that is late.

missmad said:

I am entirely tooo lax with my staff and i've had just about enough

When you're pregnant

I think it depends on the type of place you work and if you're salaried or hourly. At my previous job the most important thing was that you put in your 8 hours. Some people came in at 8am and left at 4:30, some people worked 9am - 5:30pm. I generally came in at 10am and left at 6pm. We also put in extra hours if necessary so some nights I would work until 7pm or 8pm. (And not get paid overtime like I was legally supposed to. ) They preferred that you came in roughly the same time every day though, so it was easier for your supervisor to know when to expect you.

I had a behind the scenes, administrative job so if I was a few minutes late it wasn't a huge deal. But if I had a meeting or tour scheduled then of course, I would be there in advance of the start time.

Evvy said:

You need to put your foot down and don't let them take advantage of you.

Here in Ithaca most people work at the big University that is here. In most departments, the rules for time are very relaxed. I believe the official time to report to work is 8:00, but most people that I know (which I admit is hardly a representative sample) show up around 8:45ish but still get in their 8 hours.

I used to do construction work. I had a boss who was pretty cool with me, but a jerk to others. The work day started at 8:00. He used to request that people be at the job site by 7:50 so that they could get their equipment ready and what-not. I never followed this request, knowing that it was a load of crap. I usually got right on time. The other guys would always ask me why I didn't come in 10 minutes early like the boss had requested. I told them that they were all fools who were essentially giving the boss nearly 1 free hour of work per week by living up to his silly request. Unfortunately, many of them were highly uneducated, and did not know their rights.

when she sits you down and says, "Honey, we need to talk..."

that's when it's late late...

1 minute after your start time is late. You have to clock in first, to take a break. You can't count it for being late, and try to cover your ass. It's a weak excuse to say "I'm taking my break, so I'll be late". Nonsense.

I don't feel many excuses to be late, to work or otherwise, are really acceptable. "Oh boy, TRAFFIC!" Honey, we ALL got here in traffic, and we're here on time. I used to take the bus to work every day, and was never late, unless I missed my bus. But I made sure I didn't.

Employers want to see you do well, and that includes being to work on time. When you start dishing little excuses for being a minute or five minutes late, they will always think you are going to make an excuse when you make a mistake. Your employer might not say anything, but they notice. They'll take it into account when reviews come around, and they could really want to be dicks and give you a verbal or written warning for it, creating a paper trail for possible termination.

Get there on time! Don't use traffic, your alarm clock or whatever as an excuse.

whatever time u're employment has decided is late.....
do you punch in if it's past that ~window of time~ u're LATE

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

don't take the traffic or anything else as an excuse except if someone ( them or family or pal) is in the hospital or is on their deathbed. other than that- make sure they get their booties up early- everyone else does!
[Edited 11/17/09 18:50pm]

If you're a manager, check with your human resources dept.

Where I work, if you clock in within 10 minutes of your start time you are not counted as late, but where you work it may be different.

Also, if all your employees run late, you have to reprimand and document all of your employees not just the ones that are "late, late" or they could say you're playing favorites.

I'm so glad I'm not a manager.

Look, I live in Bangkok. If I'm on time it means I misunderstood the time I was supposed to be somewhere and arrived early (or rather, on time).

I really struggle with this. I don't leave work on time either.

ernestsewell said:

Taking this to heart.

I don't know! It's like... most of the time I am in the parking lot when I am supposed to be at my desk logging in. Like 3 minutes late by the time I walk my ass in the door and get to my floor, etc.

I like my job too! But I'm just tardy leaving my house.

Wait, you meant specifically about work. Well, when I was teaching in a regular 9-5 job I could get away with being in any time before my first class, but since I only lived 3 minutes by motorbike taxi from the school I was usually in over an hour before that to get things sorted. For my evening and weekend classes at the learning centres I could get away with being up to 30 minutes late, but not too often, on account of the traffic usually. Students were often late, and staff would occasionally be too. Even with the best intentions and good planning, sometimes Bangkok will not let you arrive on time. If there's a big accident on the roads or a protest or something it might just not be possible.

.
[Edited 11/17/09 21:08pm]

TheBangles said:

ernestsewell said:

Blame it on the train but, Ernest is alreadyyy therre

Cinnie said:

What if you walked in one day and your boss called you into his/her office. They say, "I have a question for you."
"Sure," you reply.
"Who do you think you are?"
"Huh?"
"What makes you so much more important than everyone else that you can just waste our time by being late?", your boss asks.
"Well.....um...," you stammer on.
"No really, how did you get so important, that your ego told you it was okay to just waltz in whenever you wanted, even if it's just 3 minutes late? Who do you think you are?"

I've heard that conversation go down w/ an employer and a fellow employee. They were lucky to keep their job. The boss wasn't an asshole, he was just right. 8 a.m. means 8 a.m. Not 8:01, not 8:02, not 8:03. It means 8, if not a few minutes before.

Think about this: You're 5 minutes late every day. 5x25 = 25 minutes over a week's time. 25 minutes x 4 weeks = 100 minutes in the course of a month (over an hour and a half of tardiness). 100 minutes a month x 12 months. That's 1200 minutes in a year. 1200 minutes = 20 hours. 20 hours is what...just under 3 work days? More like 2.5 full work days at 8 hours a day. Would you randomly just not show up for 2.5 days but still expect that paycheck for the time you gave no excuse, asked for no time off, and gave no one notice of your pending absense?

Folks just need to be on time. If a person is on public transport, a boss is sometimes willing to work with a schedule to make sure you get there, and you can make sure you're not late, AND that you can still get out on time when a bus is still running to get you home.

ernestsewell said:

good lord, relax.

i have the same kind of habits as cinnie, which technically is frowned upon at my job, but in actuality our managers don't care since we're so often treated poorly by upper management- working 13 hour days, having to work weekends with little notice, massive workloads with little training, etc. as long as you're performing as you should they don't mind, which is sensible.
[Edited 11/17/09 23:31pm]

evenstar3 said:

While I appreciate the "lord" moniker, "Ernest" is fine. And really, that's why I'm so great. I can relax, AND put that kind of common sense out for the peoples. Hell, I could have done all that with one hand, and STILL been stellar in it. :princevoiceandfacefromaladdindvd: Ya'll better recognize!

As far as that last sentence, it doesn't work that way, unfortunately. Everyone's situation is different, but being a good worker doesn't write an invisible hall pass for being late all the time. It's the same theory as upper management treating people badly. It's not a tit-for-tat, on either end. Late people are wrong, and that upper management you mentioned is wrong too (if they're as bad as you say, and I have to take your word that they are since I'm not there.

At the job I have now, we only get a two-minute window. Anything after that is an automatic write-up unless you called first.

The last job I had before this technically started at 8:30 a.m., but I always came at 8:45 a.m. Nobody said much and I never started doing much work until 9 a.m. anyway.

But, now I can say I finally understand the importance of being on time.
[Edited 11/18/09 0:06am]