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I get in earlier than others so why do I get weird looks when I leave early?


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I've always been someone who wants to get into work as early as possible and leave as early as possible. I never did like waiting to go to work as I just can't relax. I worked a 4-midnight job for a while and hated it.

 

Every job I've worked at has been flexible with their work times. People at my current job come in anywhere between 7AM and 11AM. There are 3 of us in my area and I get in around 7:30 or 8 while the other 3 trickle in between 10 and 10:30. I realize that some people like to sleep in and run errands in the morning but I am one of the few who want to get up and get going and save errand running until after work.

 

It isn't so much at this job that I get looked at funny, but at my previous one where I'd get in as early as 6:30 and leave at 3:30 M-Th and then leave by noon on Friday's because I worked extra during the week. I would always get some snide comment from the secretary on my way out the door. She was trying to be funny but I was really tired of hearing about how early I left. At my current job I occasionally get someone checking out the clock when I get up to leave but they don't say anything.

 

As long as you are here for 8 hours, whether it be 7:30-3:30 or 10:30-6:30 it shouldn't matter as long as you get your work done. I can't help it that I get my ass to work 3 hours earlier than you!

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pink_sugar

I used to have a job like that and it's funny because most people came in around 10:30am and I came shortly before them most times. I agree with the above poster that they probably think 3pm is super early since they came in so much later. Do they say anything to you about it?

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2 of them never say anything but one (the one who always glances at the clock) will sometimes go "Oh it's 3:35 how come you aren't gone yet?" or when I declined to stay an hour later to attend an after work function she goes "Well if you stayed for the function then you could leave at like noon on Friday"!

 

The LAST thing I want to do is stay until after 6 or even 7 during the week...especially on Friday's!

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Ruby Slippers

They're just jealous. I went through a phase during my first real job where I would come in at 7:30 so I could have more daylight hours when I left work. I was always the first one there, and my co-workers seemed very jealous that I would leave before they did. But we all had the choice to work whatever shift we wanted.

 

If someone makes a snarky comment, just laugh and say, "Yep, and I was already a half hour into work before your alarm went off." :D

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Because if they aren't there when you get there, it isn't noticeable.

 

This.

 

I think most people prefer to come in late and leave late. So if you are on an early cycle, and they weren't there to see you come in but they are there to see you leave "early," there's a (mis) perception that you are slacking.

 

Frankly, it sucks.

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I think this happens a lot! I am there early and it happens as well. :) People like to look over their shoulder at others and tend to think others MUST be doing less than them. :laugh:

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I'm the same, I get in early, around 7am and leave at 3:30 - this is actually a half hour extra anyway (I have a 37.5 work week). I feel as though I get funny looks and comments as well. I'm working from the moment I get in till when I leave so it's not as though I'm slacking off while others aren't there.

 

Sometimes I give it back to people by saying "good afternoon!" to late comers and mentioning how I've already been at work a few hours when they come in.

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I am an early person too. I get in at 7 and leave at 3:30. At my work it is even worse though, because we have the option to work either a normal 10 day cycle each pay period or a 9 day cycle with an extra day off every 2 weeks. If you choose the 9 day cycle, it means you have to stay an extra hour for 8 of the 9 days to make it even.

 

I choose to come in all 10 days because I can't stay the extra hour, traffic would be too bad. But everyone else does the 9 hour shifts. This means that even though there are some other people who come in at 7, they all have to stay until 4:30 while I leave at 3:30. And since they aren't there, they don't SEE that I am at work on Friday while they have the day off every other week. It's like that saying "pics, or it didn't happen" - if you don't see the person working, they must be slacking.

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whichwayisup
At my current job I occasionally get someone checking out the clock when I get up to leave but they don't say anything.

 

Then next time someone looks at the clock you should say 'boy those 8 hours went by fast' or something along those lines.

 

Do they know you start much earlier than them?

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Oh yeah, they know how early I get in. I have told them my hours and sometimes I send emails to them as a group before 8AM! There's one girl who drives me absolutely batty with never shutting up and reading practically every group email we get out loud because she seems to think we can't read them ourselves. Either that or she reads us an entire website page or just starts talking about random stuff ! Anyways I don't make comments about how she never shuts up or spends 30 minutes each day when she comes on Facebook and personal emails OR her taking hour long lunches and then leaving again to go get a coffee with a co worker 15 minutes later!

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lucy_in_disguise

I have the opposite problem. Most people at my office get in somewhere between 6:30 and 7 and are gone by 4. I come in at 10 and stay till 7. People are always "joking" about it, but i figure the only opinions that really matter are those of my clients and boss. They don't care when I get in as long as the work gets done, and I know when I have put in an honest days work - and that's good enough for me.

 

If it bugs you that much, call them out on it.

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It's like that on state jobs. But there's a way for management to tell what time you are arriving.

 

The ways my management can verify the exact arrival time is by: security cameras, the time you swipe your badge to get into the building or get IT to check what time you logged onto your computer.

 

Oh yeah, usually a manager will ask for you to send an arrival/leaving emails to them as a way of verifying.

 

Anything else outside of this ignore stupid comments. Workplaces like that will have haters.

Edited by Tressugar
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Well thankfully I've never worked in a place that makes you have to swipe cards or track time to the minute. Every place I've worked just trusts that you fill in your time correctly and nobody is there to monitor you.

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pink_sugar
It's like that on state jobs. But there's a way for management to tell what time you are arriving.

 

The ways my management can verify the exact arrival time is by: security cameras, the time you swipe your badge to get into the building or get IT to check what time you logged onto your computer.

 

Oh yeah, usually a manager will ask for you to send an arrival/leaving emails to them as a way of verifying.

 

Anything else outside of this ignore stupid comments. Workplaces like that will have haters.

 

The nice thing about government jobs is that it can be virtually impossible to get fired once you've finished your probation.

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Or like today I got in at 7:30 and have to leave at 2:30 for a dentist appt and won't be back. So that means only a 7 hour work day today and I will have to make up the hour I am missing throughout the rest of the week, which isn't hard since I just have to work an extra 15 minutes each day to do that. Which means if I still get in at 7:30 each day I only have to stay until 3:45 each day. I'm sure they will think that I am really shirking my job STILL leaving before 4PM each day after leaving an hour early today when they need to be there until at least 6PM!

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