Do you work unpaid overtime?

cbreeze

I read somewhere that nobody lies on their deathbed wishing they had spent more time at the office and it made me think about all the holidays I did not take and all the extra unpaid hours I worked.

It made me yearn for my younger days working on a production line in a factory - when the whistle blew at 4.30 p.m. all work stopped and you couldn't take it home with you.

So I realised I was being a fool and forced myself to take the full holidays and delegated the work to someone else, and left work at a decent hour. I'd only myself to blame for the stress I was putting myself under.

76544567

pauliebdub wrote: »

I get paid overtime but lose half of it in tax so the benefits are very small, about 20 quid an hour net. I value my free time more. Some people I know work savage hours without question.

The ones I feel sorry for are the ones who do their work, but decide for whatever reason, such as yours where the govt takes half the money, that they dont wish to do overtime and then they get bullied into it by their employer.

Wanderer2010

The crazy thing about people who work extra hours to climb the ladder and secure a higher salary in order to provide better for the family is they rarely get to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Lets say someone works overtime, weekends and takes emails during holidays, sucking up to the boss etc and they eventually get a promotion. The workload isn't going to suddenly decrease. They gave you the promotion based on your input so you cant go from 12 hour days to just walking out at 5pm, that's not how it works.
So you carry on with the extra hours, paying higher taxes and rarely getting to see your family and friends in the hope that your NEXT promotion will offer more breathing space but it doesn't, its just a constant cycle of long hours, guilt trips from higher-ups and chasing an invisible dream
Then you DIE.

Avatar MIA

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

The crazy thing about people who work extra hours to climb the ladder and secure a higher salary in order to provide better for the family is they rarely get to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Lets say someone works overtime, weekends and takes emails during holidays, sucking up to the boss etc and they eventually get a promotion. The workload isn't going to suddenly decrease. They gave you the promotion based on your input so you cant go from 12 hour days to just walking out at 5pm, that's not how it works.
So you carry on with the extra hours, paying higher taxes and rarely getting to see your family and friends in the hope that your NEXT promotion will offer more breathing space but it doesn't, its just a constant cycle of long hours, guilt trips from higher-ups and chasing an invisible dream
Then you DIE.

Nah, that's definitely what you want to believe.

From my own experience, the higher up I went the less onerous the work load and the greater the freedom.

More responsibility yes, but harder work, definitely not.

Vowel Movement

I get payed for any overtime i do.

s14driftking

Paid from the min I sit into the lorry till I get out.

i have flexitime so i can usually manage not to lose hours but every now and again ill have a surplus i dont get to take. that comes with being the manager but id never expect it off anyone working to me or id know we had a problem.

id want to be well satisfied that someone was getting all they should be done in thei normal hours if they came to me with a complaint though.

Calahonda52

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

The crazy thing about people who work extra hours to climb the ladder and secure a higher salary in order to provide better for the family is they rarely get to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Lets say someone works overtime, weekends and takes emails during holidays, sucking up to the boss etc and they eventually get a promotion. The workload isn't going to suddenly decrease. They gave you the promotion based on your input so you cant go from 12 hour days to just walking out at 5pm, that's not how it works.
So you carry on with the extra hours, paying higher taxes and rarely getting to see your family and friends in the hope that your NEXT promotion will offer more breathing space but it doesn't, its just a constant cycle of long hours, guilt trips from higher-ups and chasing an invisible dream
Then you DIE.

That's HARD [all of them]:D

Yes sometimes I work extra hours for free in the evening or an odd weekend and would always keep an eye on emails when off, they come to my phone so it's easy and sometimes 5 mins to send an email can save a lot of work when back. If you are busy you just can't say no I won't the work has to be done and there is no mechanism for paying overtime and my contract actually says extra hours unpaid may be required at times.

However on the other hand I take about 1.5 hours for lunch everyday, if need to go to town to the bank etc during work hours I just go when I want and I can come in late if hungover or leave early if things are quiet without having to tell anyone or take it from annual leave. Overall I'd much prefer a flexible working environment with give and take rather than being strictly 9-5 refusing to work and extra hour but equally not being able to take an hour out of the day to do someone personal when I want to. It all balance out more or less in the end.

Reati

lawred2 wrote: »

One thing our management do afford us is flexibility.. Some nights we can work late if it suits but it's very quickly returned in the shape of a late start, getting away early another day or working from home..

