too much overtime!

[Leonardo]

Because they laid off people last November....and because there's too much work to be done by those of us there....TOO MUCH OVERTIME!
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh
There's something sick about 60% of your department is all there for 1-2 hours OT every night--or MORE, nearly all for different projects.
EVERY night this week other than Monday (because I had Sword Class, they didn't catch me early enough in the day for me to cancel that, so I got to go) I've had to stay laaaate, and working through lunch most days, too. They are calling you and emailing you and hounding you "where's the boooooks!!!!" HIGH STRESS overtime, which makes it sooo much worse.
And then. Tonight...they send in the Carpet Cleaners!!! Noooooooooooooooooooooo!
Stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinky.
Fumes.
Mordor!!!
*falls over*

So for everyone out there doing overtime, or did too much OT, or just feels like joining in!
This argh is for you and me and everybody!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!

 


 

[Raphael]

Ahh, glorious o/t.  I've had more than my fair share of living at the office. 10 years ago, because of extenuating circumstances, I got paid for my o/t - in 9 months, I earned an extra 3 months of salary with overtime.  And that was straight time, no time and a half or anything. Thankfully, the summer of 96 sucked because we didn't really see it anyway.

I used to go the extra mile, do the extra o/t all of the time (how many of you remember "RaphWorking" or "RaphBudgets" making an appearance on IRC?), till around, oh, 2002. When head office started their corporate restructuring with creating Centres of Excellence (or CoFE, as we dubbed it - you're all smart, you can guess what "F" stood for)...and they took out the accounting department. Then they laid off everyone pretty much in our office, but screwed me over for severance because I STUPIDLY opted to stay with them because they needed the help. And they still ended up letting me go, in the long run.

There is NO such thing as corporate loyalty. Businesses are there to improve their bottom lines only, they could care less about the little people that work for them. After 2002, I definitely realized that and I stopped killing myself for them. I will work some o/t for special projects or deadlines but screw them if they think it's going to become a regular thing again.

[Buslady]

It's money. I'd be happy getting paid OT.
Doncha get paid OT?

We don't.

My industry is exempt from OT.

[Raphael]

We stopped getting paid o/t after that first year (like I said, they were odd circumstances). Most of the time, I've seen places that might give you time off in lieu but getting paid in $$$ is a rarity.

I think it tends to be that people paid hourly get paid o/t, while people that have a set salary tend to not get the money.

Getting paid o/t is nice, in theory. However, it can also push you into a higher tax bracket and cause you to have to pay the tax man, come April. It also means that you have no life outside of the office. That first year, we were coming in around 7:00am and not leaving till 10:30pm on weekdays...and also either working from home, or coming in on weekends. The worst thing about working till 10:30 is that you're coming home from work and collapsing into bed, still wired from work, so you're awake till 1-2am...then getting up again around 5:30. It's hard on the body, when it's a prolonged thing. Sometimes the money isn't always worth it...

[Leonardo]

The money, if you get it, and some don't where I work, is NOT enough unless you do as Raph pointed out, like work like 52 out of 55 days in a row with NO life outside work. So when you total up the year's OT hours, and divide by the number of normal hours per week, etc. It came to 3 months of regular work week hours of OT in one year. So that year, I earned over 1/4 of a year's extra pay.
Never have I done that again, never will to the best I can prevent it. I got ill doing that kind of stuff....
But OT night after night after night just sucks. Whether you're in retail or service or office. Or babysitting or whatever (let's face it, parents raising babies in particular is like doing OT when they keep you up half the night--or then there's teenagers out on dates and stuff....  ) Or whether it's OT you have to do in the morning, weekends, whatever.

It's one thing if you CHOOSE it, you WANT it. And then I sure hope you are being paid!!!!
But if you just want to go home at 5, and they toss crud at you at 4:45, THEY go home and you're still there till 7-9 pm and you didn't bring enough extra food to eat...grrrr.

Turn up the flame thrower!!!!
   

     

[Raphael]

Yeah, that one always has annoyed me.  

"Here, it's 4:45 and this urgent project must be completed today! I have to have it today!"

* They leave at 5:05, without telling you*

[Michaelangelo]

The factory where I worked use to give manatory overtime all the time, we would work 58 to 68 hour weeks.   12 hour days five days a week, than 8 hours on Saturday.   Sunday would be my only down time, and I spent most of that time out with friends.   I didn't have much of a life, though the paychecks were great, I was three months ahead on all of my bills... I was able to get the Turtle toys as they came out...  and I didn't feel stressed that much when giving my folks money to help with bills.  I do miss those checks..... and I miss working... though I gotta amit, I don't miss the 68 hour weeks.

[Buslady]

We stopped getting paid o/t after that first year (like I said, they were odd circumstances). Most of the time, I've seen places that might give you time off in lieu but getting paid in $$$ is a rarity.

I think it tends to be that people paid hourly get paid o/t, while people that have a set salary tend to not get the money.

Getting paid o/t is nice, in theory. However, it can also push you into a higher tax bracket and cause you to have to pay the tax man, come April. It also means that you have no life outside of the office. That first year, we were coming in around 7:00am and not leaving till 10:30pm on weekdays...and also either working from home, or coming in on weekends. The worst thing about working till 10:30 is that you're coming home from work and collapsing into bed, still wired from work, so you're awake till 1-2am...then getting up again around 5:30. It's hard on the body, when it's a prolonged thing. Sometimes the money isn't always worth it...

