Im working as a xxxxx executive in a company with a boss which treats me well, gives me a good Acer LCD PC, own cubicle, reasonable pay etc. I usually stay back after working hour of 5.15pm, finish up work. Usually after 6, will go to boss office have a smoke and he will teach me some stuff about the trade as well. So I usually leave office at 7 or 8.

Yesterday was Friday, I was abit fed up wif the political storm brewing in the office, and since I finished my work, i didnt feel like staying back watching my boss scold other ppl, so I just left at 5.30 (work ends at 5).

At 9pm, the boss suddenly calls me up and told me tat he actually had something for me to go through. He didnt scold or anything, just asked me. But I felt abit bad. It became worse wen I went to times square at 10 and saw many young guys still in working clothes!

Wat I wanna ask is:
a) Wat time do you fresh grads leave office?
b)Is there any obligation for me to stay after 5?
c) Wat wud u do in my situation?

thanks

for me it's pretty simple...got work to do i'll stay back...if nothing to do i'll just sit for another half an hour n then go off....wat i think is tat u dun have any obligation to stay after 5 provided nothing to do larr....as for me olso doing the same....i mean in our appointment there clearly states our rightful working hours....staying back after working hours is purely on voluntarily n cannot be force 1...

just my 2 cents

But my clerk always leave on time (5 sumthing)... How do u explain tat? Everytime after 5.30, if i need some filing or some photocopy, i turn my head and wtf... i see my clerk vanish loo...

So u mean this applies only to higher position ppl and ppl such as clerks and officers can juz leave on time?

consider urself lucky lar 8 / 9 pm can go back. have u tried staying 3 days straight in office rushing work without a single cent OT??

Because they don't get OT so what for to stay back in the office right?

Very simple, finish deadline go back 5pm.

Cannot meet deadline, OT until Sunday also work.

If boss call, means have to go back. Unless I'm outstation or having family emergency.

Oh ya... i 4got to add, i dun get OT for staying back as well... only advantage is I learn more things.. tats all

It's normal to stay back abit late IF boss's around...lol

Depends if there's any issue arises.

why, just last night, i punched out at 12.30am. YES, twelve-thirty AM. I punched in at 7.50am the previous morning. One hell day. Everything went wrong. Chillers down. Water supply out. Pumps overheat and refused to start. Boiler, well, running well. Leaking in the Operating Theatre, and some 50,000 stupid bees decided to have their home in one of them patient wards.

haih~

luckily, i'm paid hell good of overtime pay

a.) I left office about 7pm or 8pm depending on workloads.
b.) Should the working hour has been stated in the employment letter, you have no obligation to stay. However, it returns to your company culture, if everyone go off on 5, then you may go as well.
c.) Well, if boss called, definately I will go back, but it will be rare, unless your boss is not married, otherwise he/she will like to spend their rest of the day with the family.

if u work as sales person, you should go back becoz normally sales do hv target.
if work as support, depand on situation, boss called at night & no OT, you can start looking job

This post has been edited by lms2005: Aug 26 2006, 07:53 PM

err... im a legal executive... and i did state tat im an executive as well.. hehe... but thx 4 da tip

Hmm, no OT here as well, only reason to stay would be professionalism/commitment/loyalty. If there's work, I'll stay back (would also depend on urgency and if I have any other commitments elsewhere).
Though it's not stated in the job terms, your superiors (especially those themselves who stay back till late) would probably notice who (regularly) stays back late, and it may or may not affect your appraisal.

i left my project site at 10pm damn arses there keep on adding and adding stuff dunno when only can i finish it

No punch system so no OT claim even though I work till 7 or 8pm.

Me usually till 6pm something, but there are sometimes till 12am something.. No OT to claim also... XD

If there are issues that need to be settled , I'd finish them up before going home. Getting tired of colleagues You shouldnt leave so early , show youre working but thats crapola.

Why need to pretend to work by staying at the office for more hours?

haha...2day is sunday..and now im in my cubicle typing tis post...

