A corporate professional working 40 hours a week in the tech sector shared on Reddit how he reclaimed his Friday afternoons after working extra hours over a weekend. The employee, revealed that his manager had previously told him to “take my time back on a Friday afternoon,” which he decided to follow strictly.
Overtime Weekend Leads to Flexible Fridays
According to the employee, a few weeks ago both his manager and a colleague were on leave, leaving him to cover their responsibilities. An “urgent escalation” arrived on a Friday at 2 pm, which forced him to work until 8 pm that evening and continue over the weekend. “Some colleagues get that time back as ‘monetary’ where I was told by HR to arrange with my manager on when I can have that time back,” he explained.
The employee requested two extra leave days in December and additional paid time off for the weekend work, but his manager declined, saying, “No I don’t agree. Just end early every Friday until you go on leave. Put it in your calendar.” The employee followed these instructions, blocking his Friday afternoons in his calendar as out-of-office (OOF) time.
Friday Afternoons Now Guilt-Free
The employee added that although there is an unwritten rule that work generally ends at 2 pm on Fridays, he had a recent instance where his manager needed him for a proposal review at 1 pm. The meeting was canceled last minute, and multiple calls and messages later in the day went unanswered as he spent the afternoon with his son. He concluded, “I quite like having my Friday afternoons guilt free. I blocked that time out in my diary as OOF & have the email trail of his instructions re taking the time back on Fridays.”
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