Poll: Over exaggerate work hours on timesheets?

[Feldenak]

I average mine. The total comes out to the same by the end of the week and it's not unheard of for the company to get free time out of me. I always put 10 hours down for myself every day even if I'm there only 9.5 hours because by the end of the week, I know I'll have at least 1 10.5 hr day to cover for it.

 

[dxkj]

Rounding 30 mins each way, in and out, makes it 1hr a day, 5hrs a week, 20hrs a month, 240hrs a year

240x10/hr = 2,400 extr for the year that the company shouldnt have to pay you.


It's actually your supervisors job to make sure you don't steal from the company like this, but it should be partly yours as well.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
My employer had a lawsuit brought against them because of a glitch in our punch in/out system. At 2:00 AM every morning a program would pull hours from employee punches and record them. This process took 2 minutes to complete. Some of our operations run 24/7 and there would be employee's punched in at that time that it was running. The polling process would punch them out, and then punch them back in after the process was complete. When it did this it would shave off two minutes from an employee's hours.

What happened was an employee was looking over what time he clocked in and clocked out and looked at how much he was getting paid. It ended up being close to half an hour in a two week period. He tried bringing a lawsuit against us because we were cheating him time.

Fair enough. We manually account for this now.

But, in equality, if an employee is going to nag about 2 minutes being off, we're going to bust your balls for punching out 15 minutes later than you were actually working.

2 minutes? people will sue for anything these days.

 

[Electric Amish]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: deerslayer
You obviously already felt bad about it or you wouldn't be questioning whether it's right or wrong

I did feel bad, but I gotta get paid some how right? I was hoping for more people to say it's right or that they're doing it to so I don't feel bad.

So, whether it's right or wrong doesn't matter as long as you FEEL ok about it??

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: dxkj
Rounding 30 mins each way, in and out, makes it 1hr a day, 5hrs a week, 20hrs a month, 240hrs a year

240x10/hr = 2,400 extr for the year that the company shouldnt have to pay you.


It's actually your supervisors job to make sure you don't steal from the company like this, but it should be partly yours as well.

alright I understand it's stealing, just like downloading music is stealing, but is it right? What if you feel like you're underpaid? Actually what if you KNOW you're underpaid?

 

[filmmaker]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: dxkj
Rounding 30 mins each way, in and out, makes it 1hr a day, 5hrs a week, 20hrs a month, 240hrs a year

240x10/hr = 2,400 extr for the year that the company shouldnt have to pay you.


It's actually your supervisors job to make sure you don't steal from the company like this, but it should be partly yours as well.

alright I understand it's stealing, just like downloading music is stealing, but is it right? What if you feel like you're underpaid? Actually what if you KNOW you're underpaid?

Then ask for a raise or get another job. Simple as that.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: Electric Amish

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: deerslayer
You obviously already felt bad about it or you wouldn't be questioning whether it's right or wrong

I did feel bad, but I gotta get paid some how right? I was hoping for more people to say it's right or that they're doing it to so I don't feel bad.

So, whether it's right or wrong doesn't matter as long as you FEEL ok about it??

YUP! now we're getting it!

Okay you got me, it's not ethical, but I just don't want to feel bad about it. Like I said before, downloading music ain't exactly ethical but many people do it. Just wonder how many people do this, and if I'm in the majority then I can feel better

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: filmmaker
Then ask for a raise or get another job. Simple as that.

Tried the first suggestion, working on the other right now.

 

[Electric Amish]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: dxkj
Rounding 30 mins each way, in and out, makes it 1hr a day, 5hrs a week, 20hrs a month, 240hrs a year

240x10/hr = 2,400 extr for the year that the company shouldnt have to pay you.


It's actually your supervisors job to make sure you don't steal from the company like this, but it should be partly yours as well.

alright I understand it's stealing, just like downloading music is stealing, but is it right? What if you feel like you're underpaid? Actually what if you KNOW you're underpaid?

You're already in the majority (those underpaid - just ask ANYONE) so you shouldn't feel about being underpaid.

