Archived How do they keep getting away with it? (Leaving early)

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JustJoe

"Can you go to 3, please?" *Turns off walkie*
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So we have a Fitting Room/Operator who is our primary opener. She is scheduled 7:30-3:30. I was scheduled to relieve her last night (I worked 3:30-11:30). As I'm walking towards the entrance (at 3:28) I see her walking out the door with a shopping cart. She does this all the time by saying she didn't have anyone to cover her last 15. I've heard that she has been "talked to" about this on several occasions yet she continues to do it. I've also heard rumors of her punch correcting to make it look like she leaves at 3:30.

I know that what she does is of little consequence to me, but it just irks me when people keep getting away with things.
 
Let's assume there is no one to cover her last 15 minute break.

The problem isn't that she is leaving early, the problem is that no one is taking responsibility to make sure there is coverage when she is due for a break. Her leaving early is just a symptom of the problem. Surely when she was "talked to," did this not come up?

If she is lying about it, that is a different story.

I know lots of people who put off their second 15 until the very end and then just go sit in the breakroom. Oh wait, we aren't supposed to do that though according to the TM manual. Well then, make sure people are taking their breaks when they are due for them.
 
We had several team members who weren't taking their 15's and the combining them at the end of the day, sit in the breakroom for a half hour, then leave.

A new STL cracked down on that hard.

Unless someone cares enough to really do something about it, she's going to keep getting away with it.
 
The issue isn't that there isn't coverage for her breaks, it is that she doesn't call them. Yesterday there was a perfectly qualified TM working 11-7. She was at the fitting room waiting for me at 3:30.

When I work on the sales floor, I always make sure that fitting room gets their breaks and lunches. Whether I cover or make sure someone is there. It's part of what I learned from being a union steward for another company. Compliance is key.
 
This reminds me of the young lady that I relieve. Every day she comes up to clerical 10 minutes before her shift is over. "Oh the backroom must be spotless", I say.
 
While it sounds like she is doing this on purpose, leadership or AP may or may not be working on building a case through observing her clock out times, her compliance to her schedule, her using her resources to have her breaks covered, etc.

While it may seem like someone is "getting away" with wrong doing for a long period of time, that is sometimes due to the necessary documentations not being taken when they need to be.
 
So we have a Fitting Room/Operator who is our primary opener. She is scheduled 7:30-3:30. I was scheduled to relieve her last night (I worked 3:30-11:30). As I'm walking towards the entrance (at 3:28) I see her walking out the door with a shopping cart. She does this all the time by saying she didn't have anyone to cover her last 15. I've heard that she has been "talked to" about this on several occasions yet she continues to do it. I've also heard rumors of her punch correcting to make it look like she leaves at 3:30.

I know that what she does is of little consequence to me, but it just irks me when people keep getting away with things.
First off, don't go by rumors. Go by what you witness yourself.

If this TM is using Punch corrections instead of the clock or wanting punches changed, then they are already leaving a paper trail. HR and then TMs get dinged on every punch correction that is filed. The punch corrections should only be used if the time clock is down, in error, or a mispunch. But somehow the corrections has to be approved. If a TM is constantly putting in punch corrections usually its a BIG red flag.

If she is working shifts with a missed break, and clocks out 15 minutes early (instead of their break) with a punch correction asking to edit the punch to her actual end of shift time, and all this happens on a constant basis, the paper trail is going to get her. But it might be an arrangement that she was given because of missing coverage.

So why get involved.
 
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I think this all comes down to a case of, you can only do your own job and only while you're clocked in. You say you make sure she gets her breaks and lunches when you're scheduled at the same time as her. Great! Keep doing that and don't let yourself get wound up about what other people let her do.
 
I think this all comes down to a case of, you can only do your own job and only while you're clocked in. You say you make sure she gets her breaks and lunches when you're scheduled at the same time as her. Great! Keep doing that and don't let yourself get wound up about what other people let her do.

It's just one of those things that I notice and it bugs me. There is always someone (worst case scenario a non-LODing ETL) available to cover her at around 1:30 (when she should take her last 15). God forbid I say that nobody can cover my last 15 and I walk out the door at 11:15pm (closers leave at 11:30 in my store).

They are starting to cut back her hours, which is convenient for me since I'm getting those hours. Now, if I could just get my ETL to follow my availability...
 
I rarely get my 15s (and believe me, it ticks me off a bit) and don't leave early or come in late. I don't think that would go over too well. ;P
 
A fellow team member of mine does it all the time. She leaves an hour early all the time, when the TL or ETLs confront her she says "Oh I thought my shift ended at ______" or "I had an appointment" meanwhile she tells TMs she's going home because she doesn't want to work.
 
A fellow team member of mine does it all the time. She leaves an hour early all the time, when the TL or ETLs confront her she says "Oh I thought my shift ended at ______" or "I had an appointment" meanwhile she tells TMs she's going home because she doesn't want to work.
And they're probably glad because it trims a little bit off payroll.
 
im the type of person that believes people should take action. if she wants her break she should call out and get someone to cover. however as a team lead I make sure I have it all planned out. We fill out a daily break schedule grid, post it in electronics and I make notes at the bottom for instance who is covering electronic breaks if there isn't double coverage, etc. my team had this bad habit of punching in 5 minutes early and working 5 minutes over every day so on Friday they could leave early. I put the ax to that very quickly. drives me crazy when people complain about not gettig their break but they dont ever voice it to the people that are there.
 
Well Slaphappy, let's assume you work 40 a week and get two 15's a day. If you don't take them, you are working 2.5 hours a week free. Let's also say you make 9 an hour. That is $22.50 before taxes a week. That is $1,170 per year are working for free.

