'You want me to work 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM? Got it': Employee gets reprimanded for leaving early after coming into the office at 5:30 AM, cue malicious compliance

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Mar 5, 2025 2:00 PM EST

What a way to make a living, indeed!

The funny thing about working a full-time job is how managers will redefine expectations about your scheduled work hours as it conveniences them, not as it conveniences you. If you have to be at work extra early because of an important meeting or because of time zones, you are expected to be there; that being said, if you'd like to then leave early because you've worked a full eight hours that day, then you might be falsely accused to manipulating your work privileges. 

Keep scrolling below for this story about an employee who decided to show, not tell, why her boss was making a bad decision!

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    Cheezburger Image 10475547904
    via Marten Bjork

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Here, we have a lawyer who had been coming in at 5:30 AM for a deposition and tried to leave the office at 3:00 PM later that day after a full day's work. Unfortunately, her boss seemed to take issue with this and told them that their hours were strictly 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Interesting phrasing, wouldn't you say? The lawyer thought so too, so they decided that they would no longer come to the office a minute before 9:00 AM and they wouldn't leave a minute past 5:00 PM. Who cares about time zones and client availability? After all, they were just following the boss's orders!

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    I work on a case with people from many different areas. Most of the people on the case work in a time zone that's three hours ahead of mine. This means that I am often on meetings or depositions that start at around 7:00 am or earlier.
    via [deleted]
  • 03
    A couple of weeks ago, I attended several days of a deposition, starting at 5:30 (for me) each day. Those days, I left the office at around 3:00. My manager then called me into her office, and demanded to know why I was "leaving early" every day. I told her about the
    via [deleted]
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    situation, but she did not care. She said, "This is a 9-5 job. It doesn't matter if you're in earlier, you leave at 5:00. Otherwise people will think it's okay to come in and leave whenever they want."
    via [deleted]
  • 05
    Well, 9-5 it is! I started arriving in the office promptly at 9. This unfortunately led to me skipping several meetings, but alas, it cannot be helped. One meeting I skipped, scheduled for 6:00 am, is an important biweekly one that my manager is also supposed to attend.
    via [deleted]
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    She has never attended and always relies on me preparing her a report on the meeting, so she can present it to her boss. When she asked for the report, I informed her that I was unable to attend the meeting, since I work a 9-5 job and I don't want to give anyone the wrong impression. No report, sorry!
    via [deleted]
  • 07
    As I left promptly at 5, I peeked through the window to her office and got a great view of her trying to explain herself to her boss. Today, she called me and dejectedly informed me that I can leave the office whenever I want from now on.
    via [deleted]
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    [deleted] ⚫ I just don't understand why there are so many bosses and managers who chose 'control' over common sense. Good job, OP. I would rather work a few hours before everyone gets in and leave 'early' myself.
    via [deleted]
  • 09
    I used to schedule my home care cases as early as possible...I loved the days when I completed 4 before lunch (5 was my goal for the day and anything more than that would mean an easier day later in the week!)
    via [deleted]
  • 10
    Now I teach, and I would rather get in at 6 to plan and set up for the day than stay after school when I am tired and try to think about. what I want to do tomorrow (and then the next day have to remember everything that I set up.) Sorry for the rant...summer break is upon us and I am a bit bored!
    via [deleted]
  • 11
    OutrageousYak5868 Bosses are complaining about "perception", but is it really too. hard to say, "s/he started working at 5 this morning. When you start doing that, you can go home early too." I can almost guarantee that would put a stop to complaints.
    via [deleted]
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    Original Charity_817. 'No thanks boss, I've kind of grown accustomed to normal working hours!'
    via [deleted]
  • 13
    Mybaresoul. i joined my current office in December last year at 8 hours - Monday to Friday. Then, they pressured me to work for 8.5 hours. They also wanted me to work on Saturdays with some extra pay (which I didn't accept). It's
    via [deleted]
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    June...and now they want me to work for 9 hours every day because that's what everyone else is doing. And my leaving early by half an hour is impacting their morale. I am a content writer. I can easily work from home. I am at my wit's end with this place.
    via [deleted]
  • 15
    cppadam - Due to insane Bay Area, CA traffic, my brother used to get into the office pretty early (6:30-7am) for an 8:30am start time. Because of this, he would typically leave 15-20 minutes early to get a slight edge leaving the parking lot. His boss talked with him about "the perception" of leaving early. "No
    via [deleted]
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    problem", he said. He stopped working at the 8 hour mark, no matter when it was, and started playing music in his office or loudly watching videos from his phone. It took about a week of wasting time and distracting others before his boss told him he could "change schedules".
    via [deleted]
  • 17
    feyrath. I was young- early 20s, and working at an IT company in Vancouver. I am a night owl so I found it hard to get in early. I always worked late as I enjoyed the work. But the boss was having none of it. Wanted me in on time. I talked to some coworkers and asked them about it. They smiled and said come in early tomorrow - and we'll show you how it works.
    via [deleted]
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    Got in early the next day. Logged into the computer and said good morning to my coworker. He said you ready? He and about 8 other people got up, and headed over to the nearby cafe for breakfast. Spent an hour there. Perceptions are funny
    via [deleted]
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    Cheezburger Image 10475548160
    via Bram Naus

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 20
    HeatherReads Reddit You did that perfectly. Well done!
    via [deleted]
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    [deleted] ⚫ My dad was always in the office at about 7:30 AM. He would load equipment and head out to his work location, then get work prepared so by the time the crew,
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    who clocked in at 8:00 then met him in the field, arrived everything was ready to begin working. He would also dismiss the crew at 4:15 so they could clock out by 5:00 while he closed down the work location and loaded equipment for the evening, not leaving the field location until 5:00.
    via [deleted]
  • 23
    One day something went wrong and he arrived at the office at 8:10. His boss yelled at him that office hours are 8:00-5:00 and he needed to be here blah blah blah.
    via [deleted]
  • 24
    Ok man, you got it. He started arriving at 8:00, leaving at 5:00, which meant about 2 hours less time for actual work every day. Two weeks later, "why is that project moving so slowly?" "You told me work was 8-5, boss. So I stopped coming in early and leaving late.
    via [deleted]

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workplace-stories employee work stories toxic-workplace job work toxic-boss overworked-employees Horrible Bosses company toxic-work-environment
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