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Boss consistently keeps me late due to procrastination


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I need input on how to handle this. First let me state that I am a salaried employee, not hourly, and so I understand and accept that sometimes it will take working beyond "normal business hours" to complete something.

 

That being said, there is a project that we do every week at my job. It is a weekly "news and analysis" in which my boss writes an opinion on something relevant to our customers in the news. It is like an opinion-editorial in the newspaper, except we post it on our Web site and then e-mail it to all our customers. This is done every Tuesday.

 

My boss writes this, and it's my job to edit it, post it to the site and e-mail the customers.

 

Only, he consistently waits until the last minute to write it EVERY WEEK. He schedules too many meetings on Tuesdays, or he leaves for a two hour "boot camp" workout class, or he just procrastinates in general. He mentions it to me every Tuesday, usually prior to lunch time, so it's not that he forgets.

 

He KNOWS he has to write it; he just doesn't until the last minute, sometimes after 5 pm. Even when he's done writing, it takes me a good hour or more to edit it, post it to our site, and set up the e-mail to customers.

 

I am getting very irritable, because often I either have to stay late or take my laptop home and work at night. There were even two instances where I was waiting until 10 p.m. or later and never received the piece from him. I texted him at 10 pm to tell him "apologies, but it is my bed time".

 

I am really at my wit's end with this. It is now after 4 p.m. here, and he still has not started working on it. I made plans with an old colleague tonight at 6 pm which means I have to leave precisely at 5 to let my dog out and have time to meet her.

 

As I stated before, I am perfectly okay with working late when there are important projects that need to be completed or if there is an emergency. But to have to NEVER schedule anything on Tuesday nights because he procrastinates is making me think I should look for a new job.

 

Any suggestions how I can bring this up for resolution?

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Well, I feel your pain. Boy, do I ever. I was still working at 11:00 p.m. last night due to a partner's procrastination. It's a frequent problem.

 

Thing is, as a salaried employee, I think you're duty bound to stay as long as it takes to get the job done, regardless of whether it's an emergency or a big project. At least in my profession, I don't even bother setting work night social events before 7 because I just know that inevitably something will come up. And leaving by 5 in a salaried position to see a friend is really pushing it, IMO.

 

That's not to say you have to tolerate this sort of procrastination though. But unfortunately, you can't really ask your boss to tailor himself to fit your needs. If it bothers you that much, I suggest you look for another job.

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I need input on how to handle this. First let me state that I am a salaried employee, not hourly, and so I understand and accept that sometimes it will take working beyond "normal business hours" to complete something.

 

That being said, there is a project that we do every week at my job. It is a weekly "news and analysis" in which my boss writes an opinion on something relevant to our customers in the news. It is like an opinion-editorial in the newspaper, except we post it on our Web site and then e-mail it to all our customers. This is done every Tuesday.

 

My boss writes this, and it's my job to edit it, post it to the site and e-mail the customers.

 

Only, he consistently waits until the last minute to write it EVERY WEEK. He schedules too many meetings on Tuesdays, or he leaves for a two hour "boot camp" workout class, or he just procrastinates in general. He mentions it to me every Tuesday, usually prior to lunch time, so it's not that he forgets.

 

He KNOWS he has to write it; he just doesn't until the last minute, sometimes after 5 pm. Even when he's done writing, it takes me a good hour or more to edit it, post it to our site, and set up the e-mail to customers.

 

I am getting very irritable, because often I either have to stay late or take my laptop home and work at night. There were even two instances where I was waiting until 10 p.m. or later and never received the piece from him. I texted him at 10 pm to tell him "apologies, but it is my bed time".

 

I am really at my wit's end with this. It is now after 4 p.m. here, and he still has not started working on it. I made plans with an old colleague tonight at 6 pm which means I have to leave precisely at 5 to let my dog out and have time to meet her.

 

As I stated before, I am perfectly okay with working late when there are important projects that need to be completed or if there is an emergency. But to have to NEVER schedule anything on Tuesday nights because he procrastinates is making me think I should look for a new job.

 

Any suggestions how I can bring this up for resolution?

