Boss reprimands employee for clocking in 5 minutes before their shift, calls it 'unauthorized overtime': 'What makes it even dumber is they constantly complain that we don’t show up early enough'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Nov 30, 2025 10:00 AM EST

Your job starts when your job starts, but timing is not an exact science. You're human, and you're going to show up when you're going to show up. Maybe the bus was early. What, do they want you to do a lap around the neighborhood like some kind of nervous Nelly, eating up more of your already precious free time? No, you go in, and you get to work. Plus, they're squeezing some extra minutes out of you anyway, which they should be grateful for. But what about compensation? Should you get fairly compensated for the couple of extra minutes you put in, even if your employer didn't agree to it? 

Those are the questions that came up in this story, where an employee was reprimanded for clocking in a couple of minutes early. The way the employee saw it, she was doing her regular job and even showing a little initiative. What was she supposed to do? Pretend like she didn't arrive when she did? The way her employer saw it, she was trying to squeeze some extra pennies out of her. 

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  • A female barista takes notes at her job.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

  • This story sparked a discussion about nickel-and-diming from employees and employers, and how that makes everyone feel. You have to suffer so many indignities as an hourly worker; the least your employer can do is let some things slide here and there. Scroll on to read the full story and see what you think about it. 

  • Is clocking in a few minutes early really that big of a deal?

    So yesterday, i came in about 5 minutes before my shift because traffic wasn't bad. Didn't think anything of it. I just sat down, opened my email, and waited for my start time.
    via u/cobra00x
  • Manager ends up pulling me aside and giving me a warning for "unauthorized overtime." Like what? I'm not even trying to get paid for the extra minutes. I literally just didn't want to stand outside and stare at the wall.
    via u/cobra00x
  • What makes it even dumber is they constantly complain that we don't show up early enough when they need coverage. but the second you do show up early, suddenly it's a problem. Honestly feels like they're just looking for excuses to write people up lately. Guess I'll be sitting in my car until the exact minute from now on. Anyone else deal with this kind of backwards workplace logic?
    via u/cobra00x

  • Other workers chimed in with their experiences.

    bl... 4d ago Edited 3d ago . We can punch in no earlier than 7 min before our shift and up to 7 after when going home. Anything before or after and it will rack up 15 min of OT. It's dumb but nothing I can do about it.
    via u/blck10th
  • Edit: I personally am fine with being paid for the time I work. I am usually at work early but I have to wait to punch in. So yes there's a line of people. I can punch in from my laptop but it sometimes lags so I never do that. So I wait by the clock and punch in and out every day. They know who's working OT and who isn't.
    via u/blck10th
  • Grunthos_T_Flatu... . 4d ago Working off the clock, even reading emails, can get your employer in trouble even if they didn't ask you to. If they become aware of you doing it they may be obligated to adjust your pay to reflect the time you were working. That is likely why your manager took the action they did.
    via u/Grunthos_T_Flatulent
  • A female coffee shop worker takes notes at work.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

  • ebowski64 • 4d ago . I've been hourly and I've been salary. I like salary. You don't have to deal with little bullshit like this.
    via u/ebowski64
  • mindspan • 3d ago The entire concept of clocking in and out should be abolished in the modern workplace.
    via u/mindspan
  • typicalguy1964 3d ago I worked for Walmart for a short while. They'd had issues with not paying people properly. By the time I worked there it was common to be told to take an extra few minutes for lunch, if you had even a minute of overtime the last day you worked.
    via u/typicalguy1964
  • When I worked in manufacturing we could punch in 25 minutes before our start time so folks could change into their work clothes and be at their machines when the start bell rang.
    via u/typicalguy1964
  • One morning I was changing out of my leather riding gear well before the start bell. The boss calls a small meeting. I'm finishing changing after the meeting ,and after the start bell had rung. My boss makes a snide comment about me not being ready to work ,even though he interrupted my flow for a meeting before the start bell. I never attended another meeting he wasn't paying me to attend.
    via u/typicalguy1964
  • lizzielew13 · 3d ago Dental office I worked at few years ago (very briefly) rules were- can't clock in until 15 min's b4 start of day, but be in your operatory atleast 1/2 hour before first patient, do your notes in your room on your lunch break but stay clocked out, no eating in
    via u/lizzielew13
  • your room either, clock out no later than 15 min's after last patient, but finish cleaning, setting up for next day, and finish notes on your own time. Noped the fuck out of that place.
    via u/lizzielew13
  • IndependenceMe... 3d ago Maybe it's a sign that you should start looking for a new job. Preferably one where they treat you like an adult and aren't so petty about you clocking in and out of work.
    via u/IndependenceMean8774
  • PsyPup 3d ago Do not work outside of your assigned hours, ever, unless your job rewards you for it. It causes two problems. First, it creates an expectation for both you and others to do so, and if you're doing work it obfuscates the actual workload,
    via u/PsyPup
  • Work is a transaction, labour for money, nothing else. If you're not getting paid for it, don't do it.
    via u/PsyPup
  • Fantastic_Inside4... • 3d ago Wait, what? You get paid for the seconds you punch in for, not your agreed pay? I don't think I could stand my pay changing by $20 or $30 per week for doing nothing different.
    via u/Fantastic_Inside4361
  • Slight_Manufactu….. • 3d ago Nope... most places I have worked expected people to punch in early and as long as it wasn't more than 15 minutes early, it didn't affect the start time. For example if start time is 8am to 4pm and we punch in at 7:50, we just get paid for 8 hours.
    via u/Slight_Manufacturer6
  • Other jobs I've had, if we weren't supposed to get overtime, we just made sure to punch out around 40 hours on Friday.
    via u/Slight_Manufacturer6
  • DigbyChickenZone • 3d ago . Yep. I fucking hate it. People at my job literally hang out in the break room until an alarm goes off so they know. it's "ok" to clock in, so that they don't get in trouble.
    via u/DigbyChickenZone
  • I remember I got in trouble. for coming in a few minutes late every day, ok, no problem - I fixed my morning mentality and got there a few minutes early every day. Here's the rub, I got into trouble AGAIN because my "extra couple of minutes" was getting me overtime.
    via u/DigbyChickenZone
  • So, I started coming in a few minutes late again after that, and haven't heard another complaint about it. It's like, jesus, tell me what to do and I'll do it, otherwise just fuck off ya penny pinchers.
    via u/DigbyChickenZone

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boss antiwork workplace-stories hourly toxic-workplace job bosses work coworkers working reddit story toxic-boss workplace reddit thread bad bosses Reddit clocking in toxic-work-environment
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