You're working on Sunday too? OT?

those guys must be from LB jk..

u can stay back , well if u wana learn sumthin from ur boss.

but dont need to wait like 1 hr or more after 5pm...

my case is different, my company uses punch card system.

if i got work .. stay back to finish it as much as u can cos u have more work to
tackle d next day

i have OT, but then pandaix2 lar sikit

I always had a good time staying @ office once graduated
1st job In 7.30 AM Out untill 2 - 3 am next morning... just got flexible time i can be late 1 or 2 hours then

2nd job looks like same... In 9 or 10 AM Out 10 or 11 PM

what to do... i'm still young and not married
felt bored at home so just finish my work at ofice

erm... NO O.T as well

I feel the campus life is more amazing. The working life is some sort of colourless; work from 9 to 6 and then go back to sleep only!

my OT = leave...

no cash..!

Earlier today, khangchween posted something regarding his boss making a remark like "why go home so early? Traffic jam..." (this post has been missing, together with others that were posted during the LYN database upgrade)

I did face a similar situation like this, and my response was rather crude but reasonable:

"Every morning, traffic jam from 7am till 9:30am, why come so early?"

And since that day, it was an unspoken agreement that I would walk in at 10am, and leave at around 8pm. Fits nicely, as I avoid the entire rush hour traffic, morning and evening.



Jinyee, not every case works that way. I've seen my boss literally bring his family to office on Saturdays/Sundays. Not just his wife, but kids, mother in-law etc. As you would have guessed, China-man style boss. But the perks are lovely "tong shui" his wife makes, and those at office would be given a nice treat. Not bad

There was a similar thread like this sometime ago, but I can't find it. Anyway, I'll add some personal opinions on this.

Many Asian companies tend to promote the practice of working hard. You will be rated as one of the more dilligent staff if you stayed back late, as compared to those that leave around clock-off hours. Something's dreadfully wrong about this system and culture, but to change it requires cultural revolution.

The missing point is not about working long hours and late nights/weekends. What companies should encourage is working smart, and not hard. I can produce results in half the time needed by someone else, and since my job is done, close shop. Yes, I may not be in the good books in the eyes of the HR, but the quality and turnover of my work proves its point. Asian work culture seldom looks at the productivity, but more on the amount of time that is put into a specific task.

In Western work cultures, your boss literally orders you to go home if you are seen at office after a certain time. They don't like the idea of having an imbalance lifestyle (and yes, in US of A, the employer can be sued for making staff stay back late)

Food for thought?

for me:tis month,i mostly everyday working OT from 9am-11pm sum time even until mid night..

tomolo morning still go to samething..
so far..
i hv no exactly 6pm go back one..
have..only once in a month..2-3 time only.

u can imagine how pressure is my work are..
earn a little..sacrifice alotz..

Boss always say today work today finish..
but as i think...very hard to finish..everyday oso got new thing..

wat the point..life is short..
money happy,but life less of fun and happy..

I would usually break a task up into smaller pieces and set datelines for each sub-task. That way, you set aside enough time so that you don't cramp too much pressure on yourself or your sub-ordinates.

In addition to that, set milestones for long duration tasks. Keep personal count of your own progress and flag delays with higher priorities.

At least it works for me and keep my life balanced.

like sumbeams say.. asian culture wan to put more time in completing a task but western is work smart. My cousin work in US in an IT firm i saw her goto office like very happy. In at 10am out at 5.30pm sharp..

Same goes with the company next to my mum office... A western IT firm.. u would not see any light in the office after 5.30pm after 5.30pm the staff was like vanish into thin air..

But i found out mostly software developer have to work more without OT

Finally, someone with the correct train of thought. The mentality in Asia is really bad, it does not promote a professional environment when you equate long working hours with good performance. Unfortunately, this is the case here in Asia and it seems like it will continue that way, it is a vicious cycle to break out of.

Current crop of managers worked their way with this bad train of thought and the current batch of employees who will be the managers of tomorrow are being cultured with the same train of thought.

for me?
packing up on 4.45..
cabut at 5 sharp!!

what for staying so long in office..
work life balance la..
practive what american do..since i am working in a US company.
hehe..
but if really go task need follow up just stay..

im now currently off peak...

