Clock Blocked

I had a colleague who finished at 4 PM. The office manager was always pissed off because she was always leaving “early”. No, she got there before her 8 AM start; he just didn’t see her working until he casually strolled in some time after 9.

One day, when the big boss (whom she worked directly for) was away, with the office manager in charge:

Office Manager: *To the colleague.* “You can’t leave before 5 PM.”

Colleague: “Okay, let me go and talk to our CFO and see about overtime rates. I work from 8 AM until 4 PM. I manage my time well and get all my work done.”

Office Manager: “What?! We’re all salaried! There are no overtime rates!”

With perfect timing, the big boss called from overseas. I gleefully transfer the call to my colleague. The best thing about a fairly open plan office is that you can hear everything from the reception desk (to be fair, also one of the worst things, too).

Colleague: *To the big boss over the phone.* “Hello, [Big Boss]. [Office Manager] is insisting that I stay until 5 PM, with no overtime pay or reason mentioned. Have you got a particular task requiring me to stay?”

Pause.

Colleague: *To the office manager.* “He wants to talk to you.”

The office manager had a very long chat with the big boss (mostly one-sided), which ended with the office manager leaving early in a sulk. He later tried to chastise me for transferring the call from the big boss when I did, and I replied:

Me: “Look, you do NOT f*** around with a good admin assistant, especially a good admin assistant that works directly to the big boss! How is it I know that and you don’t?!”

My colleague was not f***ed with again.