Incompetent boss claims worker is defrauding the company over three-minute late clock-out

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Oct 1, 2023 9:00 AM EDT

Some people are convinced that other people are plotting against them at every turn—continually suspicious that everyone else is constantly scheming to swindle them out of petty cash. Really, this is probably just an admission of their own thought process—as they say, your reality is a mirror reflecting your inner world… and the reality probably is that these people constantly anticipate underhanded tactics because they wouldn't hesitate to use them themselves.

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  • Unfortunately, these people seem to go on to start small businesses at an alarming rate, treating their employees with the same mistrust and skepticism they hold for the world. I'll add that this isn't all small business owners, but if you've worked for one of these owners, you'll know exactly what this is like. 

    This worker clocked out of their shift three minutes early, only to be accused by their boss of trying to defraud the company, making a massive issue over the small discrepancy and making it clear that the worker could be fired for it.

    The thing is, the worker had been starting work every day before their shift, sometimes working 20 minutes before clocking in. Where was the same consideration for their time?

  • 01
    Clock - 51 ULIANOVA No. 7877 No. 7870 0000000 10 6 8 7 17 5
    via Joshua Olsen
  • 02
    Font - Posted by u/irritatingfarquar So you are claiming I defrauded the company by booking an extra 3 minutes, No problem M OC I worked for a water company for 25 years and was one of their most productive repair crews, that is until The new manager Let's call him Mr Numbo started. We had a monthly rota where you are on call for one week in 4, for emergency repairs out of hours.
    via u/irritatingfarquar
  • 03
    Font - On the day in question I started work at 7.30 am on a Friday and finished work at at 3.15 am Saturday morning, so a pretty long arsed shift. I get to work Tuesday morning and get called into the office by Mr Numb and informed that according to my vehicle tracker I'd left the yard at 3.12 am and not 3.15 am, which is an attempt to defraud the company, As you can imagine I was absolutely fuming at this level of b I told him that at the time I was covered in mud and sweat and just wanted to
    via u/irritatingfarquar
  • 04
    Font - I said that if we're going to be this petty you can take me off the emergency contact list for extra coverage and I won't be starting 20 minutes early each day either, I'll now be clocking in at exactly 7.30 am and I shall be heading out at exactly 5.30 pm, no deviation whatsoever and you can explain to your bosses why productivity is down and you are struggling to get coverage for emergencies. We'll then see how important your 3 minutes are when they are costing the company money.
    via u/irritatingfarquar
  • 05
    Font - Little did I realise at the time but the guys job was bonus related and linked to our productivity, which tanked after that because all the other gangs followed my lead, except the brown nose gangs obviously. Three weeks go by with an absolute sh show in customer service complaints about their work not being carried out in a timely manner My productivity dropped from 7 jobs per day down to 4.
    via u/irritatingfarquar
  • 06
    Font - And Mr Numbn gets called in by his bosses to try and explain wt is going on, He tried to spin some bs story that I'd turned all the guys against him for no reason and that this was the result.
    via u/irritatingfarquar
  • 07
    Font - Little did he know that I'd actually trained his boss when he first started with the company 15 years before and wanted to come out and find out what we do and experience how hard the job is, he surprised me by working a full month on the repair crews before going back to the office. Anyhow the boss calls me in to find out what is really going on, so I explained how he'd used the tracker to monitor what time I'd left the yard and that I'd guesstimated my finish time and over estimated by
    via u/irritatingfarquar
  • 08
    Font - not-rasta-8913 When will new managers learn not to screw with veteran employees? Probably never. 3.1k Reply Share irritatingfarquar OP It's very rare to find one that isn't on some kind of power trip when they first start, in saying that though his boss was actually one of those unicorns, who looked at the bigger picture and made changes based on what the people doing the job were telling him. For example they employed a bean counter to manage our stores procurement and the quality of eve
    via u/irritatingfarquar
  • 09
    Font - dertwo I like that. His bosses actually sound like the kind of people that you want to run a company. How many times have we heard that "if only my boss knew what was actually going on here"? His bosses actually did, and gave you the respect that you deserved. 1.3k CLE-Mosh Reply Share I have that direct manager now... never questions my time sheets, and rarely questions length of tasks, because he has seen the sot show first hand... yesterday for instance... 4 hr est mate, turns into 10
    via u/irritatingfarquar
  • 10
    Font - Nutella_Zamboni Good on you OP, We are paid based on a 1/4 hour system. So essentially 6:53 am - 7:07 am = 7:00am. Had a boss like yours that was trying to hold people "accountable". Suddenly: • people that showed up a few mins early waited until EXACTLY 7:00am to start working, -people would leave EXACTLY at quitting time, no matter if their work was done or not. -people that would give a couple mins at the end of shift waited until the next 1/4 hour to punch out to ensure they were paid
    via u/irritatingfarquar
  • 11
    Font - irritatingfarquar OP In my job, if I was almost finished with a repair near finishing time, I'd complete the job rather than getting the on-call guys out to finish it off, as it would take them longer to get there than for me to complete the work. But after he was a dok about 3 minutes I'd get the on-call crew to come finish off almost on a daily basis, most of the guys liked the overtime payments anyway, so they weren't bothered by it and I always gave them a heads up that they were gett
    via u/irritatingfarquar
  • 12
    Font - Tar-Nuine Calling him Mr Numbns is too kind. 545 Reply Share irritatingfarquar OP It's much better than what we actually called him, but I had to censor it for the delicate sensibilities of the moderators. 411 Reply Share
    via u/irritatingfarquar
  • 13
    Font - CrittendenWildcat That power move turned into an out-of- power move for your boss. 83 Reply Share irritatingfarquar OP He had little big man syndrome and was all about him being in charge, instead of actually running things the right way. 67 Reply Share
    via u/irritatingfarquar
  • 14
    Font - SamuelVimesTrained I have to admit - you do not often hear about bosses KNOWING what the work is for having actually done that themselves. You got a good one there.. Reply Share 62
    via u/irritatingfarquar
  • 15
    Font - OneDishwasher Good stuff, this is the kind of story I read this sub for. I hope your next boss is more reasonable 29 Reply Share irritatingfarquar OP I'm now my own boss, as I've retired early due to ill health. I now have time to sit down and remember some of the ridiculous things that I've experienced and to occasionally share them with Reddit. ✩47 Reply Share
    via u/irritatingfarquar

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workplace discussion workplace-stories jobs toxic-workplace job malicious compliance work workplace Horrible Bosses employment in the workplace
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