Long hours at work

I have been informed that we will be working every day until New Years, with only Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas being excepted, by one of the Sr. Managers. I've been working 6 days a week for quite a few months already, which is why I'm not the presence here like I usually am. They are going to be mandatory work days, so it is said, and those employees with plane tickets and plans are just going to have to eat the costs.

They slipped up and gave us today off, and there is a chance I'll get some of next weekend off, we'll see. It is possible this guy has violated one rule of leadership, never give orders that won't be obeyed, but I think he was dead serious. We'll see.

It brought me down to a massive degree, but I've worked through it. Since I use my real name here I won't be discussing how I will handle it, I am at a point I am desperate for this job as never before. The insurance is the thing, I can not give it up.

Oh well.

That's hard. I did seven day weeks for a couple of months once, but management made it optional. They offered time and a half for the Sundays and a £500 bonus for completing it. Most people took it up and it's a much nicer way of doing it.

Normally we get 10 days off for this time of year, but since we are a defense contractor they are trying to squeeze as much work in before the potential fiscal cliff. It is one of our benefits, and it was something I was counting on for my personal sanity.

Before this discussion goes down one path I foresee, no politics. The financial cliff is a possibility, but I will not allow the discussion to go down this path (part of my job here).

A side note, since this is one of my rare personal threads, I was 270 pounds, and diabetes got me down to 240 (lost weight without cause to 230, diagnosed, and it came back with treatment). I have hit 194 pounds, and plan on going much further. It has climbed back to 198 in the last few days, but I'm not worried, I am not starving myself, and am basically on track. One thing that has helped is the long walks I am currently doing (6 miles twice a week). If it stops working I will lengthen my distance even more.

Bill,

So sorry you have to go through this. This treatment borders on abuse and is completely unfair. At the very least employes should be compensated for money lost through travel cancellations.

I hate unions but with treatment like this, they would be most useful. You might want to have a beer summit with your fellow employees then have a frank discussion with management when this is all over.

Employees have employers over a barrel today. The economy sucks and in the tech industry there is always an immigrant willing to come here to take your job or do it overseas. I worry about this at work all the time. Lots of my co-workers were laid off only to be replaced by immigrant contractors. It is really hard to work with someone when you know they took the job of a friend and they or one of their friend's might be taking your job.

One bright spot where I work is my manager. He stinks as a project manager. I need to design, code and manage the project for all of my applications. But where he shines is in office politics. At risk to his own career, he does his best to protect our jobs. Also he insists that we do not work more that 40 hours a week. He thinks that your life outside of work is just as important as work. A very unusual belief in today's tech world.

I am glad to see you are making an attempt to take care of yourself. We want to see you around for a long time here. Not only are you a valuable member of the forum, I consider you a friend and I am sure everyone here does too.

You should consider getting a bicycle. It is a fun way to exercise. I did a ride yesterday on the Allegheny River Trail and it was glorious! A friend of mine is about your size and he rides all the time. He is slow but tenacious.

Instead of spending time reading long posts like this one, you should be out exercising.

How do you get exercise in the summer? I used to live in Dallas and I know it is challenging to do anything outside in the summer.

Sorry to hear about your rough treatment at work Bill.

It's hard for me to imagine "mandatory work days" sprung over Christmas, or really at any time. To my thinking, an employer/employee relationship is a mutual one where the worker agrees (chooses?) to do work X on days Y and get paid z. What you are describing sounds a little Dickensian to me.

Maybe there's a possibility of a mild rebellion in your workplace? If enough workers are ticked off about this treatment they could communicate with upper management (above this particular manager's head?).

BillMarsden said:

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I have hit 194 pounds, and plan on going much further. It has climbed back to 198 in the last few days, but I'm not worried, I am not starving myself, and am basically on track. One thing that has helped is the long walks I am currently doing (6 miles twice a week). If it stops working I will lengthen my distance even more.

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Congrats ona great success! Obesety is one of the biggest killers today, and takes it toll not just in the deaths and shortened lives but the reduced quality of life. I'm sure you're already feeling the benefits of taking that 30-40 pounds off. Just don't try to rush things, real healthy weight loss is at about 0.5 pounds a week, maybe 1 pound a week but then only over a shorter time.

Hi Bill.

It really sucks with 7 workdays a week. Do you get any overtime pay or other compensation? Instead of working Sats and Suns, I stay longer in the weekdays. For now I've manage to work there for 5,5 years. Mainly because the pay is good, not because the Boss is close related to Satan.

Good job on the walks. My gf and I walked in the woods for 2 hrs today. In pouring rain. It's good to be in front of the monitors again, with a warm cup of coffee.

I just got back from a 7.2 mile walk, I got frustrated with regular pedometers so I bought a GPS unit to keep me honest. Since I have gained a bit a little extra distance was in order.

Yeah, it does stink. Some of you may remember where I work, but I am keeping the name off this thread just in case. I am hearing some signs of some revolt, I will see where it goes. I can not participate, but then again, I think I feel a sore throat coming on.

One thing that particularly POed me, on 3rd shift we come in the previous day at 10PM and leave around 7AM. So even though I work Mon-Fri, I am there on Sun 10PM. If I follow their schedule I would be there 10PM Thanksgiving (prime time for this holiday) and 10PM Christmas Day (ditto). Hmmmm, Family or Work? Decisions, decisions.

Time to hit the showers.