 

I would politely tell him nothing more than, "Hey, I have a full schedule this week, so I'll need your editorial by 4:00pm today, at the latest."

 

If he's later than that, get it to him the next day. He won't ask you about it because he knows it's his fault.

 

Is he a nice and reasonable guy, otherwise?

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You've been complaining about this since August 2009. Me thinks this working an average of 30 minutes late every Tuesday is just part of the job description? At least in your boss's mind, anyway.

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You've been complaining about this since August 2009. Me thinks this working an average of 30 minutes late every Tuesday is just part of the job description? At least in your boss's mind, anyway.

 

It's not an average of 30 minutes late. It's an average of two hours or more. And again, all of my previous managers have never asked people to stay late because of their own lack of planning or consistent procrastination.

 

Obviously **** happens, and sometimes you have to stay late. Or prior to our annual conference, obviously we will be much busier and thus working longer hours.

 

But being a salaried person doesn't mean that you must be married at your job, tethered to your PDA or working 60+ hours a week every single week.

 

And forgive me, but I don't recall having posted about this issue more than this particular time.

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seven-and-a-half million pounds per annum in unpaid overtime.

 

Read that again.

Seven and a half million pounds, per year, which should be legitimate over-time pay, goes unpaid because either people are afraid to ask for it, or employers are too damn mean and manipulative to pay it.

 

Tell him you've started a class on Tuesday nights... (other nights are fully booked, or this is the only class you can find with a vacancy for you to attend)... and you need to be away on time.

Is there any way he could make sure he gets the work to you by 'X' time? You really need to be out of the office by *a time a bit later than your normal finishing time, but quite a bit earlier than your usual leaving time thanks to his procrastination.*

If he gets it to you any later, you don't want to let him down by not having sufficient time to finish it.....

 

if people stay beyond time, they should get paid overtime!!:mad:

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tell him that if you don't have the draft in front of you by 3pm on Tuesday - don't expect it to be edited and posted until mid morning each Wednesday.

 

if he is messing up his own deadline... HE has to understand that HE is responsible for it showing up on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.

 

it's no different than a kid turning in homework past a deadline... there's always a penalty for the kid who was late.

 

his penalty is HIS penalty. do not reward his bad behavior by making it ok that he isn't giving you reasonable lead time to get it finished.

 

you have trained him that if he's late with the info - you will cover his a$$ and make it look like he wasn't late with the work. time to retrain him... when he's late - it simply doesn't get done... at least until the next day.

 

he has no one to blame but himself. stop making him look good when he's not even doing half the effort to get it done on time.

 

if he needs the extra day - he can be the one to move it to Wednesday.

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seven-and-a-half million pounds per annum in unpaid overtime.

 

Read that again.

Seven and a half million pounds, per year, which should be legitimate over-time pay, goes unpaid because either people are afraid to ask for it, or employers are too damn mean and manipulative to pay it.

 

She's a salaried employee and is exempt from overtime, likely because she falls into one of the categories for exemption.

 

One of the benefits - to an employer - of having a salaried employee, is to avoid having to pay overtime. Here, the employee won't even work overtime...and yet, she's salaried.

 

OP - perhaps you should suggest to him that you become a regular, non-exempt employee... and then he'll be very careful not to keep you past 5:00. Of course, I'd expect your income to dip as well, but you have to make a trade somewhere. More money = not being able to leave exactly when you want all the time.

 

It's not an average of 30 minutes late. It's an average of two hours or more. And again, all of my previous managers have never asked people to stay late because of their own lack of planning or consistent procrastination.

 

In your other thread, you talked about it being 30 minutes. That's how I came up with that. I guess it's increased since then?

 

Obviously **** happens, and sometimes you have to stay late. Or prior to our annual conference, obviously we will be much busier and thus working longer hours.

 

But being a salaried person doesn't mean that you must be married at your job, tethered to your PDA or working 60+ hours a week every single week.

 

Whether 30 minutes, or 2 hours, it's only once a week. I hardly consider that a 60+ hour job, being married to your job, or tethered to your PDA.

