How to deal with arrogant coworker?

In My Humble Opinion
21

Is it that awful to be a few minutes early for work consistently? I always think (especially when I’m running late) that budgeting a half hour for unexpected delays would add immeasurably to my peace of mind.

I tell myself that marking students late for class consistently helps to train them for workplace promptness. When an “A” student gets a B because he or she was consistently late, it’s my way of reinforcing the fact on them that employers will regard promptness as the employee’s responsibility. Employers don’t care about WHY you were late just this one time–they want you there on time, all the time, no excuses, no questions asked, no "B-b-b-b-but THIS time, what happened was…"es.

Showing up is important. Showing up on time is important. Showing up on time consistently is important. Showing up up on time consistently without being told how to accomplish this is important.

Explanations are unimportant.

22

Yes, it’s unreasonable to ask someone to be at work 1/2 hour early and not pay them for it. I have a million things to do. That 1/2 hour is important to ME. It’s up to me to be ON TIME, not early. If the occasional, unavoidable situation causes me to be late a few times in a year, that’s the cost of doing business. But I’m certainly not going to give my employer 2.5 hours of my time every week without being compensated for it.

My husband’s company used to reward 100% on time performance with a $1500 bonus. I’ll come in early for THAT. But not just because my boss thinks it’s a good idea. You want me there? Pay me.

23

I think that’s a terrible idea. It’s basically rewarding people for doing the bare minimum for their job. Fortunately no one will ever have 100% on time performance.
That’s the difference between a professional with a career and a regular worker drone with a J-O-B jobby-job. A professional is doing what he CHOSE to do for a living. He spends extra time at the office so he can advance and succeed in his chosen profession. The clockpuncher spends his entire life miserable in unfullfilling jobs watching the seconds click by until 5:00pm.

24

If you pay a clockpuncher clock-punching wages, then you should expect to get clockpunching performance. That’s why salaried people usually have more responsibilities and higher expectations set for them than hourly employees.

If managers are worried about gaps between shifts, they should set the schedules so they overlap. This is what a wise manager does. A wise manager does not anticipate that his crew will go above and beyond the requirements day after day after day (especially when the boss doesn’t tell them to), and then set the schedules based on those expectations.

Now, people should call when they are late, and if they’re late they should be willing to cover that time by staying late. This is just common decency. And if a person is aiming to be promoted at a workplace, then they should probably go the extra mile now and again, just to show the higher-ups that they are motivated. But we’ve all worked jobs that we know are just waystops onto something better. I hated my job as a kennel attendent, one of the most back-breaking, stressful jobs that I’ve ever held. No way would I have shown up thirty minutes early for FREE, just so some higher-up sitting behind their comfy desk could be assured that the ship was running smoothly.

25

Woody Allen said something like, 90% of success is just showing up. He should have said showing up on time.

I’m the kind of guy who thinks that working till 6:00 means working till 6, not out the door at 6. Conversely, starting work at 8:30 – especially at a job when people are depending on you to start your job exactly at that time – means showing up early. And unless something is really extraordinary – flat tire, 5 car pileup, airplane crash, that sort of stuff – I don’t think “traffic made me late” is a very good excuse. (On a side note, I couldn’t sit at a traffic light for 15 minutes. After about 2, I’d make a right or a U-turn to get away from the light.) Coming in the attitude, oh, “no big deal,” I’m just late – that’s a really poor attitude. The coworker might be a jerk for other reasons, but based on the OP, I don’t think that coworker was out of line.

Finally, I think it sounds like a load of lazy baloney to suggest that if Worker A shows up at 8:15 for an 8:30 start time, then he’s owed 15 minutes of pay. Being at work is not the same as working.

26

Not sure that I’m willing to pay you, but I’m willing to pay your co-worker who’s there on time, every day, rain or shine. You can’t make it so punctually every day? Guess who gets the raise, the promotion, the great letter of recommendation, etc.

27

The OP said that she was expected to arrive 30 minutes early, not 15 minutes. And if if 15 minutes is a chump amount of time, then it’s also a chump amount of wage. So why be stingy about it?

It’s a load of cheap, disrespectful baloney to expect people to work without pay. Being required to show up equals work in my book. When I worked as a kennel attendant, you had to clock out every time you left the kennel…even if it was just to run to the store across the street to buy up a Coke. Fine, we were on the company’s time and they weren’t paying us to dick around at the drugstore. But by the same token, they didn’t expect us to hang around the kennel without clocking in. It was a fair working relationship.

People are also forgetting the way traffic works in many places. Here in Miami, traffic works in discrete shifts. If I leave home at 8:30, I sit through 30 minutes of traffic. But if I leave at 8:00, I’m guaranteed an hour-long commute.

