Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with tardiness

Is my new tardiness policy fair?

titans13 — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:51:33 -0800

I am seeking feedback on the fairness of a new tardiness policy I instituted at my company. I own an IT services firm that also has a retail storefront (the more traditional computer repair shop model). We have had a situation with chronic tardiness, to the point where on a recent Saturday, at three minutes before opening, I was the only one there (whereas four people were scheduled that day). I have now instituted what I believed to be a fair and generous policy, and some don't like it as they say it is too strict. Please read on for the policy... 1-14 minutes late: 2 points
15-29 minutes late: 3 points
30-59 minutes late: 4 points
1 Hour + late: 6 points

With call less than 15 minutes ahead:
1-14 minutes late: 1 points
15-29 minutes late: 2 points
30-59 minutes late: 3 points
1 Hour + late: 5 points

With call 15 minutes or more ahead:
1-14 minutes late: .5 points
15-29 minutes late: 1 points
30-59 minutes late: 2 points
1 Hour + late: 3.5 points

Points are accumulated within any 30-day period. This is not the first through the end of any given month; it is a simple consecutive 30 days.
Consequences within 30 days:
6 points = Verbal warning
8 points = 1 day suspension without pay
10 points = 2 day suspension without pay
12 points = Week suspension without pay

Now...I am not an HR person...I am a tech who evolved into a businessman. I am looking for perspective, potential holes in the policy, and opinions as to it's strictness/fairness. Thanks to all in advance!

Exorcising the Late Demon?

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:01:56 -0800

How did you overcome a lifetime of chronic lateness? [THE SHORT VERSION: Always late, bad at estimating time. You too? Fixed it? How??? ]

[THE LONG VERSION:]

I'm one of those people who's always late to everything. Everything. Sorry.

I've been this way as long as I can remember -- especially once I got my driver's license and was responsible for my own transportation.

I'm not (especially) disorganized, I don't get a power-high from keeping people waiting, I really do respect people's time. I have suffered personal and career consequences, as well as the internal guilt and shame I feel every time I arrive, flustered and apologetic, to a room full of frustrated faces. But I'm still late to everything. Everything.

I've tried for years and years to come up with "systems" to overcome this--all sorts of alarm clocks, beeping things, reminders, phone calls from friends, cutesy "put a dollar in a jar every time I'm late" kind of stuff--but nothing seems to work for more than a few days. I *am* capable of self-discipline but I think this issue has a different origin.

Another MeFi thread confirms the root cause of my lateness: I have a very poor internal clock. I cannot estimate how long things will take or have taken. I always think I can squeeze in one more task before I walk out the door. If I look at my watch and see there are 10 minutes before I have to leave, my brain keeps flashing "no problem, you still have 10 minutes" for the next 20--then I'm shocked when I realize the time disappeared. I am an intelligent person but cannot get over the assumption that putting on my shoes, finding my keys, locking up the house, walking to the car, putting on my seatbelt, and starting the car will all occur instantaneously and do not count towards travel time. On the rare occasion that I--through a monumental effort--manage to leave early, I am so proud of myself that I look at my watch, see all of that luxurious extra time, and say "excellent, I have plenty of time to stop for coffee on the way." And of course you know what happens next.

45 minutes ago I sat down at my computer and said to myself "I'll just take 2 minutes to write up this AskMe question before going to bed." How did I not anticipate this? It happens every time.

Even self-awareness and knowing/anticipating my own tendencies doesn't seem to help. If my instinct tells me a task will take 1 hour, I know enough to distrust that instinct and leave myself 3 hours instead. Then the task ends up taking 5.

Those of you who are NOT chronically late: I'm sure this makes no sense to you, comes off as excuse-making. I acknowledge that everything I have written is absolutely stupid. After all, the answer is simple: just leave earlier.

Unfortunately it's been decades and no amount of reasoning or concentrated effort have cured me -- I'm starting to feel that "just leave earlier" is like "just read in a straight line" to a dyslexic person.

But those of you who "get" everything I've written here: has anyone conquered It? How? Tell me everything. Details, philosophy, systems, self-flaggelation, self-help books, joining the army,therapy, whatever worked for you could work for me. This has beaten me my whole life but it hurts people and makes me look like/feel like a jerk. I'm going to conquer it in this lifetime even if it takes until I'm 90. Better late than never?

[Full-disclosure: I was diagnosed with ADD as an adult and am on medication for this. The medication helps in many ways but my time-issues have not changed at all.]

[I do oversleep but that's only a small portion of my overall lateness-habit. I appreciate alarm-clock-tricks but that's not what I'm looking for here]

Thank you

How to fix a chronically late spouse?

teg4rvn — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 09:38:37 -0800

My loved one is always late. How can I make an intervention that is not *too* threatening/insulting/maddening to fix this? My wife never gets anywhere on time. It's never her fault either. "I lost track of the time." is the usual explanation. Friends have humorously hinted to me about her tardiness..."I always tell her 30 minutes ahead of time, cuz you know how she is..." Even her mother has had a fight with her about it, to which she responded, "You have no ideas how busy I am." Years ago we had a talk about this and she was very defensive. This was when we lived in a big city with public transportation and you never knew when the next bus or subway would arrive. I asked her how she got places on time. She responded by saying she was not going to leave *early* because she didn't want to be the one waiting there for everyone else to show up. I told her I thought that was wrong and she said that I was too *anal* about things.