Believe me I know. I've had shifts I'll be in my bus at 6am and I'm legally good for a 16 hr shift, with 10 of those hours of drive time; and 8 hrs off time in between our tour of duty. I've done 16 hour days when it's rediculously busy, which is...oh 65% of the year. Right now is my breather, summer camps are winding down and we're preparing for the onslaught of the new school year...sports trips. BLEAH. I've had 8 day weeks which are usually the end of the school year and it's madness.
Driving might sound like an easy job but it is also very hard on the body, the back, the shell (even tho i have a new seat and it's comfy), and mentally....ooohhhhh it's tiring mentally. All the damn traffic. And dealing with idiot coaches...esp football coaches.


That's odd you dont get OT pay...by law you should.

[moronqueen]

Been getting a lot of OT myself...money's nice but blech...if I were fond of my job, it'd be no big deal. At least I don't outright hate it. *G*

As for some folks not getting paid...well...Raph's in a different country...dunno their laws, but there are jobs in the US wich don't get OT pay because they don't fall under the umbrella for OT...many salaried workers don't, and I think certain kinds of jobs...I can't remember which ones. I ended up doing some research on it one of the times I had two jobs, and one of my bosses was screwing me out of pay because she was just cheap and shady in general. Kept saying that she couldn't afford it, but offered me bonusses if I stayed on, since I was the only one working shifts for the booth.

Pah. Glad the place shut down, anyway.

I just keep remembering those days, knowing it could be worse, and look forward to things slowly getting better, because stagnation doesn't last...things will always change. It's just up to us to decide how we're going to impact our own lives through our own choices...both in what it is we do, and how we react to the behavior of others.

[Raphael]

Part of it depends on what's in your employment letter/contract. If you sign on, agreeing that you'll get paid $25,000/year, with no overtime pay...then that's all the company has to pay you. If overtime got to be a regular thing, you could possibly fight it with the labour board.

[moronqueen]

Part of it depends on what's in your employment letter/contract. If you sign on, agreeing that you'll get paid $25,000/year, with no overtime pay...then that's all the company has to pay you. If overtime got to be a regular thing, you could possibly fight it with the labour board.

That would likley be one of the universal circumstances, yes. *G*

[Leonardo]

These things come down to lack of respect, and treating employees like...er...worthless dogs.
And this is not my current place alone I am speaking of. This goes on allll over the place. With others I have traded stories with, and some other places I have been, too.
Who cares what happens to you, they just want their stuff.
And they don't care you have a life/family/things to do like food and laundry outside work, and they don't want to know you have a life. They don't want to know someone has a sick wife, or business classes, or stupid stuff like you're now out of clean work clothes. They just want their stuff.
They don't care when they have employees that don't get paid for OT so you get people working 60 hour weeks for the same pay if they work 40. They just want their stuff.
They don't care about planning work flow, because they know someone will have it ready for them first thing in the morning or whatever. Which ties right into they don't know all the steps and time it takes to do something, because why should they care to learn what everyone else does, because they should never have to know what you do, you're not important enough. They just want their stuff.
And then sometimes you get into twisted situations based on permanent and temporary employees where it's okay to make the regulars do OT, but you got temp's who WANT OT or weekend work for extra cash and they can't get approved for it.
And what about all the retail workers, who year after year miss so many holiday family get togethers because they have to change all the stock signs and inventory systems and stuff for post-holiday sales. Or because the store is open on the holiday to make mooooney.

Sick and twisted.
Totally.

Crank up the flames another notch and toss a few munchies of your choice on the BBQ!
(Because Raph doesn't like shrimp.)

 

[moronqueen]

Yeeeeah, Leo...like I don't know what it's like to work retail. I've never worked in retail in my entire life. Never had two jobs, worked right around 80 hours a week without OT because it was from those two jobs combined, and not even have the luxury of a car, and risk rape, robbery or worse to and from work. I've never had a rough day in my life, apparently. While you didn't come out and say that, that's exactly what your wording indicated.

And the whole reason temps don't get OT is because the temp agency charges more than what the employee gets, and that gets too expensive for the company...so in that case, the permanent people get it because it's cheaper for said company. Not sure what benefit there is for the company to get temps except to have pre-screened people and save money on HR work and testing or whatever...

No, not that it's right, not that I enjoy it, or think The Company is the end all, be all. But work, in today's society, really isn't supposed to be fun, and OT, while less so, at least more money is rolling in. Making yourself more miserable than you have to be only makes it worse for yourself and everyone else around you. I've been sick of catering to the childish clients and higher ups for a long time, too...the only way to get away from that is by starting your own business and working for yourself. But that takes a long time, a lot of money and a lot of effort. A person just can't live and do only that without someone else supporting you.

Concentrating on how much it sucks, and letting it take over your life'll do nothing more than lead to a tortuous life and early grave. THAT would be why I at least try to look on the bright side...that being at the least "it could be worse".

Quite honestly, if it's so absolutely terrible, at least put effort into finding a different job. That's what I did, am in the process of doing again, and if I can't get what I want to do up and running, will likely do in the future. Unfortunately, that's life. Big business sucks, and if unions fall, it'll do nothing but get worse again.

Makes a person want to move into the hills and live off the land.

[Aignatius]

Self employment and having your own business definitely has its own challenges... you work even more hours than if you work for someone else, and maybe get good pay, maybe not.

[Leonardo]

Cripes!
Aig does bring up a good point there.
There's the small business, personal business OT You Can't Have a Life Because the Business IS Your Life.

hoo ya!
Put some more coals on the BBQ!

Overworked and underpaid! This flame's for youuuuu.

     

I am so glad someone thought of setting up the flame pit. This is fun, actually.

and btw...for anyone wondering...I never worked retail. I do get paid OT at my current job, but there were some in the past I was not. And it was my sister I was thinking about when it comes to what retail did to her at the major holidays....and I know none of us are alone. So that's what my original intent was for this thread.

*thinks now that this BBQ was cooking nicely, I should go back to the thread about teeth and stuff and start up about how much dental bills cost*

teehee