Low-performing employee consistently sends emails at 2 AM to prove he's working hard, manager is skeptical

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Jun 24, 2026 10:00 AM EDT

Sending emails in the middle of the night isn't always a sign of working hard. 

When you're struggling at work, this can happen for a lot of reasons. Maybe there are things happening in your personal life that are out of your control but make it hard to focus on work. Or maybe there are expectations that your manager holds that are just too high. Maybe you're not collaborating well with the people on your team. Or maybe it's just not the right fit. The manager in this story shared to the managers subreddit didn't know exactly why their employee was struggling, but he needed help in trying to deal with it. You don't want to ambush someone with criticism, so you are probably looking for ways to soften the blow. But what about their work habits is the most important to address? The manager in this story noticed something weird with their employee, but they weren't quite sure how to make it right, or why it was happening in the first place. Everyone has different relationships to time management, but there are certain things that you should probably avoid doing, especially in certain fields. Answering emails super late into the night doesn't always mean that you're giving it your all and going above and beyond. It might just mean that you're managing your time poorly. That's what was happening to this employee. 

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    via Vitaly Gariev

    An exhausted man puts his head on his desk at his workplace

  • Low-performing employee sending emails in middle of night.

    I have one employee who is not performing well in both the "what" (deliverables, metrics) as well as the "how" (stakeholder feedback, peers don't like him, etc). This is very well documented and I won't go into all the issues because there are many. I'm working on a PIP but it takes forever in my company.
    via verilymaryly
  • One issue (of many) that is relevant for this question is that he has the lowest output of anyone on my entire team. He only has one project that should only be about 75% of his time (really 30-40% for most people), and he still consistently just misses deliverables and doesn't do things. He also shows up significantly later than everyone else and leaves significantly earlier, but this is not something I officially manage or mention because my entire team is salaried and we don't have strict wor
    via verilymaryly
  • With that background my question is this: He has a habit of sending out emails all hours of the night and weekend. They are never urgent, and usually they're not even something I need to see. It reeks of "look how hard I'm working - I'm sending emails at 2 am" because he KNOWS he's in trouble with performance. A
    via verilymaryly
  • couple times I've tried responding right away with questions, and he either doesn't respond until much later the next day, or doesn't respond at all. So I don't think he's even working, I think he's just logging on, sending an email, and then logging off. This wouldn't usually bother me, but coupled with his lack of performance it is an irritating behavior. Another team I manage is on-site 24/7 and OCCASIONALLY has off- shift emergencies so I do monitor my emails for that reason, and this just a
    via verilymaryly
  • Would you mention this to him in a 1:1 and/or add it to the performance issues log? I'm cognizant of the fact that I've been dealing with his issues for a long time and my patience is next to zero, so I'm trying not to fall into the trap of being overly picky just because I'm annoyed.
    via verilymaryly

  • It's pretty hard to hide from your manager. They have access to all your performance metrics, and if something looks wrong, they're going to know it. This employee was trying to mask his poor performance with some improper communication. He thought it would make him look like a hard worker, but in reality it made things even more suspicious. It's good to keep regular working hours so you can respect everyone's time. You don't want to inconvenience the people you work with by forcing them to comply with your strange habits. But that's what was happening here. Keep reading to see what happened and see what you think about it.

  • Commenters gave their opinions and takes on this story.

    PBandBABE You give him too much credit. Those emails are probably being written during the day and set to send overnight.
    via PBandBABE
  • It's pointless to bring up. Just focus on behavior and the lack of deliverables. If he hits you with "but I email at 2:00 am!" then your response is "I know. And you're *still* struggling to do what the role requires. That's why we're here today to talk about a plan to get you where you need to be."
    via PBandBABE
  • In other words, it's not a defense. It's an embarrassment that you weren't going to rub his nose in because you're professional and classier than that. But if he insists on bringing it up...
    via PBandBABE
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    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    A man rubs his eyes in the car on the way to work

  • crossplanetriple Don't be overly focused on this one person sending e- mails at random hours vs their actual performance. The overall performance should be weighted heavily. Unless this person is using an emergency channel to send generic updates, this should not bother you at all.
    via crossplanetriple
  • Wonderful_Use1260 I would make time management part of the PIP. You can mention in the review meeting that work is expected to be completed during working hours and you're concerned he's having to log on late in the evening to catch up. Almost makes it easier for you to put time frames on certain aspects of his work. I assume it's a weekly review?
    via Wonderful_Use1260
  • boom boom_bang_ He schedules the emails. Also, after having this issue as well, my approach is: your output is low is for two possible reasons: first, you're working 8 hours but not efficiently and failing to prioritize or second, you're very efficient but not working enough hours. Both are problems and both things need to be
    via boom_boom_bang_
  • monitored to get to the bottom of things. As such, I am now expecting you to work business hours. We need to overlap at least 6-7 hours of the day. You need to be online and available for these hours - they're negotiable within this context. And I expect oversight into how you're spending your 8 hours of work daily
    via boom_boom_bang_
  • Cold-Society3325 It could be performative but it could also be a sign that he's struggling with his mental health or something like that. I would ask if he's OK. He may not tell you, even if he isn't alright but I'd still check. I'm a union rep (in the UK) and, in my experience, significant performance failure coupled with erratic hours and attendence often has a health/dis lity aspect (there may also be straight up capability issues but the whole thing gets muddled).
    via Cold-Society3325
  • In the long run, you have to manage the performance but if there are causes that can be addressed, it's worth exploring them.
    via Cold-Society3325
  • vulcanstrike As a European, I always find people with this attitude hilarious "Look how hard I'm working" No, look at how inefficient you are that you need to work at 2am still (debatable) and look how inefficient you are that you are sending non urgent items in particular at 2am, you show a lack of judgement and inability to prioritise.
    via vulcanstrike
  • Or if they're queued to send at 2am, look how sneaky you are to try and pad the workload and falsely declare hours. I know they are salaried, but it makes me question everything they say
    via vulcanstrike
  • Sure-Squash-7280 If I knew I was performing poorly at work and it was keeping me awake at night and I had the option of working a little bit until I felt better and could sleep. I would probably send emails in the middle of the night too.
    via Sure-Squash-7280
  • That's just me and I am well aware of the fact that most people are not as well- intentioned as I am but it's good to see the possibility sometimes. Anyway, it goes. It's not morality that you are managing but productivity issues.
    via Sure-Squash-7280
  • I would just ask him if you really are curious and you never know what he might say. Otherwise, just deal with the productivity issue and whether or not you guys will continue to be able to employ him.
    via Sure-Squash-7280

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