One always wants to make a good impression on their first day of work.
Something redditor 12312235243 did not seem to do on their first day working as a security guard.
Despite arriving right on time, they found themself chastised by their new manager, who was apparently of the “on time is late, early is on time” mind frame.
Surprised by her actions, the Original Poster (OP) took to the AITA (Am I the A**hole) subReddit, asking:
“AITA for coming into work ‘just on time’?”
The OP took readers through how their first day on the new job began.
“I work as a security guard. I was scheduled to start working at this new store today, starting from 10AM – which I guess is when the store opens.”
“I get there at exactly 10AM, and ask to place my belongings in the backroom.”
“I was in the room for a few minutes max, and then came back out to man the door.”
“However, in that time I guess many customers had already come in and one of the sales staff had to play security.”
The OP then informed readers his new manager was less than thrilled by the fact there were customers, but not security, when the store opened.
“On my lunch break, the manager of the store approached me and asked if next time I could come to a little bit earlier next time so that by the time I put all my belongings down I can be in front of the store at 10AM.”
A request that was apparently beyond the pale for the OP.
“I told her no, that if I’m rostered to start at 10AM then I will show up at 10AM, and that if they want me to come earlier then the store would have to arrange that with the security company.”
“I’m not getting paid to come earlier so I really don’t see why I’m required to.”
According to the OP, the manager did not take well to this response.
“She got huffy with me and said that the sales staff aren’t trained to be security, and with the popularity of the store every morning there will be people lining up waiting to go inside, and that I needed to be here earlier because of that.”
“She said that it really wasn’t hard to come a few minutes earlier, and that it wasn’t fair to come ‘just on time’.”
The OP clarified it wasn’t so much they weren’t able to come early, but just it wasn’t fair to be reprimanded for supposedly doing exactly what they were told.
“I know it’s not hard to come a little earlier, but I feel it’s more about the principle – if you want someone to come earlier then make that clear through the hours.”
“I told her such and she just sighed and walked away.”
“We didn’t talk for the rest of the day.”
Redditors were then asked to decide how the OP came out in this particular situation:
NTA – Not The A**hole
YTA – You’re The A**hole
NAH – No A**holes Here
ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
The majority of redditors were in agreement the OP was the a**hole in this particular situation.
The general consensus was 10am was when the OP should have been present and ready to work, not merely walking in the door.
“At EVERY job I have had, if you are scheduled to start work at 10 that means that at 10 on the dot you are on the floor available to work.”
“If you’re in the back putting away your belongings then you aren’t working. You weren’t working at 10, you started somewhere around 10:05. YTA” – Diznygurl
“YTA. In every job I’ve had the start time is when I’m expected to be ready to work…not walking in the door.”
“If your job is to man the front door and you are scheduled to be there at 10am, then I would expect you to be at the door at 10am.”- hadkins0617
“YTA. While you do indeed need to be paid for the hours you actually work, you need to be at your assigned station and ready to work at starting time.”
“If you have personal belongings to stow and that takes time, even if it’s just a few minutes, that’s on you.” – GrymDraig
“As far as I know if they say your shift starts at 10, you have to start to work at ten.”
“Putting your belongings somewhere else etc is not work time.”
“You can’t be there at point 10 and take your time to make some coffee etc too.”
“If you know that you will take 5 minutes to do things like that, you come earlier so that you can start your actual work when your shift starts.”
YTA” – Merlinia
There was at least one, however, who didn’t think the issue was as black and white as others seemed to believe, and felt more information was needed before making a decision on whether or not the OP was the a**hole in this particular situation.
“Info needed- what are the items and why are you putting them away?”
“Is putting your things in the back a required part of getting ready for work?”
“An easy example would be getting a gun or badge that has to stay on the job site.”
“Or changing into uniform as required.”
“Or if you’re required to leave your keys in a locker vs on your person.”
“This is called Wage Theft and there’s been many a class action suit filed over things exactly like this.”
“If you’re putting your things in back, like your gym bag or your Walkman, bc you don’t want to leave them in your car, then that’s doing personal business on company time.” – thoreauaaaweigh
There were also a few redditors who did not think the OP was the a**hole in this situation and the manager was taking advantage of their time by asking them to come in earlier than assigned.
“NTA, screw jobs that nickel and dime you like that for less than five minutes.”
“If they want you there at 10 to, they should schedule it that way.”
“Unpopular, but I truly do not care.”
“Don’t expect your job to be happy about it though, especially since they already pulled you aside to talk about it.”
“Pick your battle.” – snooki-stackhouse
“I’m amazed at how few people agree with you.”
“If I’m scheduled for 10am I arrive at 10am, I’m not getting paid to be there earlier and if it wasn’t for work I would be at home.”
“Clearly the security company should be scheduling an overlap for employees here seeing as the smallest thing (say an accident on the highway) could result in the store having no security.”
“My time is money, and I’m sacrificing my time for the job.” – NeekoPeeko
“This will be a highly unpopular opinion but NTA.”
“I used to be a security guard and was asked to come in 10m before the start of my shift to do info passdowns and get ‘prepped’/settled in for the day.”
“I asked if I would get comped for those daily 10m and was told no, so I didn’t come in early for 3 years and nothing came of it.”
“Clocking in and prep time are part of work hours and responsibilities.”
“I love how all the responses are saying yta, when I can guarantee that if someone times all of their daily activities while on the clock they would find they wasted company time.” – Real_Agent_7057
Indeed, it seems there is room for compromise on both the side of the OP and the manager.
One only hopes neither of them are too set in their ways to come to a satisfying agreement.