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Deliver in the clutch and nobody's gonna care how much time you spend in the office.
I leave at 5p most days. But I also put in a few hours at home afterwards. I always hit deadlines and finish what I need to. Just don’t need to be in the office to do it
No. I’d rather you work 40-45 hours a week, busy your ass while you’re there and get your shit done. If I see junior and mid level people working 80 hour weeks consistently, then it’s either one of two things: 1. Myself or other managers aren’t doing their jobs to resource accordingly, and that’s an obvious breakdown on our end. Or... 2. There’s either a lack of understanding of what goes into an efficient workflow on your end, which doesn’t mean you’ll be fired, but it warrants attention.
Hours mean nothing if the work is getting done, it’s on time and it’s correct
Hours worked is the worst metric you can have to evaluate whether something (or someone) is good.
My boss wanted me to work 60+ hours per week. So I quit
I saw this happen to a friend who became a mom, but not in american agencies - this happened in Asia. She had a kid and was one of three moms in the agency (the others were in finance or non-direct client depts). She couldn’t stay till 9 every night anymore - she had to get home by 6 if she were to breastfeed and see her kid! A few months post coming back from maternity leave, her boss had a talk with her about how he’d been getting comments that “she was not the same anymore” - she wasn’t “there” as much. No shit, she had a kid. They laid her off 6 months after she came back. All very shady. But I’ve heard of this type of thing happen quite often in certain Asian countries
If your team trusts that you can contribute and deliver when they need you it shouldn’t really matter if you are in the office or occasionally at home. But it takes time to build that trust and communication is critical so that they know they can count on you.
Anyone who leaves at five regardless of what’s happening around them is demonstrating their sense of entitlement. On the other hand, full timers who selflessly work around the clock and on weekends show a lack of judgement and planning. The best is the middle way- work hard but plan harder. It’s really agency leadership that should set the base tone of what “normal” working hours should be.
Of course, not, they can't 'legally' fire you for not working more than the 40 hrs required. What are you asking exactly anyway? This seems like a non question even if I can understand the reasons behind the rant/venting
I’ve heard FCB demands too much from people. I’ve heard people quit over the demands. But I know that some others at other agencies think that 50-55 hours per week every week is expected and they are in senior mgmt positions. Personally I think that’s bullshit and ya asking too much
I manage a large team consisting of people with different work styles. Some are early birds with an 8-5 schedule in the office and others do 10:30- 6:30. The early birds typically continue to work in the evening at home to meet deadlines and the later shift typically don’t like bringing. But BOTH groups get their work done and deadlines are met. Who are these people leaving at 5 that push their work on others? I’ve been at FCB for years and have never seen this.
It’s a different situation to actively make a choice to extend yourself for your passion project, that has a finite timeline to it, versus working 50+ hours per week as an ongoing expectation just to keep the wheels greased and the lights on because you’re under allocated. When did there become an implied expectation that all employees will do “whatever it takes or else.” I see some employees that just refuse to stay a moment past 5 pm, and some that work from 7 am-10 pm. No one told either party that’s what they should do, and there are no consequences for the individuals strict about their 5 pm departure (deadlines are missed, work doesn’t get done, clients aren’t happy). This is less about advancement opportunities or junior employees working round the clock to pay their dues (not that I agree with that), but more so about employees having any amount of power or control over their schedules. Sure, take on more work, get advancement opportunities, work longer hours, get a promotion, but what about the people who just want to do a great job at the level they’re at, who want to just make the most of the 45 hours per week they’re willing to be in the office? Can a company legally fire someone who is unwilling to work past, say 50 hours per week?
Hit reasonable deadlines and document excessive after hours requests and share them with your direct supervisor if it’s a problem
You can legally fire someone for anything except sex, race, religion, pregnancy status, and sexual orientation (in some states.) That includes refusing to work over 50 hours a week.
Not that I would condone it, but you absolutely could be fired for that.
That being said, I know what you mean. There are some people who work 9-5 and seem to suffer no negative consequences, while others get shit for not repeatedly working weekends. It’s politics, I suppose, though it does really suck.