 

But then again, I'm a member of management and honestly have very little patience for people who lack my work ethic and complain about having to stay late once a week... particularly in this economy.

 

And forgive me, but I don't recall having posted about this issue more than this particular time.

 

http://www.loveshack.org/forums/t199073/

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seven-and-a-half million pounds per annum in unpaid overtime.

 

Read that again.

Seven and a half million pounds, per year, which should be legitimate over-time pay, goes unpaid because either people are afraid to ask for it, or employers are too damn mean and manipulative to pay it.

 

Tell him you've started a class on Tuesday nights... (other nights are fully booked, or this is the only class you can find with a vacancy for you to attend)... and you need to be away on time.

Is there any way he could make sure he gets the work to you by 'X' time? You really need to be out of the office by *a time a bit later than your normal finishing time, but quite a bit earlier than your usual leaving time thanks to his procrastination.*

If he gets it to you any later, you don't want to let him down by not having sufficient time to finish it.....

 

if people stay beyond time, they should get paid overtime!!:mad:

 

I like this answer the best.

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She's a salaried employee and is exempt from overtime, likely because she falls into one of the categories for exemption.

 

One of the benefits - to an employer - of having a salaried employee, is to avoid having to pay overtime. Here, the employee won't even work overtime...and yet, she's salaried.

 

OP - perhaps you should suggest to him that you become a regular, non-exempt employee... and then he'll be very careful not to keep you past 5:00. Of course, I'd expect your income to dip as well, but you have to make a trade somewhere. More money = not being able to leave exactly when you want all the time.

 

**Side note: The meeting I left for at 6 pm yesterday was with someone I consider a "friend"; however, she was also a former colleague and I was getting her input into how I can do a certain part of my job better. Thus, 75% of my time with her was spent strategizing about work.**

 

 

 

In your other thread, you talked about it being 30 minutes. That's how I came up with that. I guess it's increased since then?

 

 

 

Whether 30 minutes, or 2 hours, it's only once a week. I hardly consider that a 60+ hour job, being married to your job, or tethered to your PDA.

 

But then again, I'm a member of management and honestly have very little patience for people who lack my work ethic and complain about having to stay late once a week... particularly in this economy.

 

 

 

http://www.loveshack.org/forums/t199073/

 

I respect that you are a manager and have your own opinion about what constitutes a "good work ethic". For you apparently that means living to work. I do not live to work. I like my job duties. For the most part, I like the people I work with. I do not feel that to do a good job, I should have to work 10 hour days, always answer e-mail even if off or on vacation, or that I should have to rearrange my life schedule to accommodate someone who is lazy or consistently procrastinates.

 

While I'm sure you do a good job, I am so glad not to work for you. If you want your employees/subordinates to do a good job, you need to earn their respect. A good way to lose their respect is to act like their time is not as valuable as yours. And that is what my boss consistently does, not just to me, but others I work with.

 

It is about respect. If I am working hard, contributing the hours expected of me (which I am expected to work at least 40 hours per week), and achieving my measurable objectives, then he should have the respect to meet deadlines so that I can do my job well.

 

Lastly, just because I don't want to stay til 7 or 8 pm every night doesn't mean I don't work as hard as you. I often take my laptop home to work, because I have to be able to let out my dog. I rarely take a lunch -- I usually bring my lunch and eat at my desk while working. I am in earlier on days when I have more work to do, so that I can still leave at a reasonable hour. And, I'd suggest that if you have to work 10 hours per day to get your job done, perhaps you just need to work smarter. The first person in and last person out aren't necessarily the best employees -- maybe they're staying so long because they're incapable of doing their work efficiently.

Edited by stace79
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Time to renegotiate your employment contract.

 

Personally, I'd just leave, but that's me. Haven't had a boss in decades. I don't work well with 'bosses, but fabulously with 'leaders'. Sounds like you have a 'boss'. Good luck :)

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For any who care -- I believe I found a possible resolution. We're going to survey our customers to determine how valuable they find this project we distribute every week.

 

Then based on that feedback, we're going to offer newer types of content that I will write on my own, without having to depend on his schedule. If people don't particularly like the piece he writes, we can suggest doing away with it all together.

