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I think some of the people here pretend to be perfect when they aren't. I don't know anyone who hasn't been 2 minutes late for anything in their life. I agree that being late in the first few weeks on a job is not good, but I think firing someone for 2 minutes is a bit excessive.
I'm wondering if you were slow learning the job, so they were looking for an excuse to get rid of you. They probably didn't want to fire you for being slow, since they might have feared a lawsuit or issue with your state labor department. You being late was a good excuse.
That said, I would make an effort to be on time at your next job. Early, if possible.
No one is perfect, but many of us do know how to follow the rules. You don't know me, because as of today I have NEVER been late one single time in my work career (almost 20 years working). This was the first thing I was taught when I started my first job working for my father at 13 in the summer. You never show up late. Drag yourself to work however you have to, but do NOT be late.
It's the job of the supervisor to work to save all employees on their team because it's unfair to the employee, bad management and fiscally unsound to do otherwise. And by saving them, I mean working with them one-on-one to address issues and help them get where they need to be.
It sounds like your supervisor was either a wimp and didn't want to have a discussion with you, or had an end goal of simply getting rid of you without giving you an opportunity to change. Either way, that's an incompetent manager, in my opinion.
I just felt that they were unorganized at the last job. Never training me (though the supervisor was nice enough to say I was technically proficient, before firing me) should have told me to find somewhere else to work... but it was a job and location that I really wanted. In the military, I was being bullied around.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MPowering1
I meant to add something about this. While people are not mind readers, a good bit of what you're talking about is common sense and something everyone should be learning from their parents when they get their first job.
They don't know if they took too long to have a smoke break? Or that they cannot just get up and leave their job to do something outside the office without getting permission from their supervisor? However did they manage to get through school not understanding simple things like this? Surely they didn't get through by taking longer lunch periods or leaving class to exit the building and do something else.
If your job duties include leaving the office several times a day (like mine did), then a supervisor should define the conditions of your job duties, so an employee knows the difference between a minor incident and a major one.
Common sense... funny that you're comparing work to childhood and life as a minor, because kids aren't even raised the same as they were 10-30 years ago. Parents get in trouble with the law if their kids are found outside by themselves.
I've worked unconventional jobs, unconventional work hours (one day my work hours would be 12am-8am, the next day would be 11am-7pm), in foreign cultures. Some work environments want everything done exactly in order, according to the manager's schedule, which is subject to change. Others don't care about point A to point B, as long as everything is completed by the deadline 100% of the time, with no excuses. Instead of assuming that every job environment is the same, that I know what you're thinking, and your idea of common sense is a perfect match with mine... just setting the boundaries would keep disputes and conflicts to a minimum. That's why I insist on email correspondence and documentation, instead of being tasked with a job verbally.
You were late. Period. Doesn't matter if it's 1 minute, 5 minutes, or 20 minutes. You are on probation when you start a job. You were late multiple times. Be happy I'm not your boss. If you're late during your probation period with me, you're fired. If you're late by 1 minute, you're fired. Why? You can't be bothered to do what you're supposed to and that is to show up on time and be prepared to work. There are plenty of people who show up on time or early to work.
Hopefully you're exaggerating.
If not, that is insane. I agree it's important to be on time (and even that depends, since there are jobs where it really doesn't matter when you clock in, as long as you get the work done), but being this anal about it crosses over into foolish territory.
It takes a lot of time, energy and resources to recruit, hire, onboard, and especially train someone.
You really want to go through all of that all over again just because someone walked in 60 seconds after 8:00am?
It'll take a lot longer than 60 seconds to go through the hiring ordeal all over again, you can be sure of that.
Unless there's a life or a critical deadline every 8:00am where the world will end if the employee isn't present right that second, such a draconian policy is an egregious waste of your company's resources.
And if it is mission-critical, the role is probably something that's difficult to find a qualified replacement for.
I could see if someone was habitually late, especially more than 10 minutes late, or if they had other issues, but the policy you described sounds like someone power-tripping just because they can.
EDIT: I could see call center or retail stores/customer service employers having this policy though. They have to be available to customers at a certain time, and are relatively expendable. But other than that, the above still stands.
Last edited by ohhwanderlust; 05-06-2015 at 07:27 PM..
Count your blessings. Look for a job where they care more about you getting your work done properly than whether the clock reads 8:00 or 8:10 when you start.
Not once in my career or my wife's have we ever had employers who just told us we were lucky to have a job.
It they haven't, you've been luckier than a lot of us then. It's usually the low paying jobs where this has become the normal attitude towards "associates". I no longer have a job like that, I enjoy my current job, but I have had them in the past.
Count your blessings. Look for a job where they care more about you getting your work done properly than whether the clock reads 8:00 or 8:10 when you start.
But it's often a matter of self-discipline. If everyone else has to be there at a certain time, why should one employee decide that being prompt doesn't apply to them?
As someone who sometimes has to let people go, attendance and punctuality are the reasons most often given.
It is easy to document when a person is at work (or not).
It is not easy to document someone's bad attitude, negative personality, inability to work with others, aloof or haughty demeanor, or sloppy presence.
When we have an employee who is exhibiting some of the traits above, it is a welcome relief when they are also tardy. So much easier to get rid of them for "being late". Then we don't have to worry about an HR nightmare or possible litigation.
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