My work hours are 8am – 4pm.
Anonymous
My work hours are 8am – 4pm. We are fortunate enough to have great bosses who look after us and pay well, and we are never required to do over time.
My two bosses come into the office at different hours every day, depending on client meetings and other circumstances. Their starting times can range anywhere from 9:30am to 3:30pm.
My bosses have this habit of calling me into their offices anywhere from 3:30pm onwards to discuss work or documents. Now I don’t usually mind this, however I’m currently pregnant so the afternoon slump is real! Because of this I tend to tackle my large projects in the morning when I’m feeling fresh and save my less important tasks for after lunch.
Every day when I leave at my scheduled time of 4:00pm, I am literally walking out with my handbag, lunch bag, keys in my hand and my bosses either want to have a 15-minute conversation with me, or ask me work related questions.
Yesterday my boss came in at 3:30pm so half an hour before I was due to finish. It was just after 4:00pm when I was leaving and I said goodbye to him as I walked past his office. He called me back and decided to ask me work related questions. He does stuff like this regularly; he will also often say ‘that project you’re working on for Mr & Mrs Jones I’ve looked into it and etc…’
This really irritates me because it happens so often. I’m here for the preceding 8 hours and he wants to stop me from leaving at my scheduled finish time to have a conversation about work? Why could he not do that an hour earlier? If it is so important, send me an email or phone me and I can look into it.
By 4:00pm every day my computer is switched off and I’m mentally signed out for the day.
I’ve noticed when the other girls leave, they just say ‘’goodbye’ and walk past his office without making eye contact and giving him a chance to ask them anything. In their defense though, they have children and will be late for school pick up if they stay back beyond their scheduled finish times.
Any advice on how to handle this?


Share your insight
Join an authentic community that helps women support each other at work. Share your professional experience or ask for advice — you can even post anonymously.
79 Comments
Join the conversation