Using your theories, if you became correctly paid or even overpaid you should feel bad because you're not in the majority anymore and therefore you'd be trying to lower your salary.

 

[zixxer]

my boss is really cool. he doesnt want me clocking out for lunch, or if i have to go to a class or run home or anything

so i clock in when i first get there, and clock out when i last leave.

(sometimes getting like 12 hour day/50-60hr weeks )

 

[Parrotheader]

I HATE doing timesheets. Mine's not just 'when did you get to work/when did you leave.' That would be AWESOME if that's all there was to it. Since we're an ad agency we're a lot like a law firm and have to bill time to various clients (and at practically the same rates as some lawyers so timesheets have to be accurate which can be a pain with a lot of clients.) We bill our time to our clients by rounding to the nearest 15 minutes. Unless I have a special project I'm working on, I generally divide my workload for the day based upon the weighted amount of work for each of my individual clients that we have an ongoing contract with. Given all the various small clients it takes FOREVER to get my timesheets done.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: Electric Amish
You're already in the majority (those underpaid - just ask ANYONE) so you shouldn't feel about being underpaid.

Using your theories, if you became correctly paid or even overpaid you should feel bad because you're not in the majority anymore and therefore you'd be trying to lower your salary.

I shouldn't feel about being underpaid?

If they gave me a raise and I felt that I was getting compensated correctly for my work or even over compensated I would definitely feel less inclined to exaggerate my hours. I've had a couple of jobs before this where I honestly felt they were paying my more than enough. I wouldn't mark my hours correctly, even under mark my hours.

 

[Cougar]

It's funny that you should mention this. On the last contract I worked on there was this one guy that was a flat out thief. He lied so much on his time sheet and he never got caught. Except for one occasion I was always the last one to leave work and yet this bozo always had as many hours if not more than me. I would get so steamed to see him leave an hour before me and put down that he worked a full 8. It's one thing if the job was real intense and every night was absolute chaos but it wasn't. The job was a piece of cake and we basically spent the entire night sitting on our butts. Even if the job was hectic that still doesn't give him the right to put down upwards of 2 1/2 bonus hours per day.

I'm no rat but if I ever end up working with this guy again you better believe I'll be making some "anonymous" phone calls about his time sheet.

Oh, and coming in at 9:59 = 10:00 not 9:30...ya bloody thief

 

[cyclistca]

Originally posted by: m2kewl
i around to nearest hr. if leaving at 6:01pm = leaving at 7pm

consulting is great!!

Hopefully your not a grammar consultant.

I have to log my time for billing and budgeting purposes. So if anything I usually under report my hours by 5 to 10 minutes.

 

[Konigin]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5
Is it wrong? I mean I usually round to the nearest half hour. So if I come in at 9:59 I say I come in at 9:30 on the timesheet. Or if I leave around 6:01 I say 6:30 :evil:

but I mean I don't take breaks so I figure it evens out.

If I left at 6:01 I'd say 6:00 or 6:05, depending on the job. I guess it would even out if you had a decent break during the day.

 

[rh71]

I worked 10 hours today... and it's only 5:30pm.

<-- thinks work-at-home is an evil ploy. Salaried = teH suX0r.

 

[amdskip]

I just clock in and it's to the closest minute so no cheating at all and on my previous job I had sheets and we would round to the hour sometimes if I had worked 15 after I just forget about those 15 extra minutes.

 

[spaceman]

depends on the job.

 

[Parrotheader]

Another thing that chaps me about my job is that most of the agency is a traditional ad agency and can only do the vast majority of their work while at the office. But I'm able to do a great deal of my work from home or anywhere there's Internet access so I do work from home quite a bit in the evenings and on the weekend as needed. And while I make note of this on my timesheets it irritates the hell out of me that people assume JUST because I leave at 5:00 on the nose (so I can get home and spend time with my wife since she goes to bed fairly early) they assume I rarely put in extra time since most people don't see my timesheets. One of my largest clients is in Hawaii (5 hours behind us; I'm the only one in the agency who works heavily with this client) so I'm checking and responding to emails about 10:00 EVERY night to try and be responsive due to the time zone lag. But the company president is so old school that he equates a warm body in the office with working. Personally, I KNOW I can get more done in 1/2 a day at home than I could in a whole day at the office due to fewer distractions/meetings/etc. In fact, sometimes I'll work hard in the evening and then do nothing but goof off almost the whole next day at the office because I was able to get all my work done at home.

