Clocked Out For The Last Time

(I am the new hire in this story, and I am working as an evening cleaner with two other girls, who have been there longer than I have. These girls are very unhelpful and right off the bat don’t like me because I take my work seriously while they spend most of their time slacking off and sitting in the office or even skipping some of their tasks so they can sit in the office for two hours until it is time to leave. Being that this is a cleaning job and only the three of us are in the building at this time, they expect us to clean every room until it is time to go home, and with all the tasks it is almost impossible to finish within two hours. One night, about five minutes after our shift has started, I go to ask my coworkers if I can borrow their keys to the paper towel dispenser, I notice they are nowhere to be found and my coworker’s car isn’t in the parking lot. I text them to see what is going on and this exchange takes place:)

Me: “Is everything all right? I noticed your car wasn’t in the parking lot and [Coworker #2] is nowhere to be found, either.”

Coworker: “Yes, everything is all right! [Coworker #2] was very tired and didn’t feel like cleaning so I took her to [Coffee Chain]. We’ll be back in five minutes.”

(I know my boss isn’t going to be too happy with them if she finds out about them leaving. My boss has made it clear we are not allowed to leave while on duty since it is only a four hour shift and there is no need to take a break, but not wanting to get anyone in trouble, I decide I am not going to say anything. An hour goes by and I notice they are still not in the building and two hours later, when I finish all of my assigned areas and go to clock out, they are in the office, drinking their [Coffee Chain] drinks. When I grab my things, one of my coworkers speaks up.)

Coworker #2: “Where are you going, [My Name]?”

Me: “I am finished with my rooms and I am clocking out, as it’s the end of our shift.”

Coworker #1: “Oh, I didn’t realize it was time for us to leave! Did you clean our rooms as well?”

Me: “No, I didn’t. I had my own rooms to worry about. You should’ve thought of that before you clocked out, went to [Coffee Chain] for two hours, and sat in here for another hour.”

Coworker #2: “We didn’t clock out. [Boss] doesn’t care if we have to leave and don’t clock out but now we’re going to have to stay later because of your laziness! You should stay, too.”

Me: “That is not my problem. You two sat in here all night. I am not staying. I cleaned my assigned area and I am going home.”

Coworker #1: “Wait until [Boss] hears about this! We’re supposed to be a team!”

(Having enough of them constantly slacking off, I left, went home, and immediately sent an email to my boss explaining what happened. The next morning, she looked at the cameras and caught them leaving the building, not coming back for two hours, and sitting in the office for another hour, and also saw me cleaning my assigned areas like I was supposed to. It turned out my boss *did* care that my coworkers left the building without clocking out, because the next night, I went in to find out they were going to be let go!)