I'm the bad guy for not working off the clock

[cwilliams032]

I started a new, hourly, 9-5 job in insurance, and am still orienting. The nurses I work with socialise wayyyy too much, leaving lots of work to be done after hours. I get being friendly with your coworkers, but I'm talking multiple 30 min pointless conversations throughout the day. So a couple of days ago, instead of starting a 1.5 hour assignment after 5pm, for which I would not be paid, I told my preceptor that I have to go. I have a family that i still have to take care of. Everyone has been treating me like the bad guy every since.

I think I might lose my job after this, and am feeling very frustrated. I guess it's better in the long run since I don't think it's right to have employees regularly work off the clock.

[old&improved]

I work in a hospital and according to our director if you're off the clock you cannot access a patient's medical record. It is a HIPPA violation. I don't know if that applies to insurance work as well, but I would think so.

[EDNURSE20, BSN]

Maybe youre not a good fit. But that’s not a bad thing.

Every work place/ hospital department have there own way of doing things. There’s always an adjustment period, some things you will like and somethings you will hate. But generally you get used to things in time.

I don’t think this situation is fair to bad mouth the other nurses. They are adjusting to you too. This is the way they’ve always done things, and it works for them. Either in time you will find your feet and get into routine that works for you and other staff. Or find that it’s just not you.

[cwilliams032]

6 hours ago, nznurse93 said:

Maybe youre not a good fit. But that’s not a bad thing.

Every work place/ hospital department have there own way of doing things. There’s always an adjustment period, some things you will like and somethings you will hate. But generally you get used to things in time.

I don’t think this situation is fair to bad mouth the other nurses. They are adjusting to you too. This is the way they’ve always done things, and it works for them. Either in time you will find your feet and get into routine that works for you and other staff. Or find that it’s just not you.

I wasn't trying to bad mouth anyone. They're all sweet girls. In fairness, their problem is that they're too nice to each other, and it causes time management issues. I just won't ever be the type comfortable with working off the clock. I actually had the same issue working on the floor when I refused to take the nurse phone with me on lunch to continue to answer calls while I'm eating.

[JKL33]

If these are hourly employees clocking in and out, etc., they are stealing from the employer by not working while they are being paid to work and then additionally by collecting an extra rate of pay later that shouldn't have been necessary. On the other hand, if they're salaried and they waste a good portion of their day during typical working hours and then have to get the work done after typical working hours, they still aren't providing free labor.

No one in their right mind would terminate the OP for more efficient work patterns, but I guess a problem could arise if the new coworkers don't want him/her around and decide to cause a problem over something else. The OP should just be generally kind and collegial and if they try to cause trouble with the supervisor/boss, then you can tell that person what you believe it's really about. ?

[DeeAngel]

You are setting a good example to the other women of what setting a boundary looks like.

[EDNURSE20, BSN]

You’re not. But everyone else here is.

You’re made out that they are the bad guy here though.

we know very little about the situation. But People choosing to stay late, isn’t a terrible thing, if that’s what they want.Don’t expect to change the work place culture.

I would much prefer friendly staff that enjoy what they do, but have poor time management; compared to what most people complain about on this site.

[TriciaJ, RN]

1 hour ago, nznurse93 said:

You’re not. But everyone else here is.

You’re made out that they are the bad guy here though.

we know very little about the situation. But People choosing to stay late, isn’t a terrible thing, if that’s what they want.Don’t expect to change the work place culture.

I would much prefer friendly staff that enjoy what they do, but have poor time management; compared to what most people complain about on this site.

If the friendly staff are ripping off the employer, I applaud OP for not being willing to join in. If they themselves are the only ones harmed by their poor time management, fine. But OP doesn't want to go along with that either.

OP is concerned she might find herself in a difficult situation because she is neither willing to rip off the employer, nor donate hours of her own time.

[Nunya, BSN]

On 9/18/2019 at 8:24 PM, NewOncNurseRN said:

If it’s salary, you are expected to complete your tasks regarded of time. Most places I have worked in that pay a salary expect that you work late in order to accomplish all that is expected to be accomplished that day. Salary is very different from hourly in that way- you can easily work more hours without incentives like overtime.

Except if he's orienting still he has no say in the timelines of work being done, yet he's being expected to stay late because of others socializing. When he's off orientation and can get his work done in his timeline then he can stay late if he needs to.

[srod79]

Some people feel some kind of way about people that stand up for themselves. You did nothing wrong. I have worked Salary and hourly and I was not sticking around longer than I had to in either situation. They will get over it. I mean you can always explain your stand if you think you need to, perhaps your Preceptor was offended by what you said because you were so direct, some people cannot handle this but I do not feel you should be penalized.