was i wrong at work?

still under probation.
At 12:06 pm, i put my earphone and closed my eyes for a quick nap.
Other dept manager waked me up and asked "are you ok? are you on break?"
I told him i am on my break time. It is a lunch time and I've been doing OT without getting paid.

My team lead called me and go out side next time.

I dont mind. It is not like I am upset or anything....just wondering...am i wrong?
I did not snore. Earphone and music on and put my head down with eyes closed.

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Comments

Ertaz

I personally don't think so. They may not want to let you do that because people walking by might not realize you are on break and not just slacking. It's funny how smoke breaks rarely get questioned...

NetworkNewb

Without knowing exactly what you do and where you were sleeping... I'd say if you were at your desk most likely you were wrong. I know people eat lunch and surf the Internet at their desks, but sleeping is one thing that just never looks good at the workplace.

DatabaseHead

Sleeping at the desk can get you on a performance improvement plan.

EnderWiggin

I would never sleep at my desk, it is highly unprofessional. It sounds like you didn't get in trouble though, so just make sure not to do it again.

tmtex

Yea u were wrong. No sleeping at desks, however I have seen exec sleep under their desks. ( That's and exception) Go to your car. Don't do that at the desk. I take a **** on other companies floor

iBrokeIT

tmtex wrote: »

...however I have seen exec sleep under their desks.

Was his name George Costanza?

UncleB

What happens when a director or important customer drops in to the office to find staff sleeping at their desk?

It makes the team look like something out of Sergeant Bilko where anything goes and there is no discipline and your boss (and his boss) will get humiliated by the visitor pointing this out to them, or worse. Everyone in the team ends up punished by association because the bosses have to take action to stop it happening again.

You got off lightly here so try to understand why it was irresponsible and learn from the mistake.

Next time, go get a coffee or Red Bull.

thanks
Iain

Nafe92014

iBrokeIT wrote: »

Was his name George Costanza?

Oh God, and Mr. Steinbrenner constantly babbling...."Quick, everyone under the desk!"

xengoreth

Don't try to apply logic or reason to this-- it just looks bad and the manager-types will get in a big kerfuffle over this type of thing, especially if the corporate culture is really terrible. People higher up the food chain can be lacking when it comes to empathy and understanding for the workers if not downright contemptuous.

At my former workplace, there was actually room with a couple of beds people could use just for that purpose, since the management there had respect for their engineering staff and knew a 24-hour marathon was sometimes unavoidable or that general worker productivity could be improved with a short nap.

Sheiko37

I'm surprised at the responses. There's some cultures where having a nap during the day is encouraged, and yes at your desk. I know someone who worked in an office where everyone had a work issued pillow that they'd pull out from under their desk and literally sleep at their keyboard for 20 minutes. There's science showing it benefits your health and productivity. It's really outdated thinking to immediately dismiss the idea.

Having said that, it all really depends on your job, and the logistics and culture of your workplace.

OctalDump

Nah, you aren't wrong. Your workplace is just a bit confused about its priorities. Also, unpaid OT? That sucks and is a sign of a company that can't get its shtuff together.

Danielm7

Sheiko37 wrote: »

I'm surprised at the responses. There's some cultures where having a nap during the day is encouraged, and yes at your desk. I know someone who worked in an office where everyone had a work issued pillow that they'd pull out from under their desk and literally sleep at their keyboard for 20 minutes. There's science showing it benefits your health and productivity. It's really outdated thinking to immediately dismiss the idea.

Having said that, it all really depends on your job, and the logistics and culture of your workplace.

While you're right, most of the US isn't like that at all. Most companies here still think working from home is bad and you must be screwing around when a lot of the employees are even more productive that way and work even longer hours remotely for the same cost.

TheFORCE

Wrong or not, personally i have not done it and will not do it. If i'm extremely tired i go to the parking lot and put the chair down in my car to take a quick power break. You know the saying, never give people reasons to get you in trouble.

