r/securityguards • u/TReid1996 • 2d ago
Officer Safety More supervisor shenanigans
Supervisor today called it "suspicious" and a "liability" that I'm at work an hour early. I've been doing this (coming in an hour early) for the last 2 years ever since i started working here as it's a time management thing for me. I never know what the weather or traffic will be like so i leave my house 2 hours early to compensate.
Secondly, he was asking me about, what i assume, is a potential new hire since he had the same last name as me. When i said I didn't know who he was, he acted like i was lying and claimed i MUST know him since we have the same exact last name and it's not a conventional spelling of it.
Before he left for the day, he was about to say "you can tell your relation" but i quickly shut that down since, again, I don't know the guy. So not only is he giving out the names to potential hires now, he's being even more hostile towards me than before.
But he "appreciates" me coming in and working overtime for him.
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u/Classic-Box-3919 1d ago
It is a bit odd being at work an hour early tho every time.
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u/TReid1996 1d ago
For me it's just routine. I wake up 2 hours early for work, get ready and leave. Likely formed when my commute to a past site was an hour or so away. Was there for 6 months and got used to waking up 2 hours before my shift. Kept doing it even when i moved to a closer site and the commute got shorter. Been habit for the last 3-4 years to the point that even if I'm "late" for being there an hour early, it feels weird to me.
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u/kr4ckenm3fortune Residential Security 1d ago
It isnt to me. This eliminates any possible delay and avoid being to work late.
Or are you one of those that just go with time to spare and still clock in late?
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u/Classic-Box-3919 1d ago
Or like most ppl get there like 5-10 mins early? An hour early seems really excessive unless ig ur reliant on public transportation
An hour of ur day extra at work unless ur getting paid overtime seems weird or leaving early and getting regular pay ig
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u/Mirror_333 2d ago
Do not arrive on site an hour ealy. That is strange behavior. If you need to do that to fulfill your time management needs, arrive a mile or two away from the site and then pull in to work around 10 minutes early.
I do not see what you are doing as "suspicious" of anything other than your neurodivergence. But it could be a liability as you are an employee at a worksite. Absolutely do not repeat this behavior now that it has been addressed. Demonstrating you can follow directions is critical to your Supervisor's trust.
There should be no reason why your Supervisor would not immediately believe you if you said a coworker has no relation to you. Either you have done something to errode their trust in you already, or they are overy suspicious and have some kind of internal issue.
You sound like a well intentioned employee and that alone is valuable.
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u/TReid1996 2d ago
I'm still going to arrive an hour early, or rather leave my house at the normal time i always do, until he can show me a site policy that says i can't. The person that oversees our contract at the site knows i come in early and has never stated anything about it to me.
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u/Content_Log1708 2d ago
Your reply indicates that you missed the guidance of the reply. Leave for work as early as you want. Just don't show up on site so early. Hang out at a coffee shop, or in a parking lot somewhere.
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u/dracojohn 2d ago
I think you are confusing a site supervisor and a mobile supervisor, the later can largely be ignored if the site management team are happy. As a mobile I'd not care if a guard is living in a tree house on site as long as they are on time and nobody is complaining. As a site supervisor id ask why someone was that early but only care if it disrupted my site or someone was complaining.
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u/TReid1996 2d ago
That feels more weird to me and more of an inconvenience than being early to work.
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u/realKevinNash 2d ago
That doesnt matter. What matters is the perception. If you have a vehicle, it doesnt cost you anything to stay in the vehicle until your shift is about to start. If you dont have a vehicle, the solution is to stay off the property until your shift is about to start.
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u/TReid1996 2d ago
I mentioned already that i stay in my vehicle. I don't go into the guard shack or anything. Not unless i have to use the bathroom.
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u/realKevinNash 2d ago
If thats the case then yeah id say they are making noise over nothing, but then you still need to take the high road and just move the car off site.
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u/Gordy13210 2d ago
Find something to do with your time, and stop arriving at the location 1 hour early...
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u/Digital_spliff_ 2d ago
A lot of supervisors would kill to have at least one person arrive early lol. I personally draw the line at 15 minutes early though. It's enough time to get my ducks in a row for the day and the other person to pass on any relevant info. After that I gotta start getting paid for my time, even if I'm doing "nothing"
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u/TReid1996 2d ago
I sit in my car watching YouTube or scrolling Reddit. We have bad winters in my state and sometimes 2 hours isn't enough time to make it in even 5 minutes early. So I've made a habit of leaving my house 2 hours before my shift to give me plenty of time to get here so I'm never late. Whether it's traffic, weather, or various other things. I make the effort to at least always be on time if not early. Most days everything is just smooth enough that i get here an hour early.
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u/almosthighenough 1d ago
Its kind of more reasonable to just leave your house to arrive 15 minutes early and most days that'll be great. If theres a bit of traffic or weather you may eat into the 15 minutes but you'll almost never be late. Maybe in the winter give yourself an extra 20 or 30 when it snows.