So I've established she sensitive about it.

Now that she's going back into the workforce after more than a decade, I think this might work against her. There are other AskMeFi threads about *why* people are late..I don't care about that even though it is interesting to read about. I just want to know how I should approach a chronically late individual without hurting her feelings [too much].

I'm late! I'm late! For a very important--

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:41:30 -0800

How can I get to class on time? It is the third week of the college semester, and I have already missed three classes because I've been so late that I couldn't bear to walk in the classroom door. I've walked in 3-15 minutes late already to a number of classes. Not good... So. I care about school, or I think I do. I respect that other people need to learn. I loathe being a disruption. I appreciate and enjoy all of my professors, and I want to make a good impression. I want to learn! So why am I getting in the way of that by being late all the time? What's are some solutions?

This has been a problem, well, pretty much since I've started college. It has gotten a bit worse, though. I can't decide if that's because I'm so appalled with my tardiness that I won't walk in the door anymore, or if I'm really just running later than I used to.

A lot of times, I just can't get out of bed. Even when I have slept well. Even when I have a lot to do in the morning, or when I don't have much to do at all. It's even worse when I don't get enough sleep, which is often. But it's like I just don't have that extra oomph to get myself up. I just hit the snooze button repeatedly, or I turn it off and then fall back asleep.

Then, when I do get out of bed, I have a lot to do to get out of the door. A lot of times I'm rushing around. Sometimes I'm just moving slowly about. I can get so engrossed in certain tasks (checking e-mail, showering, fixing my bike helmet, etc.) that I just ignore the time.

I live off campus, so some days I drive or some days I walk or bike. Regardless, I'm a mess, and I'm always scrambling about.

What are you tricks for getting yourself out of bed and out the door in the morning?

How can I accept the tardiness of those around me?

SpiffyRob — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:14:20 -0800

How can I accept the tardiness of those around me? Briefish background: After years of freelancing and general work-for-myselfitude, I've taken a position at a genuine office with cubicles and everything. I've been here about two months, I'm settling in nicely, and I'm enjoying the stability of a *cough* real job.

The problem: (Mostly) everyone here is very passionate about the work they do, and I would never question their commitment, but there's a MASSIVE culture of tardiness in the air. One weekly meeting, which always takes place at the same place, at the same time, has never started any earlier than seven minutes after its scheduled beginning. A few weeks ago, I was actually shooed from a room when I showed up a minute early.

The catch: Although I am in a middle-management position, and could influence some, the problem extends all the way to those on top. Moreover, despite my personal belief that persistent tardiness reflects a lack of commitment, the company is, unarguably, extremely successful. For whatever reason, tardiness works, and everyone else has drank the Kool-Aid.

And so: Help me swallow this Kool-Aid! I'm not at all an uptight person, I'm simply coming from an environment (of my own creation, admittedly) where promptness was extremely important, and now that it isn't anymore, I'm having trouble adjusting. Is there anything I can do beyond rolling my clock back seven minutes?

Why are some people chronically late?

grumblebee — Wed, 24 Nov 2004 09:53:27 -0800

Why are some people chronically late? I have a hard time understanding such people, because I am chronically early. I know some people are late because they have very busy lives, but those aren't the types that interest me (I can understand why they are late). I'm interested in those folks who are always late for no apparent reason. The type you have to invite an hour before the event actually starts, knowing that this will make them only twenty-minutes late, instead of an-hour-and-twenty-minutes late.

I've theorized that chronic latecomers are people that are so caught up in-the-moment that the smallest thing can distract them from a later goal. For instance, I had a latecomer friend who used to say things like, "sorry I'm late. I was getting dressed to come see you, and then I noticed my guitar leaning against the wall. I started playing a few chords, and before I knew it, two hours had passed..." I've also theorized that some people are really bad at estimating how long tasks will take. They leave at 5:55 because they estimate that it will take them 5 minutes to walk to the cinema for a 6pm movie. Whereas someone better able to estimate durations would allow 20 minutes.

I've know people who are chronically late and also continually surprised that they're late. I know people who swear up and down that THIS time they will be on time. But I know they will be late again, and I'm always right. I've also known a SMALL number of people who say things like, "well, I'll probably be late, because I always am."

I know part of my chronic earliness stems from a world view that things often go wrong. If I estimate that it will take me 20 minutes to get somewhere, I will leave 35 minutes before the event in order to give myself some slack in case the subway breaks down or whatever.

I would love to hear from you latecomers about what goes on in your lives and heads when you are late. I can't vouch for other AskMe folks, but I won't chastise you. I don't really feel like I'm "right" and you're "wrong." We may irritate each other a bit, but it's mostly just a personality difference. I'm really interested in how your minds differ from mine.

Latecomers, why are you late? When you ARE late, do you feel guilty about it? Or do you feel like lateness is just a part of life. Do you feel like people should plan events around latecomers -- should plays always start ten-minutes late? Do you feel like people who are early or on-time (or berate latecomers) are too anal and need to relax?