This is similar to my place. Most of the time I do a 40 hour week but there is time when you put in the extra hours if you need to get a project done or something comes up.

I have no problem with that as if there is a morning I need to be out till 12 or 1 or I need to work from home for a day for some reason there is never any questions asked or a "No, you can't do that".

Quandary

I worked as a systems administrator for 3 different large companies over a 10 year period. As any sys admin will tell you, you tend to be a dumping ground for any miscellaneous IT problems because often times your job role doesn't have clearly defined parameters and you are never really in a position to say something isn't your responsibility. This often results in you having a very heavy workload which will never get done in a 40 hour week.

If I didn't work the extra hours then the company would just hire someone else who would so I had to just do my best and get on with it. There were weeks where I ended up going in some days at 5am just to have some time to myself to get crucial tasks finished.

I initially loved the challenging nature of the work. I used to love being the guy to solve complicated problems but eventually learned that no matter how good you were, you were only as good as your last game. No matter how many times I went the extra mile to get things done it ended up being worth sweet fcuk all in the end if I had to say no to someone.

The end result was I went from loving the job to hating it. I became bitter and resentful and started letting my work affect my relationship and personal life. One day I decided I had had enough and I sat down with my dept head and handed in my notice. They ended up offering nearly a 50% pay increase but it made no difference to me. I changed career over the following 2 years and am now working in a completely different job where the pay is drastically less but I love the work and the work life balance is amazing.

There are industries out there where there is a culture of "going the extra mile" and it's difficult to find companies within those industries who treat their staff fairly. I spent 10 years trying to find one but they all took advantage in the end. I'm just sorry I didn't make the career change a long long time ago. sacrificing your personal life, mental health and relationships for work isn't worth it for any price IMO.

If I do overtime, I get paid. I work in the public service as a pharmacist. When you are dealing with peoples health, you have to keep your mind sharp. When I do overtime, I am covering people who are off sick. So if I didn't step up, there would be far more risk of mistakes being made.

fg1406

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

Then management need to step in to solve that issue, they are just using you and you arent getting anything for your extra effort. Tell them straight up you need assistance as you cant commit to 10 hour days.

I've tried. I was provided with administrative assistance last year for approximately 3 months before management moved her due to "urgent service needs". It's public sector in a LA so no real recourse I'm afraid.

smurfjed

Our salary system in based on whats called a “Credit Time System”, I have to do 68 credit hours per month for my basic salary, anything up to 88 credit hours is paid at 1 hour per hour, anything above 88 credit hours is paid 1.5 hours per hour.
The best part about this is that i can be sitting at home on standby and earn 3 credit hours, so after 23 days of never leaving home or actually doing any work, I can be earning overtime.

During busy summer months we regularly get double salary

darkpagandeath

No, My employer would neither give me paid holidays that I'm not due Either.

lawred2

myshirt wrote: »

They say there are professions where you are more likely to cheat on your wife. Accountants, solicitors get it in the neck the most.

What yous don't realise is the real idea behind having both a wife and a mistress, and it is this - and there is beauty in the way it works - basically, when you are scheduled to be with the mistress, the wife thinks you're golfing, and when you're scheduled to be with the wife, the mistress thinks you're at a function.

That way they are both distracted meaning you can go into the office and get some work done.

Every single one of your posts is 100% grade A bullshoite.

Water John

I would suggest Shirt and Lucretia get together. They'll work so long they won't ever see each other.

dev100

Worked as an hourly paid worker and now a salaried person .... Give me hourly paid any time

As one old boy in the current job said unless I'm getting paid a soccer players wages none of us want to be here, we are here because we have to be here and to pay bills simple as . It's a good sentiment .

I was one of those dummies for last 2 or 3 years doing an extra 10 or 15 hours a week . My plan had been take on extra work and more responsibility and be considered for progression within the job. This doesn't always work in multi nationals .... All I got was claps on shoulder and more work leading me to work longer hours....

Come the bell curve review time you realise you are in the same category as the fella who is a clock watcher and who couldn't care less if the place was on fire behind him once he is due to go home he is gone asap. So feck that from now on, Clock in on time and go home on time and do a good days work within alotted hours and not get hung up on a career and if there's any extra work need doing factor it into my normal days work and give deadlines to match and tell the bosses I don't do Charity work and claps on back which don't pay bills in Tesco's .

Lesson learnt