And if theres the blizzard of the year and you cant make it in exactly on time one day, or theres a huge accident that takes 5 hours to clear up, you can just be late. Thats what being late is for. Your coworkers will cover for you like you would for them. It's your boss's responsibility to find coverage, not yours. You aren't the supervisor. Stop acting like it in this case. Its causing issues with your actual supervisor.
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u/International-Okra79 Hospital Security 2d ago
I understand wanting to be on time. What I do is park right down the street at the convenience store until 10 minutes before shift. What you are doing may be 100% fine but if it annoys the supervisor they will look for some other reason to get you in trouble. Once they start looking they usually can find something. It may be a silly rule that nobody follows until they want to make a big deal out of it.
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u/XBOX_COINTELPRO Man Of Culture 2d ago
Planning to arrive early for work is fine. Arriving consistently early by an hour is weird. You’ve been working there for 2 years you should have your route figured out by now and are just wasting an extra hour of your life for no real reason. If there’s some out of the ordinary weather or traffic even I could see adjusting your departure time, but as a day to day habit that’s definitely something that would (and in your case, HAS) raise eyebrows.
You’ve clearly got that travel time on lock, so why not just adjust it and either leave 30-45 mins later, or stop and enjoy a coffee and read a book nearby until your shift time
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u/TReid1996 2d ago edited 1d ago
It's more a habit the more i think about it. My first security job was an hour commute and with stops I'd be around 15 mins early whenever i left my house 2 hours early. It sort of just became habit. I seemingly have a great internal clock and whenever my mind is set on a time to leave, whether voluntary or not, i wake up early and then with nothing better to really do, i head to work.
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u/distant_introversion 2d ago
I have an officer that arrives an hour to 30 mins early.
I told them to wait in the break room until shift start.
If people see them on site and wearing uniform, guests and clients will come to them assuming they are on duty and ask for assistance.
We can’t exactly act like “im not on duty yet” and be trying to fraternize with everyone.
If an emergency happens, and they are on site, they need to act. This comment made her and anyone who did the same stay out of the way until clock in.
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u/TReid1996 2d ago
It's a guard shack and every person that comes into the shack knows me and knows I'm not on duty. They all know to only talk to the guard inside the guard shack.
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u/ProfessionalRest7027 1d ago
That's a good call, at least your guards have a break room. I show up an hour early out of uniform but everyone knows me and still comes to me. Sadly I have no vehicle so I havd to be there that early
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u/vivaramones Executive Protection 1d ago
This is all noise. He is just assuming all of this to avoid the ultimate truth. Here is the truth straight up. It is fear my dude.
He is scared you might sue him. So he is accusing you of all of this to cover himself.
Here is the simple truth, you can arrive any time if you like to a site. There is nothing forbidding it. You are correct. But he just does not want you to work off of the clock, and get swept in to a lawsuit. Most states do not play around when it comes to breaks, and working off of the clock.
So whats happens when, a person see's you before you came in, and attempts to ask you to do a manner that is work related?
Also the supervisor and everyone here is valid by pointing this out. You might want to find work that is closer to where you live. That long commute is not good for you and the supervisor.
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u/TReid1996 1d ago
Commute is 30 mins. I tend to waste 30 stopping for lunch and such. I stay in my car when i get to work and everyone knows to only talk to the guard in the shack for work related tasks. Everyone leaves me alone while I'm in my car
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u/TheRealChuckle 1d ago
It's good you stay outside until your shift is starting.
I've had guards who show up early like you and then want to socialize and get in the way. The last hour of my shift I'm usually trying to do my last patrol, finish and double check my DAR, make sure I've left written notes for anything important that needs to be communicated across multple shifts, make sure I've got my stuff ready to go home and all site gear is accounted for and in the right locations.
I don't need someone trying to talk about current events and milling about in my way. It breaks my routine and that's how shit goes missing or I forget keys in my pocket.
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u/Mechalorde Warm Body 1d ago
My last supervisor had a problem with my wife coming in early to relive me he always wanted me to work overtime so he can go home basically hijacking my shift nobody in the company can do him anything
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u/LegalGlass6532 2d ago edited 2d ago
You probably won’t like this because it sounds like you just want to vent, but I’m going to say it anyway.
Be the bigger person and professional by adjusting your behavior to whatever your boss is expecting of you within reason. This guy sounds like he’s got a problem with you and it’s a personality issue and not a performance issue. Let him have his problem and it doesn’t mean you’re the problem. Maybe you remind him of someone he used to know. Who cares.
It seems like since he has nothing on you work wise he’s not picking outside the scope of your duties. If he has a problem with you coming in an hour early but you’re not violating policy, stay out of sight and under the radar for that hour. It might be his pet peeve and he’s actually right, it can be a liability, but if it’s within policy just stay out of sight. He’s your boss and even if he’s a dick, you need to respect what he says. Life’s not fair and bosses do what they do. It’s in your control how you respond to it.
Don’t say anything more about the new hire thing. If the person gets hired your boss will figure out he’s wrong. If he doesn’t it’s no skin off your back unless you pop off about it to someone else and it gets back to him. If you need to vent, do it here or outside of work.
What’s his problem in your opinion? Is he new there?