Bill_Marsden said:

Hmmmm, Family or Work? Decisions, decisions.

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It's better to find a new job, than find a new family...

Bill, do whatever you think will keep you happier in the long run. Don't burn yourself out, life insurance doesn't cover spontaneous combustion.
Be optimistic, but not unrealistic.

Best wishes,
George

This is evidence of corporate mental illness, and it won't ever get better once it starts. Management has already admitted failure by their actions. There is one strategy that I have always applied in this situation.

Work to rule.

That is, do exactly the minimum required to "meet the rule". Don't volunteer to do anything extra and don't put yourself out to "help the company succeed". Keep meticulous contemporaneous records of your time on the job. You will discover that loyalty is a one-way street. Even if they get through this and succeed, they won't reward you for your sacrifice. Also, the first time they miss payroll you're done!!

At the same time you and your family, as a cooperative enterprise, should be making definite plans for the future. Your friends are here to help -- ask us and you may be surprised.

Alright, now lets talk about politics and see how far we can get it past Geo while Bills all doped up working 80 hours a weeks.

Challenge accepted! On your marks...

I've been in a couple of scenarios of ludicrous work volume - #1 in the Navy; liberty is a privilege, and on a submarine, it's not one that's handed out in great abundance. Duty (24hr shift) every 3rd day, with 12+ hour work days in between for months leading up to deployment and months after deployment ... which basically accounts for all the time. That was the military though; one aught to know what they are signing up for. The other, my second-to-last employer, would send me out of country to work on a rig, and pull 12-16 hour shifts, 7 days per week, for months. But I was eager to work as many hours as possible - and when I got home, there was a month of paid "on-call" (vacation) time waiting for me. Again, this is a case of voluntary submission.

I have to say, that in my current position, I'm a family man and I wouldn't submit to working like a plow mule. If my employer tried to force it on me, I'm not sure what I'd do. I would probably stick it out for a while and see where things go. I'd bet that it won't last, at least not as long as they are hoping for. You might not, but other people will probably walk off the job. When they see that they are hemorrhaging their work force, maybe they will let up. But, I would be looking for a new job in the interim.

Glad to hear about your weight loss. We weigh exactly the same now.

Bill_Marsden said:

I just got back from a 7.2 mile walk, I got frustrated with regular pedometers so I bought a GPS unit to keep me honest. Since I have gained a bit a little extra distance was in order.

Yeah, it does stink. Some of you may remember where I work, but I am keeping the name off this thread just in case. I am hearing some signs of some revolt, I will see where it goes. I can not participate, but then again, I think I feel a sore throat coming on.

One thing that particularly POed me, on 3rd shift we come in the previous day at 10PM and leave around 7AM. So even though I work Mon-Fri, I am there on Sun 10PM. If I follow their schedule I would be there 10PM Thanksgiving (prime time for this holiday) and 10PM Christmas Day (ditto). Hmmmm, Family or Work? Decisions, decisions.

Time to hit the showers.

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What only 7.2 miles? What was wrong with 10? Seriously , great work. Keep it up!

I was thinking that the employees should all get the "blue flu" right around the holidays.

Don't you have overtime rules that kick in after working 44 hours?
You should be paid 1½ times the employee's regular rate of pay for working over 44 hours.

MrChips said:

Don't you have overtime rules that kick in after working 44 hours?
You should be paid 1½ times the employee's regular rate of pay for working over 44 hours.

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Since when? Many professionals work far more than 40 hours. I am lucky that mu boss insists that we work only 40 while many other MIS teams are working 50-60+ a week. Thankfully, I have a boss that thinks there are more important things than work so we work 40.

A civil engineer friend of fine was an executive at his firm. He was probably pulling down at least twice my pay but when you figured out per hour, I made pretty much equal to what he made per hour.

As a professional you are lucky if you can take the overtime in comp time.

I actually work more than 8 hours a day but then I get a day off every other week. It is a great deal.

for hourly paid people, overtime (1.5X) usually kicks in after 40hrs. For salaried people, there's not any compensation for additional hours worked, that I've heard of. This is one of the apprehensions I have about transitioning from a technician to an engineering position in the next few years. I was working 60+ hours/week and saw many engineers working that much as well. We were bringing home about the same pay, considering I was earning almost as much in overtime as I was in base pay, and they were earning absolutely nothing for their overtime.

We have OT rules, time and a half. We will even get our holiday pay. Somehow it isn't real compensation as far as I am concerned, the time is much more precious. I wonder if this manager is going to really be successful in the long run, he is succeeding now, but loyalty really does go both ways, and it is between people, not companies (something I learned a very long time ago). Hard feelings, just like good feelings, linger.

I tend to take the overtime when available, and bank the premium portions. Then, when I decide to take time off, it's no problem. Well, maybe it is for the employer, but like I've often said, 'you seem to be mistaken, I'm not asking for the time off, I'm telling you when I'm not available'. It's all part of that mobility thing.

Where I live a 100% workweek is 37.5 hrs. Overtime kicks in after you work 7.5 hrs that day. Some companies says that overtime kicks in after you've worked 37.5 hrs a week. Rate the first 4 hrs usually 1.5x, and 2x the next. Saturday, first 5 hrs 1.5, the rest is 2x. Sunday 2x. This may vary from company to company, but this is the main guidelines.

Remebmer that time spent on job, is time not spent with family.

YOLO!