That means if I want to get to work at 8:30, I must leave home at 7:30. I have to wake up an extra hour early and sit in horrible, stressful, road-rageful traffic under the hot, evil-ass sun. My whole morning is ruined just so I can squeeze in an extra thirty minutes of work.

I would tell my employer to kiss my ass if he told me I had to go through all that hassle and not even be paid for it. If that makes me lazy, then so be it.

28

Whoever’s the actual better work performer. But then, I’m a teacher: punctuality is really not as big a deal as attendance.

I am consistently able to get tasks done in 30-40 minutes what might take someone else an hour. Me, I have an awful time with punctuality (I ride public transit in Atlanta) but I too, am actually there, everyday, rain or shine, and I always work my butt off. There’s not a single employer who can claim I did not learn what I was trained to do, who in fact exceeded the training I was given, and executed tasks well, can deny my willingess to work late.

I hate being told how to manage my time. If I don’t need two 15-minute breaks and a half hour unpaid lunch, I hate being made to take them. If I skip breaks and lunch and want to take off an hour early to beat traffic, I should be able to. If I’m waaaaay above quota by lunchtime and feel like an extra ten minutes for lunch, get off my back, man. If I realize I can get more work done by skipping or delaying my break, please let me do so.

Actually – I did all that and more on my last temp job and got an “Exceptional” performance rating. And nobody in management ever said “boo” to me about walking in late or taking long lunches (It helps not to flaunt rule-breaking too blatantly.)

A foolish punctuality is the hobgoblin of people who don’t have much else to contribute.

29

Being late or taking a late break or a long lunch is not a problem if it doesn’t affect the people you work with. At the vet clinic I mentioned earlier, if the opening receptionist wasn’t there on time, that meant someone else had to greet the clients, pull up files, etc. The vet techs and kennel staff is not trained in doing that, and while the vet who owns the place does know how, his time is much more productively spent doing morning rounds.

So being late when it causes other people grief is a good way to get the rep as a pain in the butt to work with, and a not-so-glowing recommendation when someone calls when you’ve put in an application somewhere else. Anyplace I’ve worked, if you called a former employer and all they would do is verify dates of employment, it gave the impression that the applicant was someone to avoid.

30

I have to say, there is still no way I am going to show up a half-hour early for work. But then you guys don’t have my job so you don’t understand. Its Saturday. There are no appointments, just a few people picking up their pets, who won’t show up until 8:30 or later. The place is virtually deserted, so if I were there at 8, I would have absolutely nothing do and no one to talk to until 8:29 when I would get out my cashbox and log onto the computer, where I would sit and wait for a client. If there isn’t a client in the room, I have nothing else to do, so for me, being there 30 minutes before clients would show up is pointless.

And the traffic thing was an unusual occurance, how was I supposed to know that there was a graduation about to start? That it would take 10 minutes to drive 2 blocks? That I would not be my usual 5 or so minutes early?

You people clearly have more fulfilling jobs than me, or at least more to do, but that’s how my situation is.

My main problem was that what I do is none of this woman’s business, it is between me and my employer and Ms. Nosy wouldn’t even be in the same room as me if not for the remodeling. Even so she has no reason to be snotty with me every time I speak to her.

31

To the OP - ignore your co-worker, apologise to boss for lateness and explain

In general - I have had two jobs where we were required to be there 30 minutes early - nobody actually monitored though unless you were late starting shift.

One job - we had a briefing prior to shift start that was unpaid, I never really had a problem with it - mainly because we got around 2 hours of breaks in a 8 hour shift, and free food.

IF you are taking over from someone else it is incumbent upon you to be there EARLY - not on time.

32

I didn’t read all the replies, but we had a know it all employee a while back. The one who would jump into other peoples conversations, woud answer every question (even if she wasn’t asked), who would sing along with whatever was on the radio just to prove she knew the song (at least that’s how it came off). One day, she got people to give her movie quotes and she would tell you what movie it was from. She was doing pretty well so I gave her a classic “So what does it do? / It doesn’t do anything, that’s the beauty of it” line. Well, that knocked her down a peg and I felt pretty good.

33

Whatever the ‘chump’ amount of time or wage is, you’ll impress your employer by being on time every time. I severely doubt anyone’s going to care whether you get there one minute early or an hour early, though if you budget for one minute early there are definitely going to be times you’ll be a minute late, and often more than one minute. Do the math.

Yeah, work’s a bitch. But if you don’t want to get here on time consistently, I think I’ll be able to find someone who will.

It be.
The last person I fired (or had fired) was consistently late. My first day as her supervisor, in fact, we had a disturbing conversation on the subject. She had been working without a direct supervisor for a few months, and I understood that she’d been giving out (to her underlings) keys to the Center that she was supposed to be opening (and closing) every day.