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For any who care -- I believe I found a possible resolution. We're going to survey our customers to determine how valuable they find this project we distribute every week.

 

Then based on that feedback, we're going to offer newer types of content that I will write on my own, without having to depend on his schedule. If people don't particularly like the piece he writes, we can suggest doing away with it all together.

 

That's one solution, but you're taking on more work to do it. Your call.

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I respect that you are a manager and have your own opinion about what constitutes a "good work ethic". For you apparently that means living to work.

 

I do NOT live to work. Hardly. Rather, I work to live. I just do what it takes in order to do the job to the best of my ability. Unlike you, I view my first client/customer as my boss.

 

While I'm sure you do a good job, I am so glad not to work for you. If you want your employees/subordinates to do a good job, you need to earn their respect. A good way to lose their respect is to act like their time is not as valuable as yours. And that is what my boss consistently does, not just to me, but others I work with.

 

I do value my subordinates' time - hence why they're paid hourly. :)

 

Lastly, just because I don't want to stay til 7 or 8 pm every night doesn't mean I don't work as hard as you.

 

ONE DAY A WEEK. You're acting like his expectations are unreasonable. I assure you, they're not.

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I do NOT live to work. Hardly. Rather, I work to live. I just do what it takes in order to do the job to the best of my ability. Unlike you, I view my first client/customer as my boss.

 

 

 

I do value my subordinates' time - hence why they're paid hourly. :)

 

 

 

ONE DAY A WEEK. You're acting like his expectations are unreasonable. I assure you, they're not.

 

It's not only one day per week. And just my opinion, but your attitude strikes me that work is the most important thing in your life.

 

If I am at a job that doesn't allow me a reasonable work/life balance, I'll leave and find another position. This is one reason I would consider moving out of the U.S. American employers are typically slave drivers. Like I said before, more hours does not equal better work. You failed to address that point.

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It's not only one day per week. And just my opinion, but your attitude strikes me that work is the most important thing in your life.

 

You're changing your story. This thread and the other one was limited to Tuesdays. Now it's what, everyday?

 

And what exactly about my attitude makes you think work is the most important thing in my life? That couldn't be farther from the truth. Is it because as a fellow salaried, exempt employee, I expect people - superiors AND subordinates - to do what it takes to get the job done, including occasionally staying late when necessary?

 

If I am at a job that doesn't allow me a reasonable work/life balance, I'll leave and find another position.

 

And that, my friend, is what I'm suggesting you do. Because it's unreasonable to ask your boss to cater to you. You work for your boss. You provide a service to your boss. If you're unwilling to provide that service, find another job... or work for yourself.

 

Like I said before, more hours does not equal better work. You failed to address that point.

 

Because you didn't make it. Or are you talking about the first-one-in, last-one-out bit? You must be suggesting that YOU aren't working smarter and more efficiently? Because you have to stay late? Or is that, as expected, what you think is someone else's fault?

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For any who care -- I believe I found a possible resolution. We're going to survey our customers to determine how valuable they find this project we distribute every week.

 

Then based on that feedback, we're going to offer newer types of content that I will write on my own, without having to depend on his schedule. If people don't particularly like the piece he writes, we can suggest doing away with it all together.

 

and so the boss is rewarded by someone doing his work... i would request an increase in pay if you are doing his work.

 

since he is skirting his responsibilities - does that mean he's willing to work for less pay?

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1. My post was about one particular problem. My boss has a nasty habit of this type of behavior. It's discussed frequently by my coworkers.

 

2. Yes, I do work smarter. I've always been able to complete most of my work in about half the time as everyone else. In college, I could produce a piece of writing that earned me an A in about an hour, while my peers took the full five days we were allotted. I could work part-time and do a bang-up job of my work now, minus the procrastination from my boss.

 

3. You seem to think that, if your job requires it -- due to overload or other people's negligence -- that you should stay til the cows come home. If I'm wrong, I apologize. I believe that unhappy employees do a worse job than happy ones; thus as long as they're meeting agreed upon objectives, they shouldn't be expected to work beyond accepted business hours without due cause. (My boss procrastinating is not due cause.)