5.30pm sharp cabut...as i got nothing to do...

Im actually working in a chinaman corporation, so u might know how its like... but anyway, my boss is quite nice ler, today he just said to me that he doesnt care wat time we leave as long as is after 5.30pm (after office hours) and if there are work outstanding, he encouraged me to stay... Fair enuf, right? Im studying part-time, so I cant afford to stay late always, and i made known to him...

Wen I was in UK, the culture was like work hard during working hours (or pretend to work hard) and wen reach the time, everyone wud already be ready to leave... Seldom see anyone feel interested to stay behind unless have something urgent to do.

So back in Msia, my strategy would be stay back late, do my personal studying upon finishing up the work (boss wud think im so hardworking)...
Kill 2 birds wif 1 stone... good impression and get to do my own stuff as well in da office!

O.o" it would be scary if im in your position working that long hours and under intense pressure. unless they pay me at least 3k+ and above then i would consider

Khangchween,

1) So, in essence, you are as bad as the boss that insist the employee stay late. You are perpetuating the myth that people stay late to work hard.

2) You have a boss that willing to treat you fairly. But, instead of acting in a fair and honest fashion, you are playing game with his trust. Is this right??

3) You really do not understand something how to manage your boss' expectation. If you stay late every day, people will take you for granted and they do not think you are important and it is routine. If you normally do not stay late but stay late once in a while to handle important project, people will think highly of you. This is called human psychology.

Dreamer

Khangchween,

<< Usually after 6, will go to boss office have a smoke and he will teach me some stuff about the trade as well. So I usually leave office at 7 or 8.>>

1) From your post, you are not working after office hours anyhow.

<<At 9pm, the boss suddenly calls me up and told me tat he actually had something for me to go through.>>

2) Do you understand that the problem here is not that you leave early. The problem is you did not tell your boss that you are leaving early today where normally you leave at 7pm to 8pm. You failed his expectation. You should have told / e-mail him.

Dreamer

I don't usually stay back late unecessarily, as I don't see how it helps build my career (bosses look at how well you've completed your work, not how late you go back)

During working hour, I'll put all my attention in work and trying my best to be productive as possible. After normal working hour, priority is always given to my non-working life. I too need a balanced life.

However, when I'm working in a project with tight schedule, and oftenly it's not going smooth as expected, I don't mind staying back depending on the urgency (even sometimes the project is affected by external factors, and I've no obligation to stay back, no pressure from boss/colleagues whatsoever, but as a responsible person I don't like to leave urgent stuffs to the next day when it is supposed to be develired today)

Staying back late just to gain my boss' attention and trust, giving people a good impression that I'm hardworking, is definitely not my way.

This post has been edited by samurai1337: Aug 30 2006, 07:39 AM

Unless Im required to stay, otherwise I will vanish within 1/2 and hour after office hour. Whats the point staying in office doing nothing? I got a life to live. I already feel really not enough personal time to do my stuff.

Working up in a company career ladder or put effort in upgrading yourself like taking master degree or even work out a business plan, which one is better? And somemore you need to spend time with your family.

yeah, if finished my work early, i will leave early too, wat for stay in office? home more comfortable

normally if i OT today, the next day i will leave earlier, coz i dun wan my health goes bad, healthy = more efficient mah

dats y, OT doesnt mean higher efficiency.

normally i back home around 6.00 - 6.30, if ot 8-9pm

For me,if i'm already decided to really commit myself to the company and work hard for it.I'll do everything.Devote myself,work hard and smart.Otherwise there's no point if u perform really well for a company ure going to leave.
I'm not implying that u don't have to work responsibly for it.I'm the person who take up the job,before leaving u have to settle everyhing first,not leaving a single sh!t behind.

just my 2 cents

I once heard this wise-man's phrase from somewhere.



What it implies, and what it means, I leave it to you to comprehend.

Hey tats a great idea...!

i work from 9-630pm