IT worker is blamed for coworker showing up late, says it's their fault for leaving on time: 'They’ve basically gotten used to arriving late, and the person ending the shift is stuck covering past their scheduled time'

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Jan 27, 2026 10:00 AM EST

What if you were punished for someone else's tardiness?

Some people just run late. It's who they are. You likely have a friend or family member who is simply tardy, and there is not much you can do about it. Whenever you tell them to show up, they will be there an hour later and with some excuse. It's different every time, but you know the truth. They simply have a different internal clock than you do. So you adjust and start telling them that things start an hour earlier than they actually do, so they have a chance of being there on time. But this is a risky game to play. They might catch on to your ruse and adjust their schedule in turn. They might sense your lies and be even later as punishment. Or, by the laws of physics, they will show up late anyway. 

You just have to learn to live with this kind of person. You stop inviting them to time-sensitive events, and you never ask them to pick you up from the airport. You adjust your life around this kind of person because you know you're not going to change them. But what if you work with this kind of person? What if you're relying on them to be there so you can leave? This can get old pretty quickly. It's one thing to have to deal with a tardy friend. It's an entirely other thing to deal with a tardy coworker. You might have to start laying the law down. 

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  • An IT worker sits at a desk with a computer looking disturbed
    via Austin Distel

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

  • That's part of what employers are there to do. They're there to enforce the timeliness of the whole operation. You know that if you're late and if you're consistently late, it might threaten your employment. Especially for the kind of work that requires someone to be ready and working at certain times of the day. Lateness can jeopardize the operation at large, not just one person's work. One workplace encountered a lateness epidemic, but they started blaming the wrong people. They chewed out the one who left on time, not the one who made that an issue. Read on to see what happened in the story and decide what you would have done. 

  • Got blamed for leaving on time because someone else was late. How is this "my responsibility"?

    Hi all, I work in IT Support with fixed shifts (8-4, 4-12, 12-8). We have continuous coverage requirements, so at shift change (8am / 4pm / 12am) someone must always be actively handling incoming work.
    via u/Dry_Negotiation_173
  • The issue: if the person starting the next shift arrives late, the outgoing person is expected to stay until they show up. Sometimes it's 5-10 minutes, which I can accept occasionally. But for some people it happens almost daily. They've basically gotten used to arriving late, and the person ending the shift is stuck covering past their scheduled time.
    via u/Dry_Negotiation_173
  • Recently I left exactly at my shift end time, and because the next person still wasn't there, coverage was briefly unattended. My manager then blamed me for it and said it can't happen, and that I'm supposed to wait and cover until the next person arrives. This was sent as an email (I haven't replied yet).
    via u/Dry_Negotiation_173
  • Am I wrong for thinking the issue should be addressed with the people who repeatedly arrive late, not the person who finishes their shift on time? I don't mind helping in rare cases, but I don't want an unofficial daily expectation of staying late.
    via u/Dry_Negotiation_173
  • How is this normally handled in other teams? Is it reasonable to expect the outgoing shift to stay every time?
    via u/Dry_Negotiation_173

  • Commenters gave their takes on the situation.

    No_Aside7310 The real issue is chronic lateness, not you leaving on time. But in coverage-critical roles, brief overlap is often expected. Push back politely: "I'm happy to cover briefly if someone's running late, but it's becoming a daily expectation. Can we address the root cause the repeated late arrivals?"
    via u/No_Aside7310
  • CatsDIY The manager had a gap in coverage so he talked to both people involved. You might send him an email asking if you receive pay for working overtime. I worked in a similar situation where coverage was mandatory. When I wrote the email they had a long meeting with the next shift employee and the issue was resolved.
    via u/CatsDIY
  • A person uses a smartphone while sitting at a desk.
    via Jonas Leupe