ME: From now on, you’ll be doing all the opening and closing yourself.
SHE: That won’t work. Sometimes I’m late to work, so these people cover for me.
ME: How often are you late?
SHE: I don’t know.
ME: Make an estimate?
SHE: Uh, once, a month. [I knew it was more like twice a week]
ME: How late are you, once a month? Typically?
SHE: Uh, ten minutes. [Again, it was more like half an hour to forty five minutes]
ME: That’s acceptable. The Center can open ten minutes late one time per month.
SHE: Uh, but what if it’s more than that? Some months it’s more.
ME: How much more?
SHE: Uh, I don’t know.
ME: If you’re more than ten minutes late, you can call me and I’ll open the Center.
SHE: I don’t want to bother you.
ME: No bother. Just part of my job. And I’ll need all copies of your keys to the Center.
SHE: I’m not sure if I can locate all of the copies.
ME: You’re not? This is a security issue.
SHE: No, no security issue. It’s just that some people I’ve lent them to have been on vacation, etc.
ME: Have all the copies you can locate on my desk tomorrow, and let me know if any are still outstanding.

I then arranged to have the locks changed, and I issued her a new set of (unduplicable) keys the next morning. The relationship deteriorated from this point–she was bubbling with resentment at not being allowed to report to work whenever she pleased–but that was only to be expected from someone with her shitty attitude.

34

See…I AM there on time, rain or shine. Every day. Just not working for free. In my experience, any boss that puts that ridiculous demand on an employee is offering nothing more than a McJob anyway. Your best raise will come from LEAVING the company for greener pastures.

35

My husband was there every single day, on time, for the entire time they offered the bonus. I believe it was something like 7 years. He was the only employee who got the bonus every year.

36

Professionals don’t punch clocks, generally. And they’re compensated at a higher rate, which makes coming in EARLY as opposed to ON TIME for a shitty job well worth the extra effort.

37

Being EXPECTED to show up 15 minutes early IS the same as working. If they expect it, it’s your start time, and you should be compensated.

38

I’m confused. Say you have to be at work at 0830. Then you’re told you have to be ready to start your shift at 0800. Surely that means that, in reality, you really need to make sure you’re there by 0745, in case of traffic, etc which might mean you miss the 0800 start. All that is happening is that your start time is going earlier and earlier with no compensation.

Part of being a good member of the team is being on time - I’d like to think you can trust adults to be ready at 0830 if that’s when the shift starts. If they’re constantly late, and it causes a problem, then you manage the situation by either overlapping shifts or using disciplinary procedures.

To be clear then, I add my weight to the ‘pay people for the hours you want them there’ brigade. It’s their responsibility to be on time, and clear consequences for consistent lateness can follow…

39

I think there are a lot of (deliberate?) misunderstandings of what it means to be “on time” for work here. If your start time is 8:30 and they’re casual about what 8:30 means, i.e., you can stroll in at 8:40 most days and it’s cool, then by all means get there whenever. But if the condition of hiring is “8:30, and that means ready to go every day, rain or shine, at 8:30 sharp,” then you’re required to be either
a) very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very lucky (in which case you should quit and go to Vegas) or

b) at work some comfortable margin before 8:30, just in case of mishaps such as happen to everyone once or twice a week.

Generally, these suggestions that you report by 8 or 8:15 are just that: suggestions of a reasonable margin of error. If you’re there fifteen minutes early every day (and you can use the time to get coffee, or use the bathroom, or make a personal call, or read the paper), then you’ll get some slack on that disastrous day you get stuck in an unprecedented traffic jam that makes you fifteen minutes late.

But if you’re there at 8:29 on your good days, it will be perceived (correctly) that you value every second of your personal time FAR more than you value getting to work on time, and most workplaces will assess this as “clock-watching,” “unmotivated,” “lazy,” etc and generally correctly. Basically, what you’re saying is “If God drops everything else on his plate to make sure that I get all the traffic lights, avoid all the pileups on the freeway, all closed off exit ramps due to construction, etc, then I’ll get into work exactly on time.” Most employers regard this as planning to be late every so often.

40

We’re not talking about being late, planning on being late or being lazy. We’re talking about the time your boss expects you to be at work. If he expects you at 8:00, he should pay you from 8:00. The arbitrary “cushion that keeps you from being late” is your responsibility and you do what you need to do to get there at your start time. If you arrive at 8:29 every day and begin working at 8:30, you’ve fulfilled your end of the agreement.

And you’re damn right I value my personal time more than my boss’s control-freak-illegal-practice of demanding I show up early to work and then not compensate me for it. I work so I can have a personal life that is satisfying. I don’t work because I want to suck up to the boss. In the 35 years I’ve been working, I’ve never been accused of being lazy because I show up to work on time. I’ve also never been accused of being stupid for working for free.