“Come so early for what?!” — Boss grills staff for coming to work too early

SINGAPORE: While others are grilled by their bosses for showing up late to work, one Singaporean worker was grilled by his boss for being… too early!

He took to r/askSingapore, a Reddit forum, on Sunday (Sept 22) to share his unusual experience. In his post, he mentioned that he prefers arriving at the office early as it enables him to complete more work.

He noted that the quiet atmosphere during those early hours allowed him to focus better on his tasks without the usual distractions that arise later in the day.

“The office tends to be extremely noisy as the boss talks loudly, and the entire office can hear him. It’s a small office,” he explained.

There’s also no rule against this behaviour, as the company offers a flexible work schedule, allowing employees to come in anytime between 8:30 am and 10:30 am.

However, instead of recognizing his initiative and work ethic, his boss scolded him.

“He insists I come at 9.30 am because ‘come so early for what? No one is here. No teamwork. It is the same as working from home.’”

Curious about others’ experiences, he asked the community if anyone else had faced a complaint from a boss about coming in too early.

“My entire life, I only have bosses complain that I come late, but never early,” he wrote. “Has your boss ever complained that you come to work too early?”

“He’s just jealous you’re working harder than him.”

In the discussion thread, one Singaporean Redditor questioned whether the boss knew about the flexible work arrangement.

He added, “Your boss, schizo ah, forget he set up the policies. Or just simply twist to his preference. Arriving first to settle work and get comfy is quite a nice routine actually to get the day started and definitely advantageous to get things done.”

Another Redditor shared that he also prefers to start and end work early to avoid peak-hour traffic.

He said, “If your boss says you must come in at 9:30, reason with him. I think avoiding peak-hour traffic is a legitimate reason.

If he cannot be reasoned with, say you’ll be forced to quit for your mental health. If he still refuses to budge, unfortunately, you will have to either suck it up or find another job.”

A third jokingly remarked, “He’s just jealous you’re working harder than him. Later, steal his rice bowl.” A fourth expressed, “Like that why your boss cannot adhere to offered flexible start times and work around it? No teamwork?”

Read also: “Employer retracts job offer because I asked too many questions” — Candidate gets rejected even after signing contract and resigning from current job

Featured image by Depositphotos