You get paid for 15s though, so you're not working for free. I don't always take my 15 on days where my shift is juust long enough to get a second one. Anyone who's working in a workcenter where they'd need coverage and they want a 15 should ask for coverage over the walkie, though.

On leaving early, I thought we could clock in/out 5 minutes before or after the scheduled time without anything coming up saying we were late, or left early? Maybe I just misinterpreted that. I've only clocked out early once because my ETL scheduled me to work until 15 minutes after close when I'm not ever available then because I take the bus. I expected to get in trouble for it, but I didn't.
 
On leaving early, I thought we could clock in/out 5 minutes before or after the scheduled time without anything coming up saying we were late, or left early? Maybe I just misinterpreted that. I've only clocked out early once because my ETL scheduled me to work until 15 minutes after close when I'm not ever available then because I take the bus. I expected to get in trouble for it, but I didn't.

It is true that you have a 5-minute grace period for punching in/out without being declared late/leaving early. However, if you punch in early, it still counts toward your total hours worked. If you worked 5 days a week for 40 hours, punching in 5 minutes early all 5 days would give you 25 minutes of overtime (assuming you punch out on time). Hence, you would have to leave 25 minutes early on the last day or else get coached for going into overtime.
 
On leaving early, I thought we could clock in/out 5 minutes before or after the scheduled time without anything coming up saying we were late, or left early? Maybe I just misinterpreted that. I've only clocked out early once because my ETL scheduled me to work until 15 minutes after close when I'm not ever available then because I take the bus. I expected to get in trouble for it, but I didn't.

It is true that you have a 5-minute grace period for punching in/out without being declared late/leaving early. However, if you punch in early, it still counts toward your total hours worked. If you worked 5 days a week for 40 hours, punching in 5 minutes early all 5 days would give you 25 minutes of overtime (assuming you punch out on time). Hence, you would have to leave 25 minutes early on the last day or else get coached for going into overtime.

Won't lunches remove 2.5 hours from the 40 total? You actually only get paid for 37.5 hours when you're scheduled for 40, because that's how long you're clocked in. Am I not correct? But yes, you get paid for every minute you're clocked in. That seems to be what your point was.
 
On leaving early, I thought we could clock in/out 5 minutes before or after the scheduled time without anything coming up saying we were late, or left early? Maybe I just misinterpreted that. I've only clocked out early once because my ETL scheduled me to work until 15 minutes after close when I'm not ever available then because I take the bus. I expected to get in trouble for it, but I didn't.

It is true that you have a 5-minute grace period for punching in/out without being declared late/leaving early. However, if you punch in early, it still counts toward your total hours worked. If you worked 5 days a week for 40 hours, punching in 5 minutes early all 5 days would give you 25 minutes of overtime (assuming you punch out on time). Hence, you would have to leave 25 minutes early on the last day or else get coached for going into overtime.

Won't lunches remove 2.5 hours from the 40 total? You actually only get paid for 37.5 hours when you're scheduled for 40, because that's how long you're clocked in. Am I not correct? But yes, you get paid for every minute you're clocked in. That seems to be what your point was.

im normally scheduled 42.5 hours a week ending up at 40 with lunches taken out.
 
Won't lunches remove 2.5 hours from the 40 total? You actually only get paid for 37.5 hours when you're scheduled for 40, because that's how long you're clocked in. Am I not correct? But yes, you get paid for every minute you're clocked in. That seems to be what your point was.

If you're working 8-hour shifts, they would actually be 8.50 hours long if you include your unpaid lunch (or 8.75 hours in NY, where lunches are 45 minutes long). If, for example, you're a pricing TM who works every weekday (and no weekends) for 40 hours total, each day's shift would be 6-2:30 (or 6-2:45). If you count that out, it's 8.50 (8.75) hours, but you're scheduled so that you're working for 8 hours outside of your unpaid lunch.

When the schedule is made, shifts that are long enough to require a lunch should have the lunch period subtracted from the total hours. I'm not sure if this happens automatically or if it has to be keyed manually. Any HR folks care to weigh in?
 
Our schedules are always posted with the hours reflecting our time after lunches have been subtracted, so I assumed it was automatic.
 
Unless you're working more than one workcenter. Unless the majority of hrs in one allow for a lunch break, MAX won't add a lunch. It has to be added.
One of our COTMs was going to SL after she finished in cash office but wasn't scheduled a lunch so it showed that she was over on her hrs.
 
If you're working 8-hour shifts, they would actually be 8.50 hours long if you include your unpaid lunch (or 8.75 hours in NY, where lunches are 45 minutes long). If, for example, you're a pricing TM who works every weekday (and no weekends) for 40 hours total, each day's shift would be 6-2:30 (or 6-2:45). If you count that out, it's 8.50 (8.75) hours, but you're scheduled so that you're working for 8 hours outside of your unpaid lunch.

When the schedule is made, shifts that are long enough to require a lunch should have the lunch period subtracted from the total hours. I'm not sure if this happens automatically or if it has to be keyed manually. Any HR folks care to weigh in?

I'll have a look at my schedule and add up hours to see if it is subtracted. I'm glad I asked that question!
 
I always hated that about my schedule.
The HR ETL kept telling me I was being scheduled for 40 hours when that was clearly BS since my breaks were coming out of that.
It says right there on the schedule 37.5 for frelling out loud.
 
Yeah, that happens to me all the time. For example, I am scheduled 38 hours this week. But no lunches. So, I am actually on the clock only 35.5 hours. I tried tried tried to get this problem fixed. I usually end up staying late at least two days anyway.
 
Interesting. Our schedule shows our hours with the breaks taken out. I have 40 hrs this week, each shift is technically 8.5 hours. So half hour comes out for lunch, leaving me with 8 paid hours each day. As usual, every store is different.
 
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