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Recently I joined a new workplace and being the type of business they are, every hour should be logged. I am new to the process of logging time.

I have come under the spotlight for not making 7 hours daily and the reasons for that are:

  1. I am pre-diabetic, which means I have to go to the toilet more often than normal.
  2. Also, the person who locks the office closes the office 30-45 mins before the standard time to catch train.

While my acting manager (manager is gone on parenting leave) knows I am pre-diabetic but there is a panic point where he stresses that hours should be 7 and not less and now it has gained the attention of the Team Lead who is also my technical PM.

How can I convey that I am not logging going to loo (toilet time) and the office is randomly closed between 30-45 mins before without sounding like a rant?

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    Again, please clarify... if you come in at lets say 9:00 and stay until 16:00, is that possible for you, or is any other person stopping you from doing it? Bathroom breaks are one thing, but actually not being there is certainly a problem anywhere in the world. Why can't you just stay at work 7 hours a day?
    – nvoigt ♦
    Feb 28, 2022 at 13:54
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    Yes. But why? Can you explain why you don't just work longer than 6 hours? Anybody who works "very rarely their contracted hours" would get into trouble. I don't see what being pre-diabetic has to do with leaving early. So again... why? Why are you not working 7 hours a day as expected?
    – nvoigt ♦
    Feb 28, 2022 at 14:05
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    ok wait the office is only open 6.5 hrs a day and you're in trouble for not working 7? Forget the toilet. It sounds like you're not in trouble for not working 7 hours, but for not logging 7 hours. How does everyone else achieve this given there are only 6.5 hours possible to work?
    – Kate Gregory
    Feb 28, 2022 at 14:13
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    Just to add to @nvoigt's answer: where I am bathroom breaks count towards working time. Maybe you don't need to exclude them.
    – elena
    Feb 28, 2022 at 16:34
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    Can you edit your answer to clarify 1) who knows the office isn't open for 7 hours, 2) who thinks it's open at least 7 hours, and 3) why the people in group 2 don't know the office is closing early? Please use names or titles; it's unclear who "he" is in your first comment on the answer when you say "he admitted wrongly".
    – BSMP
    Mar 1, 2022 at 19:34

2 Answers 2

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You phrase it as a question.

Go to your acting manager and tell them

For a week now I have started as early as the office gets opened and worked until the minute it gets closed up. Yet, I have not managed to work for 7 hours a day. You said you are unhappy with my hours, but I am not sure what I'm doing wrong. Do you have any suggestions for me on how to improve?

Just completely ignore any bathroom problems. That is not the point here. You would not be able to work 7 hours straight even if you wore diapers and you would not be able to work longer hours to make up for longer bathroom breaks, even if that were necessary. Which I highly doubt if you live in a civilized country.

Concentrate on the most pressing issue: there is no way to be physically present 7 hours a day for you. Who knows, maybe the solution is to get your own key. Or maybe someone else needs to lock the office down if the person needs to catch a train. Or maybe they open sooner. Or maybe the acting manager doesn't want to rock the boat and tells you to just forget about the hours. But one way or another, the acting manager needs to be part of the solution. They need to say what changes are to be made.

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  • He wrongly admitted that the office is open 1 hour before when I ask the key holder, they told me something else. Now the problem is the tech lead who is also my development manager knows about it too and I can't prove it, and I got 1 month left in my probation ending and I do not want to get fired coz of this issue and another issue which was wrongly admitted by him (again I do not have proof)
    – localhost
    Mar 1, 2022 at 9:05
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    What do you mean you don't have proof? Where you there at 8:59 and it was closed... or not? Did they shoo you out early, or not? What happens if you just say "sorry, I cannot go, I still have to work?" when the person wants to close up early? Does everybody else in that company lie?
    – nvoigt ♦
    Mar 1, 2022 at 9:30
  • Not sure if ur making the joke or being serious. People don't have to log time, only dev does. yes it was closed. Everyone leaves when the person who has to lock has to leave, other prople logging of time isn't important as dev.
    – localhost
    Mar 1, 2022 at 11:08
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    Okay... I mean... what did your manager say when you told them you are there from opening of the office doors to closing and you cannot make 7 hours? Did the guy opening up and the guy closing down lie about it?
    – nvoigt ♦
    Mar 1, 2022 at 11:29
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    @localhost So you're the only dev/employee who has to log their time? And is everyone else also lying to cover up that the office is closing early?
    – BSMP
    Mar 1, 2022 at 19:28
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There are two issues you have to take care of.

  1. Read your contract and the laws of your country to ensure that toilet time is not considered working time. In many places it is. I wouldn't ask in your company. If you can't find it out yourself, ask a workers union, a lawyer or whatever else is available in your country.

  2. Get proof that the office isn't open long enough and communicate it. You said your colleague with the key lied to the manager.

so:

Tomorrow you will be there at exactly the time your colleague said the office is open. If it isn't open, take a picture. Wait directly there until your colleague arrives and opens the office, if possible also take a picture.

As soon as you are at your desk, you send an email to your team lead and your acting manager (and your personal email in BCC). "Hello Bosses, I was at the office today at [time] where it should open. Unfortunately, it wasn't unlocked by [coworker] until [time]. As you know, the office usually is locked at [time] again, so it isn't possible for me to work seven hours today. Please advise me what to to."

If your colleague asks you to leave, before leaving you send an email to your team lead and the acting manager (and your personal email in BCC). "Hello Bosses, [coworker] is right now asking me to leave because they will close the office! As I informed you in the morning, the office was only opened at [time]. You see, that it is not possible for me to work seven hours under this circumstances. Please tell me how the company will provide the means to work the contracted seven hours to me."

The day after tomorrow, you do the same. And the day after. Until they provide a solution. And if they tell you how to handle the situation, you request to have this in writing. Until you have that in writing, you continue to inform them that you are not able to work seven hours because of circumstances not in your control each day in writing.

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