Imagine being an employee who is on salary and not hourly. Would you be annoyed if you were told to keep track of the hours you worked anyway, or would you simply comply?

In this story, one product manager is in this exact situation. She’s annoyed, but she complies anyway to prove a point. The best part is the product director’s reaction!

Let’s see how the story plays out.

Supervisor thinks I’m slacking off, so I use the system she imposes to get longer weekends.

When I was a product manager for a retail company, I was on a small team where the product director (PD) expected me to do a bunch of secretarial tasks and run random errands for her (not in my job description) on top of my own work, yet she had this idea in her head that I had a poor work ethic, despite me never giving her a reason to think so.

One day, our supervisor (S) called me into her office for what I thought was our biweekly check-in.

S: Hey, [My Name], I’ve heard complaints that you aren’t putting in your full hours. You’re supposed to work from 8:00 to 5:00, but PD says you come in late and leave early.

Me: What? Nobody’s ever here right at 8:00, not even PD, and I leave at 4:30 to avoid traffic. You said it was okay because I don’t take lunch breaks. We discussed this just a few months ago.

The supervisor needed proof.

S: I know, but PD thinks you’re not getting enough work done this way.

Me: What project haven’t I finished on time because I leave a little early? I can’t think of one.

S: Neither can I, but PD just wants you all to be on the same page. So just to make sure that you are putting in 40 hours, I’m going to have you report your in-and-out times to me every day.

OP had some follow-up questions.

Me: Even though I’m a salaried employee?

S: Yes. It’s just temporary, just to make sure things are in order.

Me: Okay… And do you want me to work more than 40 hours?

S: I’m not asking that of you. Once you hit your 40 hours, you’re done for the week, same as everyone else.

OP decided to comply.

Me: And it’s not required that I take a full hour for lunch?

S: Not at all! Just tell me when you come and go.

I thought about it for a minute, then agreed to her terms and gave PD the stink-eye behind her back when I returned to my desk.

Here’s how the first day of the new trial went…

The next Monday started my “trial period,” and I came in at 8:00 sharp, said hi to the supervisor (who was the only one there that early) so that she’d take note of the time, and I stayed right until 5:00.

PD looked really smug as we left the building at the same time.

I had to sit in traffic for an hour longer than usual. It sucked.

There were no changes besides the longer working hours each day.

All week was like this, with absolutely nothing else changing.

We still got projects done as quickly and efficiently as before, and I worked through my lunch break as usual while PD took an hour or more to go out to eat every day.

When Friday afternoon arrived, I popped into my supervisor’s office.

Me: Have a good weekend! See you Monday!

The supervisor was surprised.

S: What?? It’s only noon!

Me: And I’ve hit my 40 hours.

She stammered for a minute and looked at the sheet where she’d been keeping track of my hours. She’d been noting the times but hadn’t actually added up the hours as the week went on, because it only then hit her what had happened.

The supervisor had a follow-up question.

S: You didn’t take any lunch breaks?

Me: Never do. You said I didn’t have to. You also said not to put in more than 40 hours. My projects are all taken care of for the week, so… I can go, right?

She looked hesitant, but then reluctantly admitted that yes, those were the terms we’d set, so I could leave for the weekend.

Being stuck in traffic was worth it!

The horror on PD’s face as I gathered up all my stuff to go home at noon was worth all those hours stuck in traffic.

This time-keeping thing lasted two more weeks, with me leaving early every Friday.

My projects were always done on time, but now PD didn’t have me around as much to do all her little menial tasks, and I could feel how angry she was about it even as she had to admit that I was just obeying instructions.

Eventually, things went back to normal.

It was also causing tension with my coworkers, who wondered why they were staying full Fridays while I wasn’t.

Honestly, I didn’t even like leaving that early every week, because I just worried all afternoon that there’d be a problem with my projects while I was gone. But it was the principle of the thing that kept me adhering to the letter of the “law.” And thankfully, nothing catastrophic happened while I was gone.

Finally, my supervisor asked me to go back to my previous schedule, and said that she trusted me to manage my own time.

I went back to working from 8:20 to 4:30 and was never accused of not putting in enough time ever again.

That worked out well! Complying and keeping track of the hours turned out to be a very effective way to get the higher ups to back off.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

An employee who usually works from home shares how they handle the work hours.

This is a good question!

I’m assuming it’s because OP is also arriving at 8:30am instead of 8am.

Sometimes you have to comply to prove a point!

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.