Imagine a group of your peers and superiors standing in the elevator bank en route to a meeting at 3:30 and then you emerge from the emergency exit door…which is on the other side of the building, far away from your office…with your coat and bag sneaking out (bc everyone knows you rarely arrive before 10 or 10:30).

Everyone in the group politely says hello then hops on the elevator going up to the meeting while you slouch your shoulders and jump on the next elevator heading downstairs so you can leave.

What you didn’t know is the group heading to the meeting made a few comments about your sneaking out.

Feel any shame?

My tip is that using an emergency exit to sneak out never looks good. It has nothing to do with punctuality or face-time. Everyone arrives/leaves early/late sometimes. But a professional held in high regard uses the main door and says goodbye to the receptionist…even if you leave at 3:30. No questions asked, no eyebrows raised.

PS - I’ve had several higher ups make comments to me about others recently. “I haven’t seen Peter in weeks. Is he still coming in? Working core hours?” A smart person would make a point of walking past the boss’ office and where the higher-ups work even if just to wave in passing. Trust me: it’s very easy to be labeled lazy or invisible…even if it isn’t true…if certain people simply haven’t seen you in a while. You aren’t doing yourself any favors by sneaking around and laying low…regardless of your work product. When higher-ups cut or reorg, the invisible people won’t be protected by their supervisor…and everyone will remember anyone they see using the side door.

Anonymous wrote:Go say good morning to these people. Oh did you just get in? Was there lots of traffic? It was clear when I got here at 8:30. Leave notes on the door with time, sorry I missed you come see me when you get in. Sure you could send an email, but nobody else would see that.

Get a life!

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand your resentment here.

If they're doing the work, why wouldn't they have some flexibility?

Are you their boss? If not, it's not your place to harass them like the first PP suggested, and create an unnecessarily hostile and stressful workplace. Everyone's going to hate you.

Punctuality is way overrated in white collar jobs. A lot of people who are always "on time" then proceed to spend a full hour getting coffee, hanging around talking to colleagues, and browsing the internet before working. There is no value add to them being in the office before me, unless you value chatting with a colleague about weekend plans, which I don't. I'd rather get in at 10am and get right to work, then get in at 8:30 and fart around doing nothing for 90 minutes.

If someone is getting work done, meeting deadlines, doing good work, collaborating as necessary, going to meetings when they are supposed to, etc., I cannot imagine caring if they showed up at 8 or 9 or 10am.

Leaving early doesn't bother me either unless it impact work product. Especially if your work allows WFH. Let your colleagues cut out early to beat traffic, pick up kids, get a workout in before dinner, etc. They likely log on later to answer emails and wrap up any lingering work. Who cares? These are adults.

I use the back exit because it's the closest to my office. I also don't like people talking to me as soon as I get in in the morning. I try to avoid the head boss seeing me leave bc he's a bit of a pyschco who thinks leaving at 5 is "early" and will make annoying comments about it (regardless of how many hours we actually log).

I think OP is more irritated that they are trying to be sneaky which is silly. I just own it. I choose my own hours.

Add an alarm to the emergency exit.

I used to do this at a particularly toxic work place. Not because I was coming in late or leaving early, but because everyone was waiting to jump on me as soon as I came in. Using the emergency exit is a rookie move. I was an expert at moving through my workplace unseen when I wanted, i.e. knowing what corridors had higher cubical walls where the top of my head wasn't visible.
Fun times.

I have to believe people like you are sitting at your desk staring at the clock, and filling your time with things like this, because your boss is a micromanager and you are paralyzed by it.

Go for a walk

I do this.
I don't have set working hours. I start working when I clock in. I have saved the company a lot of money by not showing up when it's not busy.
I do ask usually if I'm fired for being late, but so far so good going on year 10.
I don't really need to work and they lucky I show up.

I don't care at all. Is their work getting done? My very best employee gets in at 10:30 and does 2x as much work as everyone else. I have a bad employee who is on at 7am and I'm not sure what he does all day. Focus on work product.

I work my correct hours, but I'm also often working at night too.

Anonymous wrote:I try…bc if Lumbergh sees me, I just know he’s gonna make me come in on Saturday……

Same. I usually come in the side door and just sit at my desk and “space out” for the first hour.

I try…bc if Lumbergh sees me, I just know he’s gonna make me come in on Saturday……

I don't understand your resentment here.

If they're doing the work, why wouldn't they have some flexibility?

Are you their boss? If not, it's not your place to harass them like the first PP suggested, and create an unnecessarily hostile and stressful workplace. Everyone's going to hate you.

Hours are flexible here, but I do this sometimes to avoid getting pounced on by the earlier birds as soon as I walk in the door.

Go say good morning to these people. Oh did you just get in? Was there lots of traffic? It was clear when I got here at 8:30. Leave notes on the door with time, sorry I missed you come see me when you get in. Sure you could send an email, but nobody else would see that.

I’ve recently noticed a lot of colleagues sneak in or out…presumably to avoid being seen arriving late/leaving early. Most use an emergency exit door rather than the primary entrance.

I’m sure everyone will say myob.

I’m more interested in hearing:

Do you do this?

Do your colleagues?

Why???

And, who do you think you are fooling? If I’m there at 9 or 10 and the entire hallway is dark, then I know nobody else has arrived yet. Ditto if it’s a ghost town at 3.

Is it just to avoid feeling guilty if you walk past others on your way in/out?

Any weirdness when you walk out the emergency exit and run into colleagues who are still working in the elevator bank?