My twin sister's old boss was all about control. She was a horrible morning person and would always come in about 15 minutes late. He kept on her about it insisting that it mattered to the rest of the company--the plant people who worked day shift would see her come in after 8 and he thought it "looked bad" for their department. She finally hashed it out with him. The rest of the employees weren't there to see her leave at 8 or 9 pm nearly every night so really, what did it matter if she came in 15 minutes late?

With him, it was definitely about the control.

Happy birthday, Drew!

I was up between 1:30 and 3 this morning, on a con call with our European partner. I manage the database and file share that we use to communicate, and so I had to be on the call. I keep this 24/7 availability and my boss has never questioned any time I've arrived or left the office.

But I am incredibly fortunate and I know it.

I used to have that "discussion" with my current boss a lot, too. Mainly she just wanted me to be apologetic and all subordinate when she got pissy about it, which was usually when her boss got on *her* case about some stupid shit. Bottom line, as long as the work gets done on time, no one really cares. Now, working from home, as long as I return her calls within about an hour, she doesn't even ask what I'm doing or when.

Telecommuting has saved my life, I swear, and I'll never quit this job unless I can find another job with good pay, good bennies, and full-time telecommuting. (Not likely, I think.) This company knows they have my soul now. It was an evil plot all along.

But I am incredibly fortunate and I know it.

Yes, this.

I used to have that "discussion" with my current boss a lot, too. Mainly she just wanted me to be apologetic and all subordinate when she got pissy about it, which was usually when her boss got on *her* case about some stupid shit.

This is such a frequent phenomenon, isn't it?

Zen, what is it that you do? How nice about the telecommuting! (It's what I am doing today, too)

I have a co-worker, rather than a boss, who gets pissy when I'm 5-10 minutes late. She's snitted several times that I should call even if I'm going to be 3 minutes late. Finally I asked my boss in front of snitty!co-worker if he wanted me to call if I was less than 15 minutes late, and he said, "God, no! Just get here."

I work 9-5 and snitty!co-worker works 7:30-3:30, so she has no idea if I work late, and also doesn't seem to give a crap if I work through lunch or on the weekend. But god help you if you're 5 minutes late and don't call.

Conclusion: people is weird.

I was just angsting about this yesterday. I've always worked in a place where people could see me so I tend to stress about being 5 minutes late - or not accomplishing enough when I work from home. I'm hoping I will relax as I get settled into this new job.

Nobody here cares if I'm late. OTOH, it's rare that anyone notices either, because I get in an hour earlier than everyone else.

One of the reasons I want to stay with the team I'm currently contracting with is that they don't care when you get there, as long as work gets done. AND they have work-at-home Fridays, which is fantastic.

java, I'm Senior Editor for a couple professional engineering journals published by IEEE. They initiated the telecommuting program about 2 years ago, when they realized they'd save alotta money if all those heat-sucking air-breathing light-needing people weren't in the building. Now, my office is my laptop, and I can work anywhere I can get a fast Internet connection. It's awesome.

What do you do, with the 24/7 availability?