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IT never sleeps. We all know that. MOST businesses know this as well. So if something goes down before or after the normal 8-5 workday, it isn’t like you can just wash your hands of the situation and say “I’m off the clock!” It doesn’t work that way.

Given this, I’ve viewed the workday hours as important, as it’s good to have face time with the users and other staff BUT I’ve also always viewed them as rough guidelines. Most staff here at my company work strictly 8-5 and hang it up at 5:01PM until the next morning. That’s not the case for me, naturally. IT never sleeps.

Everywhere I’ve ever worked as a sysadmin or above has accommodated this mindset and had zero issues with a sysadmin or above coming in a bit later or leaving a bit earlier. On top of that, there’s working remotely. The company I’m currently in didn’t have any issue until today, apparently. Now before I continue I should clarify, so you guys don’t think I’m coming in at 10 and leaving at 2. I essentially work 9-5. Obviously with vendor visits, projects, etc… sometimes those hours change. What doesn’t change is the fact that I’m accessible virtually 24/7, for better or worse. Projects or upgrades which may require downtime are done 100% remotely after hours, unless it’s hardware related. After 5 once I get home, I’m still “on the clock” and working. So I see no real issue with the “flexible” hours. You are getting much more out of me than if I worked strictly 8-5, without question.

Like I said, this has never been an issue until today due to a surprise meeting which required setup. I had left the building to go take care of some things and got a text from the powers that be asking if I was around to help setup the meeting. I said I wasn’t but I could turn around and come help out. Keep in mind I was about 15 minutes out and the meeting started in 5. This apparently struck a nerve and line of questioning along the lines of “I thought because you were working 9-5 you weren’t taking a lunch” and so on. Well, I wasn’t taking a lunch, I was running an errand. Regardless, I wasn’t available and the individual wasn’t happy about that.

So now what? I have a meeting to discuss hours. I don’t really have a solid question for you guys but I do want to hear your input regarding the manner. I should also note that the times I posted, 9-5, were agreed upon with this individual but lately they’ve been pushing for something more like the average worker bee. I have no problem with that schedule but I think the outside work should account for something. So I’m trying to go through building a case in my mind right now to support this.

Thanks!

EDIT: formatting is weird, sorry about that. Wasn’t trying to make a wall of text but apparently SW like to get rid of breaks.

86 Spice ups
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I’ve always had an open dialogue with any superiors about what hours I’m working outside of normal business hours and developed a clear “tit-for-tat”. Especially since I’ve been salaried and overtime exempt. If I have to come in for three hours on my day off to rebuild a server, I expect to be able to leave three hours early on a prearranged day.

If you’re the sole IT pro, then employers tend to be less understanding and flexible, since they sometimes can’t get work done without you there. My response to that is usually around finding a solution that still has me working 40 hours and fulfills all of their needs.

If you don’t draw those lines in the sand, your employer/supervisor will always “cross” them-- which leads to frustration and resentment, sometimes on both ends.

26 Spice ups
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Sounds like a case of “Piss poor planning on their part doesn’t constitute an emergency on yours.” The person that called probably knew about the meeting for a while but only started getting ready for it shortly beforehand. Then he/she couldn’t get something working and panicked. This person then got reamed by this/her boss and we all know how poop moves down a decline.

65 Spice ups
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If IT was not informed about this meeting, expect IT have nothing done. Simple as that.

OP, are you paid hourly or salary?

32 Spice ups
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The problem here is not flex hours, the problem here is lack of notice for the planned meeting.

That used to be the norm around here, but as even as recently as last week one of the lawyers did something similar, tried to throw a hissy fit, and got shot down by me because it was literally the last minute. They went above and the above is new and not old guard now, and got shot down again.

I put in well excess of 40 a week and if I need to step out midday, damn well I am going to.

And something strikes me as odd about something you quoted “I thought because you were working 9-5 you weren’t taking a lunch”… so in your area you are allowed to work eight straight without a break? That shit doesn’t fly in Ontario. They can not pay you for a midday break if thats in your contract, ie 9-5 with a one hour lunch = 7 hours paid… but you cannot go without a break. Ministry of Labour rules.

27 Spice ups
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Never works that way in real life.

I always made sure there was an agreement with my manager when I worked for corporate america and did a lot of work after hours. New manager comes in, that would be one of the first things discussed. The arrangement changed over the years - come in late the next morning, leave early the next day, take a Friday off every so often, etc. We always came to a good compromise but I was working for a very large company and there were always other folks around that could help if I wasn’t onsite.

6 Spice ups
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I am salaried as well and I am always good for at least an extra 3-5 hours a week. It is understood that I can come and go as I please as I am a one man show.

9 Spice ups
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Salary.

4 Spice ups
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I like you have a similar situation. I have been here a long time and several times I’ve had questions on my hours. They want me in the office from 8:30 to 5 everyday. Most of my calls I receive are between the hours of 6:00 and 7:30. Our management team will never respond to emails during work hours, only after hours when they get to their mailbox.