 

4. I don't ask my boss to cater to me. I expect that he be as respectful of my time as I am of his. I would obviously never dream of putting off something he needed until the last minute, forcing him to stay late. Apparently my previous two managers were unusual -- they adopted the mindset that they'd never ask of their staff something they themselves wouldn't do and they believed in deadlines. They believed in working hard and playing hard. Work diligently during business hours so you can take off at 5:30 or 6 pm and actually enjoy seeing your family/friends.

 

The crux of the issue is really that my boss has a well-documented lousy home life with his wife. He doesn't particularly care if he goes home in the evening. For him, it is probably a relief to have an excuse to stay in the office until 8, 9 or even 10 pm. But just because he wants to stay doesn't mean everyone else should have to, assuming that we are able to complete our assignments by 5 or 6.

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Stace - here is another alternative...

 

Since this consistently happens every Tuesday, why don't you talk to your boss and suggest that because this is a recurring pattern (do NOT say problem or issue), that you adjust your hours accordingly. Ask for comp-time off.

 

"Gee, Boss, since we can't get that weekly thing out until later Tuesday evenings, would you mind if I came in a comparably later time the following morning?"

 

He will get more aware of how many extra hours you are working into the evening when/if you aren't there first thing in the morning.

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Stace - here is another alternative...

 

Since this consistently happens every Tuesday, why don't you talk to your boss and suggest that because this is a recurring pattern (do NOT say problem or issue), that you adjust your hours accordingly. Ask for comp-time off.

 

"Gee, Boss, since we can't get that weekly thing out until later Tuesday evenings, would you mind if I came in a comparably later time the following morning?"

 

He will get more aware of how many extra hours you are working into the evening when/if you aren't there first thing in the morning.

 

What happens if you sit down and talk to him, one to one, about this? Is he receptive?

 

Both are good suggestions. We have a task to provide more content to our customers anyway, so if adding more content that I can control means we do away with this project of his that keeps me late, it will be a moot point. :)

 

But thank you very much for the suggestions and positive support! Really appreciate it.

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Well, I feel your pain. Boy, do I ever. I was still working at 11:00 p.m. last night due to a partner's procrastination. It's a frequent problem.

 

Thing is, as a salaried employee, I think you're duty bound to stay as long as it takes to get the job done, regardless of whether it's an emergency or a big project. At least in my profession, I don't even bother setting work night social events before 7 because I just know that inevitably something will come up. And leaving by 5 in a salaried position to see a friend is really pushing it, IMO.

 

That's not to say you have to tolerate this sort of procrastination though. But unfortunately, you can't really ask your boss to tailor himself to fit your needs. If it bothers you that much, I suggest you look for another job.

 

There you have it. The American sweat shop mentality. I would never work in America again because of this attitude.

 

Where I live except in the rare situations we work our 37.5 hours as a perm employee and it is frowned upon to do more as it goes against family values and the lifestyle here. In my office it is a ghost town by 5.30pm

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threebyfate

stace since this is a job rather than a career choice, just talk to him and suggest that if Tuesdays remain a consistent overtime issue, that you'll start later on Tuesdays to accommodate his busy schedule.

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SadandConfusedWA

I don't see what the big deal is. I am pretty much always on blackberry including late evenings and weekends, colaborating with international researchers and finishing up odd jobs/paper drafts and reviews in my own time (and I am not paid for overtime either).

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I don't see what the big deal is. I am pretty much always on blackberry including late evenings and weekends, colaborating with international researchers and finishing up odd jobs/paper drafts and reviews in my own time (and I am not paid for overtime either).

 

The big deal is that while you may find it acceptable, I do not. And there is a serious problem with this, particularly in the U.S. Employers seem to think they own their employees, and because we all need to earn a paycheck and put food on the table and a roof over our heads, then for some reason we're now expected to be tethered to work at all times b/c of Blackberries and iPhones and remote access e-mail.

 

It's unacceptable to me and highly unhealthy. It honestly saddens me that so many people either neglect their families or have so little outside their jobs that they don't mind working 24/7.

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