Coming into the office early and leaving early [duplicate]

Question

It was brought to my attention (from part of my boss) that my coworkers have told him that they've noticed I've been leaving 10 minutes early. I leave early because I have an hour commute to work - if I leave later than five it tacks on 30 minutes to my commute.

He talked to me about this and I told him that I come in early to makeup for missed time. Last week I showed up at 8AM when most people in the office show up at 9AM or well past 9AM. He told me that it doesn't effect his perception of me and that I just have to worry about the other coworkers that see this and have this idea that I'm lazy.

I don't know what to do from here. Do I ignore my coworkers and keep doing my own thing? I'm not lying to my boss about the hours that I work so why should it even matter what they think?

Note: The majority of the people in my office live close to or in the city I work in so they have really no commute.

We do also have a chat program software for 1-1 chatting which makes it especially easy for office gossip and talking badly about other colleagues.

Answer 1

Do I ignore my coworkers and keep doing my own thing?

Instead of ignoring them try explaining your situation to them. Make them notice that you come a considerable amount of time earlier and that your commute takes a long time to arrive your destination. Communication is the key in many aspects of teamwork.

That being said, if they continue to pick you on the subject I suggest you approach your boss again and tell him/her that this situation continues to be a problem. Do have in mind that you are the one actually working all your due hours (even more) and that is what matters.

Also remember, if the coworkers that pick you on this are also the ones arriving "past 9" then they are actually the ones not fulfilling their working hours. In case you decide to use that evidence in your favor do make it in a polite and respectful way; remember that:

An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind - Mahatma Gandhi

Answer 2

Once or twice a week, just send an email when you arrive into the office with some issue/idea you're working on.

It can even be about work you fixed the day before - anything, really. The important thing is to send the email out with the 8:07am timestamp. If you're slow at emails, just draft it the day before and have it ready to send in.

There you are - instant proof to your co-workers about when you arrive. Do this a over the course of a month or two and people will stop complaining.

Answer 3

IMO, there are two aspects to this:

1. You don't care about what your co-workers think since your boss knows the situation.
2. You do care what your co-workers think because you don't want to be "that person" in the office.

It seems to me that the best situation is that you ask your manager to explain your situation next time someone brings it up to him. Something like:

Oh Samanthalynn lives an hour away and sometimes it takes 1.5 hours to get home

Of course, you could try and see which co-workers think you are lazy and just communicate with them.

Answer 4

You need to develop a better relationship with your coworkers. Someone went to your boss to tell him you leave 10 minutes early? That is a bad sign. I suggest talking to everyone and let them know if they think you're doing something wrong, you would like them to give you the feedback before telling the boss. Let them know you will do the same.

This whole situation may have been avoided. You could have let them know you have permission to shift your hours.

It's a shame you work with spineless cowards, so you need to take precautions. Why don't they just install a time clock if they're that worried about it. Working this out with your boss was the right thing to do. As long as your boss informs you when someone tells on you, you have a chance to defend yourself. A good boss should do a better job of asking coworkers to communicate with one another and not run to the boss with petty differences. Not putting in enough time is borderline.