Along with that any maintenance or additional work that I need to do for users that is non essential also has to be done after hours or on weekends.

So I’ve taken to having office hours from between 9:30 - 10am to 4:30. Out of office hours are all the time, ever, without change. Generally I log in every morning from home around 7:30 / 8 AM until about 9 am when I leave for work and again, if I’m not fielding calls on my drive home at 4:30, I am generally answering emails from 5:30 to 7:00 and then I log in again at 10:00pm to handle any after scheduled processes work and ensure the daily processes ran. Then every weekend I work a minimum of 3 hours scheduling and running daily weekend processes, but that can run over if need be. I am the ONLY person that works EVERY weekend.

I haven’t had an honest to goodness vacation … EVER. Even with a backup to take calls for me, a 10 minute call for me could be an hour or two of billable work for them, and my company doesn’t like that unless it’s an emergency.

They’ve tried to push me into schedules before. But they learned when they push me into a rigid on-site schedule while keeping my out of office hours the same I simply state that I have no problems with the schedule but the additional hours will require additional pay. I already work more than 40 hours a week, and I know I’m woefully underpaid for the amount of work I do.

They complained more the first few years, now they don’t care as much as I’ve setup very fast, secure, internal remote access on every PC, so whether I’m in the office or out of it, I can assist with everything without leaving my office.

10 Spice ups
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I find that open communication usually remedies this. I have to think that if you were to put something on your calendar to indicate that you were going to be out of the office for an errand and an hour before hand you said “hey guys, I’m gonna run out around 10am for about 20 minutes. Need anything before I go” then you’re golden.

I work at HQ but we have twenty offices and sometimes they need a visit. I try to schedule them for the same day so that I’m not constantly on the road. But I’ll put a note on my desk listing the locations that are on my agenda for that day and I’ll give my colleagues a heads-up.

And I take those measures because I too have been spoken with regarding taking off and not telling anyone.

7 Spice ups
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And I’ve seen it where if they Powers That Be think you’re starting the abuse the system, well there goes your overtime. If you’ve got some planned after hours maintenance that’s going to take three hours tomorrow night, instead of working 8-5 they’re going to have you come in at 11 in order to compensate.

It pays to learn your local labor laws too.

4 Spice ups
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I’m fortunate enough where while my supervisor is firm about 8-5 with 1 hour lunch break (any overtime needs to be approved by them in advance), most of my issues happen in that window. If someone emails me/leaves a voicemail outside of those hours, they generally understand that I’ll see it and assist when I’m back in the office but if it’s an emergency there’s other people to contact.

3 Spice ups
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Hourly/salaried makes only a slight difference about flexible hours, but non-IT employees don’t always understand that flexible hours apply to IT, because they think that our job is to be available whenever they need assistance. Because of that, some of them think that we sit around waiting until they need our assistance. Continuing that logic, if you weren’t available right when someone needed your help, you didn’t do your job, so something must be wrong. If your hours are flexible, then flexible hours must be part of the problem.

Working in the office from 9-5 would not guarantee that you would be available to set up the meeting with only 5 minutes notice. As others have said, the lack of notice is the problem, and not the hours that you work.

12 Spice ups
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What ticks me off ,and thank god it doesn’t happen at my new employer.

I was working 16 hours a day. I was in school . As I was working on multiple things I took some time during my normal workday to do some quick homework. Worked on it for an hour and didn’t take lunch. you think I had murdered the president. Again working 16 hours a day.

4 Spice ups
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Doesn’t matter what it is, can’t help you if I don’t know about it.

What would have happened if you were dealing with an emergency in the server room at that time, instead of (doing something perfectly normal that everyone does)?

9 Spice ups
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Yes it does. And it’s annoying.

4 Spice ups
17

It sounds to me like the problem is that the user needs to be trained on “setting up a meeting”, something they’ve likely done hundreds of times before and is a significant portion of their job unless they’re newly promoted into this position.

6 Spice ups
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This has NOTHING to do with your hours, and EVERYTHING to do with their lack of communication.

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21 Spice ups
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So I understand where everybody is coming from in regards to the setup with 5 minutes notice. I 100% agree with all of that. I guess the main point I’m trying to make here (and I should have been more clear, maybe) is that I now have a meeting scheduled where I will need to go and defend the ability to have flexibility. I’m more or less looking for input regarding THAT and not so much the fact that the powers that be don’t know how to plan appropriately.

6 Spice ups
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I am in a similar “flexible hours” situation but so far it hasn’t been an issue. This is typically due to good communication. You can’t make sure you are available to assist someone if they don’t tell you in advance that they may need your assistance. I am available during 90% of business hours but we also have 9 locations and I could be at any one of those locations at any time. This likely gives me more leeway when it comes to last minute issues and encourages end users to give me a heads up if they think there is any chance they would need my assistance.

Better communication from your end users would likely solve this issue for you. Good luck!

2 Spice ups