Trucido

Most work places that I've been to required you to leave the office when going on break/lunch. It's mostly a politics thing, if a VP walks through and sees everyone doing non-work tasks (sleeping,browsing internet,eating, ect) the manager / supervisors get in trouble and it just makes the department look bad if a non-VP sees it and talks about it with his friends.
"Why does X department just sit at their desks eating food?"

dhay13

looks unprofessional. go sit in your car and nap on your breaks or find some other place outside of the building

scaredoftests

Should have napped in your car.

cshkuru

I bet if you were to actually dig into this the problem would be that you said you are working unpaid OT. That is illegal in most cases and if management is aware they increase the companies liability. They probably want you out of the way so you won't blab again if someone else runs across you.

markulous

Even if you're on your own time you still have to realize how it looks to people that don't know you're on break.

If my employee was doing that though I wouldn't make a big deal out of it the first time.

blatini

If you're working OT for free might wanna just nip it in the bud and find a new gig...

the_Grinch

You were wrong in that you can do what you like on a lunch break. But as others have pointed out, all one outside of you can assume is you are sleeping on the job. As a non-technical example, years ago I was a manager at a movie theater and we made the rule that if you were on break if you stayed in the theater you were to remove your work shirt. Customers don't know you're on break and we were constantly getting complaints that a worker would not help them only to find out the person was on break. Perception is reality, unfortunately, so you just have to roll with it.

gespenstern

You weren't wrong, but it's not something that can give you a good look in the eyes of your supervisors. I personally napped a lot when I had a two-hour one-way commute, but only when no one was able to see that. Don't do that in open office space, you'll have your points go down almost everywhere for that.

greg9891

yeah man I wouldn't let anyone catch me sleeping. people passing by might think funny because they don't know that you are on a break.

beads

Napping during the middle of the day without pulling an all nighter or something similar is generally considered a "no-no", particularly when your still on probation and can be released without warning. In this case it involves learning good time management skills. No matter how appropriate you feel the nap to be at the time, there is a time and place to do such. Yes, the car would be more appropriate. Moving the car to another parking lot and away from prying eyes - pro forma!

Can you imagine having a customer or client walk through right after being taken out to lunch only to find tech support all snoozing at their desks? Ask yourself how you'd feel about working with this group of people both as a colleague or as a customer.

For the record. I have had many a night sleeping under my desk using nothing more than my jacket as a pillow, at night time. Been so tired I fell a sleep standing up once on patrol but thats not uncommon if you are familiar with the course. LOL.

Take yourself out of the equation and look at the situation from HR or your supervisor's point of view and get back with us.

- b/eads

sharansingh

Whats wrong in it.You didn't do anything wrong. Why they react to you like this?? that's not fare.

Jon_Cisco

Unless there is some precedent of napping at your desk then I would say it you should have moved to a break area. It is not a common practice in any of the offices I have been to. As you indicate you are still under probation this is the type of thing I would probably inquire about before doing. With that said it sounds like the company was very reasonable about it.

Lexluethar

Don't sleep at your desk - really bad example and even if acceptable I wouldn't do it.

I've taken naps plenty of times during lunch and breaks - but do it away from work in your car or at home if you live close enough.

cyberguypr

Those saying that napping at the desk is OK, where are you in the corporate food chain? Are you in a senior or leadership position? I really doubt that anyone in that group will find this acceptable.

Priston

I'm not against napping at work. There are, however, places you should and shouldn't nap. Napping in a open area in a cube with a lot of people around you seems like a bad idea to me.

Being able to nap at work and finding a place to nap at work really depends on the company/building/department culture.

networker050184

I'm baffled anyone would even have to ask this question.... of course sleeping at your desk is wrong!

mindcrank

networker050184 wrote: »

I'm baffled anyone would even have to ask this question.... of course sleeping at your desk is wrong!

Yeah, It really depends on your work environment. I have worked in some SCIF's where access was controlled and it was not a big deal since no "customers" were walking around. But in other cube farms where certain management types or customers would be around, this is definitely a no no.