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

  • TG3_III I've had this same issue while working in banks and casinos. It's a lose lose situation with no solution. The situation usually went something like you're scheduled for 39.5 hours every week we absolutely cannot have a single minute
    via u/TG3_III
  • of overtime. You are forced to stay over 1-2 days that week because a customer needed help or someone was running late, you're now at 40.5 hours. You submit your actual time worked, and the manager rejects it saying he'll only approve if
    via u/TG3_III
  • its under 40 hours. So000 you want me to falsify time, manager back tracks no you can't do that, well thats the time I worked because you told me to stay after, then manager blames you for not "monitoring your time. better" then you rinse and repeat. Its just like grade school, the person actually causing the trouble never pays for it.
    via u/TG3_III
  • FoxtrotSierraTango I run a 24/7 crew and we don't do a hard shift change like that. Taking your shift times my day shift would have one guy working 7-3, one guy working 8-4, and one guy working 9-5. Same staggering happens on the swing and night shifts. There's more opportunity for handoff and some buffer if one person is late.
    via u/FoxtrotSierraTango
  • If it's just you, you have to call your manager every time you are prevented from leaving because of coverage and make them figure it out. If you have a hard stop because of an appointment or something try to communicate in advance, not because you should
    via u/FoxtrotSierraTango
  • need to but because you anticipate a coverage issue and want to be proactive. It isn't your problem to solve, communicate and make your manager do their job.
    via u/FoxtrotSierraTango
  • Arkayenro management really are stupid. you never have exact end to end shifts, or single user shifts like that, or what you experience happens, and lazy people will abuse it without any impact to them. if you overlap each shift by 4
    via u/Arkayenro
  • hours, or have multiple people on a shift, the problem goes away entirely or lands exactly where its meant to, on the person that is always late. your manager needs to do their actual job and manage the person that is constantly late. that is not your responsibility - maybe the manager should take over coverage in those situations.
    via u/Arkayenro
  • Initial-Ad6819 The manager is the one supposed to, well, manage, this type of cases. Tell him that you have a Dr appointment or something that makes it imperative that you clock out at the exact time.
    via u/Initial-Ad6819
  • puzzledpilgrim Has no one ever thought of letting the shifts overlap.....
    via u/puzzledpilgrim
  • FriendlyChickenD... I lead a 24/7 support team. We made the shifts have more overlap in 30 minute incriments for this reason. People arrived before their shift to get set up so that when their shift actually started they were already set up to take calls and work tickets. They were paid for this time so it incentivized individuals to show up early for extra pay.
    via u/FriendlyChickenDino
  • Usual-Journalist-... He should schedule you to work 10 minutes later or schedule the guy replacing in to start 10 minutes earlier. His problem nor yours.
    via u/Usual-Journalist-246
  • DryBattle If you are hourly remember to claim OT. That's really the fastest way to get their attention. Get paid for every minute you work.
    via u/DryBattle
  • PoppaBear63 We work 24/7 and our shifts are 12.25 hours long. There is that 15 minute shift change over just for that reason. If you have to stay longer you get paid for it. The longest I have stayed is an extra half hour but I also knew they were having a meeting that morning. They had to stay an extra half hour when we had our meeting that night.
    via u/PoppaBear63
  • Because we use a badge system for the time clock supervisors see everything. HR controls pay so they also track punch in and out times. We have had people terminated because they were habitually punching out late.
    via u/PoppaBear63
  • Bigdawg7299 Noted. Please advise on the applicable policy and required corrective or escalation process for addressing consistent late arrivals of incoming staff (10-20 minutes). This ongoing noncompliance results in unscheduled
    via u/Bigdawg7299
  • extensions of assigned shifts and places an unreasonable and recurring burden on staff currently on duty. It is neither reasonable nor acceptable to expect staff to routinely remain beyond their scheduled hours to compensate for repeated tardiness. This
    via u/Bigdawg7299
  • issue requires formal resolution through established staffing, accountability, and enforcement procedures. Please advise on the corrective actions that will be implemented to ensure compliance going forward. This is the response.
    via u/Bigdawg7299
  • MrMe2K Wages theft. Ask them to pay OT to you for that time and your boss will get fat ass chewed up. research and politely ask about. Just let them know that you know the law. Each 10min is rounded to 15min.
    via u/MrMe2K

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employment issues workplace-stories work it tardy workplace story Tech late employment
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