Wasting time at work sinful?

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rivera01

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I am employed by a non-profit office and my department has no contact with the public. I am an HR assistant and my tasks are assigned by my superior on a daily basis. Most of the time, I am able to complete the entirety of my work day tasks within 2-4 hours. When I am done, I notify my supervisor and she tells me to read company policies/contracts, because she doesnt have any thing else for me to do. I have tried streching out my work and taking my time in completing tasks, but even then my supervisor is surprised that I finish so “quickly” LOL. Prior to working here I was working for a family owned business where I did several things at the same time for almost 10 years. I have grown accostumed to working this way and I find that my current job isnt much of a challenge for me.

I have to admit that I do many personal things during the times that I have nothing to do such as praying, watching Catholic based videos on YouTube, listening to sermons or just general web browsing. I have suggested my supervisor about changing my schedule to a part-time schedule, but she stated that there is much to learn and do 😐.

I wanted to know if what I am doing can be construed as sinful, even though I am doing pious things during my free time.
 
rivera01 said:
I wanted to know if what I am doing can be construed as sinful, even though I am doing pious things during my free time.
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Why would it be? You are finishing the tasks assigned to you. It’s not like you’re wasting time while work was yet to be done.

Be at peace.
 
I’m sitting here at work reading the forum. Why? because I am all caught up with work and there is nothing to do.

It is not your fault that you have completed your work in a timely fashion. As long as your supervisor is aware that you are available for additional work and you are not putting work off then there is nothing wrong with what you are doing.

Time drags slowly if you are not busy.
 
The OP is paid for a job. They do it. They tried to negotiate a part-time, which was refused.

Honestly, where is the sin ? They are doing the best they can in that situation.
 
twf said:
If he’s completed all of his tasks and informed his supervisor he is done, where is the sin? What is he supposed to be doing?
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OddBird said:
The OP is paid for a job. They do it. They tried to negotiate a part-time, which was refused.

Honestly, where is the sin ? They are doing the best they can in that situation.
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I just mean we must work in time that we are supposed to work. But if the boss says it is OK to wast some time, it is not a sin (I think)
 
rivera01 said:
I am employed by a non-profit office and my department has no contact with the public. I am an HR assistant and my tasks are assigned by my superior on a daily basis. Most of the time, I am able to complete the entirety of my work day tasks within 2-4 hours. When I am done, I notify my supervisor and she tells me to read company policies/contracts, because she doesnt have any thing else for me to do. I have tried streching out my work and taking my time in completing tasks, but even then my supervisor is surprised that I finish so “quickly” LOL. Prior to working here I was working for a family owned business where I did several things at the same time for almost 10 years. I have grown accostumed to working this way and I find that my current job isnt much of a challenge for me.

I have to admit that I do many personal things during the times that I have nothing to do such as praying, watching Catholic based videos on YouTube, listening to sermons or just general web browsing. I have suggested my supervisor about changing my schedule to a part-time schedule, but she stated that there is much to learn and do 😐.

I wanted to know if what I am doing can be construed as sinful, even though I am doing pious things during my free time.
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Do you think you could help me get a job at your company? 😁

My experience, in the years before I retired, was that employers will typically give you as much work as anybody could possibly get done, and then pile more on top of that. Employers these days seem to want to shave staffing to the bare bone, and push everybody to “do more with less”. It’s all about the Benjamins, the human toll this kind of overwork imposes, is just ignored and “blown off” by management. Finally, after I had been reduced to a shell of a person, chewed up and spit out, with no life other than work, I said “it’s time” and retired three or four years earlier than I had planned. Best decision I ever made. Imposing ruinous overwork has to go against Catholic social doctrine. (My firm was heavily influenced by Masonic thinking, and I don’t think they stayed up nights reading Rerum novarum and Quadragesimo anno.)

If you are being paid, and the employer has no problem with you just reading policies and contracts, I’d say to do that, use this as an opportunity to learn your line of work inside and out. There is absolutely no moral issue here.
 
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pohandes said:
I just mean we must work in time that we are supposed to work. But if the boss says it is OK to wast some time, it is not a sin (I think)
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Its not necessarily wasting them. Employers are obligated to pay a worker for simply being “on call”…at least where I live. So if you’re sitting at your desk available to work as required, you are entitled to be paid for all of that time, regardless of how busy it is.
 
The original question is malformed, you aren’t wasting time, you’re working efficiently.
 
rivera01 said:
supervisor about changing my schedule to a part-time schedule, but she stated that there is much to learn and do 😐.
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Then do as your super says, read policy papers, do research that relates to the mission of your non profit, read professional journals, “boss, I was reading where this research that relates to our blah blah program. I’ve summarized it for you”

Learn things that can help, do you know Html? How about learning to build apps or databases? Use the free version of CANVA to make better flyers and graphics.
 
Thank you everyone for your (name removed by moderator)ut. I had a suspicion that I wasn’t sinning, just wanted some confirmation. I apologise for my malformed question which caused some confusion.
 
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He even asked the supervisor to make him part time, and the supervisor did not want to do that. So, he is willing and available, and the supervisor is okay with that.
 
I don’t think so.

The modern workday schedule still seems to be based off a 1950s factory mentality, where workers were expected to produce a certain amount of tangible product per unit of time.

In this day and age , it’s more reasonable to see your pay as compensation for the job you were hired to do. Your employer hired you knowing what your expected responsibilities would be, so as long as you are doing your job well, I honestly think you have nothing to worry about.
 
You are not sinning if they are not bothering to assign you work.

However, if this is happening often, I would suggest you have a talk with your supervisor about how you can get more involved in the interesting work of the office. If she is not helpful, then perhaps read some stuff relating to your job (like books that are more interesting than policies) or plan your own project related to the work of the office, and work on that.

Bosses like people who find useful things to do at least some of the time. They also kind of expect a certain amount of slack time at the assistant level.
 
TheLittleLady said:
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rivera01:
supervisor about changing my schedule to a part-time schedule, but she stated that there is much to learn and do 😐.
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Then do as your super says, read policy papers, do research that relates to the mission of your non profit, read professional journals, “boss, I was reading where this research that relates to our blah blah program. I’ve summarized it for you”
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This is excellent advice!

Just throwing it out there, I wonder if this might be, at least in part, a test to see how well the OP handles unstructured situations and opportunities to learn.
Tis_Bearself said:
Bosses like people who find useful things to do at least some of the time. They also kind of expect a certain amount of slack time at the assistant level.
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Do you think you could get me a job at one of those companies? 😄 😄

That was never my experience, though I do have to say, at one company where I worked, it wasn’t unheard of to have light adult beverages (beer and wine) at in-office special events, and even to take a beverage back to one’s desk. Worked very hard, but had fun too. Not sure there are offices like that anymore.
 
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I once worked in an office where it seemed that most people spent the first 20 minutes of the workday reading the newspaper, drinking coffee, engaging in small talk and even eating breakfast. It wasn’t that there was no work to do; there was a lot of work backlogged. It seemed to me that this waste of time was like stealing from the employer. But the OP is not in this situation, since all the work is completed.

Maybe the OP has a work ethic that others lack.

I expect that when the next Great Depression arrives, this problem will disappear.
 
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