Imagine having an hourly job where you need to clock in and clock out every day. Would you think it would be okay to clock in a few minutes early every day, or would it be better to arrive right on time so you’re not accumulating overtime?

In this story, one employee likes to arrive 10 minutes early, but after a meeting about overtime, she realizes she needs to make some changes to her schedule.

Let’s see how the story plays out.

Please make sure you’re adhering to the employee handbook guidelines on clocking in and out

I work Monday through Friday 7:30 am-4:00 pm I am an hourly employee and my company’s time clocking is not rounded, meaning we are effectively getting paid by the minute.

I usually clock in at 7:20 because it does give me a bit of easy overtime pay, and it allows me a few quiet minutes in the morning to check some emails while enjoying my coffee.

She’s not the only one who likes to be early.

A few of my other coworkers clock in early every day too, between 10 and 15 minutes.

Our manager doesn’t mind because we are a productive and reliable team.

We all clock out at 4:00 on the dot unless we are held up by a meeting or some other obligation.

She might need to start getting to work later.

Well, we had a staff meeting on Friday and our supervisor mentioned that the higher ups are starting to watch OT and people’s clocking times so to please ensure we are all adhering to the company’s time and attendance policies and to review the employee handbook for further information.

So I reviewed the handbook.

The policy states that employees are to punch in no sooner than 7 minutes prior to their start time.

Fair enough, I will clock in at 7:23 then.

But it gets better.

I continue reading and learn that employees may clock out up to 7 minutes after their scheduled end time without violating the time and attendance policy.

So now instead of 7:20-4:00 PM, I will be clocking in at 7:23 and out at 4:07, giving myself 4 additional minutes of additional time every day.

It’s great when sticking to the rules works in your favor!

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This is probably what happened.

Another person shares their company’s policy.

Wouldn’t this be nice!

It’s probably true that the highers ups don’t know what the employee handbook actually says.

Sometimes, following the employee handbook can work in your favor!

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.