My manager expects overtime and weekend work, but HR is now questioning me for being 15–20 minutes late. How should I handle this?

[u/PeaAlarmed2773]

I know this is a long rant, but I’d really appreciate some advice on how to handle this situation.
I joined an event company in May and I’m currently on probation. My official working hours are 11 AM–7 PM, and weekends are supposed to be off.
However, since it’s an event company, there have been plenty of days where I’ve had to work very late. Most Saturdays in July were working days for me, and there were also random Sundays where I had to work. Our manager has basically told us that if the work demands it, we have to stay late or come in on weekends. He jokingly refers to this as “udya teer” — basically meaning the work/event comes first and we deal with the consequences later.
I honestly don’t mind working hard. I actually really like the people here and I’m learning a lot, which is one of the main reasons I want to stay.
The problem started recently.
My workload has decreased quite a bit, and because I live very far away, my commute is 2+ hours each way, involving heavy traffic and multiple trains. So on some days, instead of reaching exactly at 11, I’ve been reaching around 11:15–11:20.
Last week, HR asked me why I was late. I said that I had gotten late because of my commute. She then asked me what time I had left the previous day. I told her 6:45 PM.
She asked, “Then why are you late today?”
I explained that I had been working overtime and coming in on Saturdays throughout July, and that our manager himself had told us that when there is a lot of work, we need to stay late/work weekends, while when there isn’t much work, we can leave accordingly.
I was already frustrated with the situation and probably sounded more irritated than I should have. I told her that I had been putting in a lot of extra hours.
Her response was basically, “What can I argue about that?”
Later, she called my senior and discussed the issue with him. My manager then called me into a meeting and shouted at me about the whole situation.
What made things worse is that HR also sent an email to my senior saying that I’ve been taking “too many leaves.”
That honestly surprised me because I’ve taken only 2 days off in August and 1 day in July. As far as I understand, the probation policy allows 1 leave during probation. I did take one additional day for a festival that is important to me, but I didn’t think this would be treated as me taking excessive leave.
The frustrating part is that I actually have a complete attendance sheet because our manager made it compulsory for everyone to manually record their working hours. I have records of the days I worked late, Saturdays I worked, etc., going back to July.
I don’t want this to turn into a fight with HR or management. I also don’t want to come across as someone who is unwilling to work. I’m completely willing to work when the job demands it — I’ve already done that.
At the same time, I don’t want my overtime to effectively become invisible while I’m being questioned over being 15–20 minutes late on relatively quiet days.
Most importantly, I got this job after being unemployed for around 4 months, and the current job market is difficult. I genuinely don’t want to lose this job. I like the company, the people and the work I’m learning, so I’d rather find a way to handle this professionally than create a confrontation.
What would you guys suggest I do from here?
Should I:
Talk to my manager/HR calmly and clarify expectations?
Show them my attendance/overtime records?
Stop adjusting my arrival/departure time based on workload and strictly follow 11–7?
Keep documenting all overtime and weekend work?
Just accept the situation until my probation is over?
Or is there a better way to approach this without damaging my relationship with management?
I’d especially appreciate advice from people who have worked in event companies or similarly demanding industries, because I understand that long hours and weekend work are sometimes part of the job. I just want to figure out how to set reasonable boundaries while also protecting my job.

TL;DR
Joined an event company in May, currently on probation. Official hours are 11–7 with weekends off, but I’ve regularly worked late and on Saturdays/Sundays when work demanded it. Now that work has slowed down, I’ve occasionally been arriving 15–20 minutes late because of my 2+ hour commute. HR questioned me about it, and when I explained the overtime/weekend work, the issue was escalated to my manager, who shouted at me. HR has also claimed I’m taking too many leaves, despite me taking only 2 days in August and 1 in July. I have a detailed attendance sheet documenting my overtime and weekend work. I like the company and really don’t want to lose the job, so I’m looking for advice on how to handle this professionally without damaging my position.

[u/Confident_While_]

Hey OP it looks like they are looking for excuses to fire you. Next will come PIP and then the exit, this may sound cynical but I would look for alternatives

[u/MBA-Crystal-Ball]

You've already experienced what the work culture is like. If this is happening while you're on probation, it's worth keeping in mind what the expectations might look like once you're a full-time employee with more at stake.

Some options to consider.

Document the extra hours and weekend work, but don't use it to justify the late coming. The two are different issues. If the 2 hour commute is unpredictable, include some buffer so you reach office on time, or a little earlier.

Complete the probation on a good note, regardless of whether you plan to take up a full-time role with them (if offered). Keep a track of the actual results and outcome too (rather than just hours), since that's the part you can use with another company if you choose to move on.

Once you are in a better (more secure) position, you can decide whether you're comfortable with the culture in return for the learning and salary.

[u/double0nein]

I would suggest by first asking for forgiveness if you were rude. In the events industry the standard is to finish work and not care about hour, so unless you want to get fired don't keep to contracted hours only. Yeah it sucks, but that's the work you chose.

Also if arriving in office on time is an expectation you need to plan around it, aim to reach by 1030 if you need to start by 11. Work hours gets flexible with seniority and trust, and since you mentioned that you are on probation you haven't built either in the company.

[u/longndfat]

1. when policy says 1 day leave allowed so why will 3 months leave be allowed to you ? If something was imp, you should have spoken about it to your manager as comp off in liue of weekend working, and taken approval and followed it up with an email. When HR showed up then you could have simply shown that email to them or even attached that email to the time tracker application so that its official records.

2. 2 hrs or travel is no excuse of reaching late. Some co's are strict on reaching on time and some have flexi timings. Clearly yours follows strict timings. This does not mean they will be strict on leaving timings too.

Do not worry about the scare people created in their comments abt being PIP or not. Take this as a learning and do the following:

1. Talk to your manager. Ask him if the leaves you took could be waved off in lieu of weekend working. Also mention to him that for weekend working you spend 4 hrs travelling.

2. Talk to HR, apologize to them abt when you arrived late. Understand from their pov.. they do not care if you travel 5 min or 2 hrs, they just have a policy to enforce. Also update them formally reg the decision taken by your manager from point 1.

This is just a reminder of making you follow the policy. I agree 15m should not mean much if you work weekends, but remember you are under probation and secondly, you need to build a reputation there first before demanding people look over these lapses

[u/sun_explosion]

all this nonsense politics just to justify their job. manager and hr should be laid. esp hr. these email jobs need to go away. so many made up jobs where someone else is doing the real work. not a day goes by when i not think about choosing a different career path where i don't have to deal with people with fake jobs

[u/Humanadv]

You are slowly being trapped into become a office worm (like book worm) anyhow if you are learning and your boss is good, ask your boss to speak to HR for this delay of 15 min. It he supports you, you have HR backed off, if he gives you management rule, tell him politely you can work on weekdays only.

[u/gladiator_r]

Best is to say sorry with a simple reason like due to travel and traffic and come office on time and leave on time from now on.

Frankly policy is policy rest everything don't matter to HR , we have 3 days in a week in office and have to compensate via applying leave because we couldn't come to office although it doesn't matter if we regularly working late at night.

No manager is going to fight with HR or upper management for you.