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: Parrotheader
Another thing that chaps me about my job is that most of the agency is a traditional ad agency and can only do the vast majority of their work while at the office. But I'm able to do a great deal of my work from home or anywhere there's Internet access so I do work from home quite a bit in the evenings and on the weekend as needed. And while I make note of this on my timesheets it irritates the hell out of me that people assume JUST because I leave at 5:00 on the nose (so I can get home and spend time with my wife since she goes to bed fairly early) they assume I rarely put in extra time since most people don't see my timesheets. One of my largest clients is in Hawaii (5 hours behind us; I'm the only one in the agency who works heavily with this client) so I'm checking and responding to emails about 10:00 EVERY night to try and be responsive due to the time zone lag. But the company president is so old school that he equates a warm body in the office with working. Personally, I KNOW I can get more done in 1/2 a day at home than I could in a whole day at the office due to fewer distractions/meetings/etc. In fact, sometimes I'll work hard in the evening and then do nothing but goof off almost the whole next day at the office because I was able to get all my work done at home.

never thought of it that way... I do some work at home, not much though but some days it equates to the extra time I log. Wow I'm feeling better about this already!

 

[civad]

In my company, we get paid for 40 hrs flat. Therefore it doesnt matter whether you have worked 50 hours a week or 60.
OTOH, if for some reason you end upo working LESS than 40 hrs, youa re asked to elaborate (sickness/absence, etc.)
Then it is decided on a case-by-case basis whether you should be paid for 40 hrs or not.
Above all, one is expected to be honest while filling the timesheets.
The bo$$ doesnt complain if once in a while you have nothing to do/ stop to fill gas on way to work

 

[civad]

originally posted by:Parrotheader
I HATE doing timesheets. Mine's not just 'when did you get to work/when did you leave.' That would be AWESOME if that's all there was to it. Since we're an ad agency we're a lot like a law firm and have to bill time to various clients (and at practically the same rates as some lawyers so timesheets have to be accurate which can be a pain with a lot of clients.) We bill our time to our clients by rounding to the nearest 15 minutes. Unless I have a special project I'm working on, I generally divide my workload for the day based upon the weighted amount of work for each of my individual clients that we have an ongoing contract with. Given all the various small clients it takes FOREVER to get my timesheets done.

I know what you mean. My firm (a civil engg. consulting firm) has 4-5 major clients and lots of smaller clients. It is difficult to keep track of what project you worked on. Tasks are divided as: Client#-Project#-Phase#-Type of work.

I have been working with this company for about an ywar now and I am just getting used to the system. There have been people who have been working for 30 years and still mess up their time sheets..

 

[Kenny]

It's freakin wrong.

I used to do mailing for a company at $8.50 an hour and tax. It was monkey work. I cheated on all my hours and had paid 2 hour lunch breaks. No one complained so I didn't care. There were 3 other workers too. In the summer I used to work 12 hours a day and I made so much money. All of it was spent on food though. Such a waste.

11 months later they realized that machines could do the work faster, and at a remarkably lower price. Simply put, I was replaced by a machine.

 

[PatboyX]

i would hate it if i saw my co-workers doing that. i understand rounding...but 9:59 to 9:30...good god, i hope you're joking...why not just make it 9 or 8?

 

[civad]

originally posted by: t60
It's freakin wrong.

I used to do mailing for a company at $8.50 an hour and tax. It was monkey work. I cheated on all my hours and had paid 2 hour lunch breaks. No one complained so I didn't care. There were 3 other workers too. In the summer I used to work 12 hours a day and I made so much money. All of it was spent on food though. Such a waste.

11 months later they realized that machines could do the work faster, and at a remarkably lower price. Simply put, I was replaced by a machine.

I hope your example will make the 'cheaters' realize what might eventually happen if they continue doing it...