I live in Pennsylvania, and have recently started a new job.
Now that my training period is over, I’m going on the schedule like all the other folks in this department. While I understand that Mandatory OT is just that, Mandatory, is there a limit?
Starting next month, I work 19 days in a row, then weekend off, then 14 more days in a row. All weekday shifts are 8 hours, weekend shifts are 12.
I have been told the last person to complain about the schedule was told they should look for another job.
They mentioned in my interview that there was a lot of “potential for overtime”, and that everyone works a weekend now and again. I expect that, it’s the name of the game. But apparently the normal schedule here includes regular 3 week straight runs for everyone.
IT jobs don’t unionize. Or at least, I’ve never heard of one.
Are you exempt (they don’t have to pay overtime) or non-exempt (they do)?
I’m in IT as well and though I’ve occasionally worked hours like that, it was never for more than a few weeks at a time.
This sort of scheduling may be essential done in the short-term however anything more than a couple of weeks speaks of seriously screwed-up management. As in, they’re trying to get the work of many employees done by a single one. They need to either hire more people, or cut down on the expected output of the people they’ve got. Their attitude - if this is something expected long-term - is that people are disposable: “run 'em into the ground then replace”.
Did you by any chance sign a contract where the itty-bitty print says “you are not allowed to have a life”?
If you’re nonexempt, at least you’d be making big bucks with the overtime. Still, money does not substitute for your health and sanity.
In my job during a program launch, it’s not unusual to work long stretches like that, often with 12 to 16 hour days. We’re all exempt, but our management pays us what they can (and for many of us, overtime is at less than the equivalent hourly rate). The official policy is not to work longer than 17 consecutive days, but sometimes we just don’t have that luxury. We take the job seriously, and I don’t mean “our” jobs but “the” job. At times we can go back to the apartments/hotels for a few hours nap time, depending on what’s going on where and with whom. I’ve pulled a few 36 hour shifts, which suck the big one, but in the end it’s worth it.
There are other perks, like free car use when it’s out of town (usually is), free gasoline, per diem, and so on. Honestly, if it weren’t such a great job, we’d just not do it, regardless of the pay.
We had a union drive, but it was eventually defeated. Yeah, even given all of the above.
Oh, also wanted to point out that “exempt” doesn’t necessarily mean “no overtime.” I means you’re exempt from the requirement that your employer pay you overtime at a certain rate, but many, many employers do pay some type of overtime to exempt workers.
They do pay overtime, which is the only reason I haven’t walked at this point. But I will be going out and looking to see what else may be out there.
From what I can tell, and my rather broad experiences with a whole slew of management styles, I have to agree with the assesment above. The majority of the workers have no kids, more than half are not married.
While I want to work, and will happily work whatever I am told to do, even I have limits.
Can i ask a more general question about your industry?
I was under the impression that there were still quite a few tech people in the industry who are out of work. Is labor so short in your area, or your skill set, that they need you to work massive amounts of overtime rather than hire another person?
I mean, i know that tech people often have to suck up long hours and long stretches of consecutive work days when a big deadline or problem is being worked on, but in your case the massive amount of overtime seems to be an everyday occurrence.
Wouldn’t it make more sense for the company to hire another person? Surely it would save on overtime (if they’re paying time-and-a-half) and also ensure that your workers (a) aren’t completely burnt out, and (b) don’t hate the company’s guts.
There usually are. The Pittsburgh area is in a transition right now, from heavy industry to information. Right at the moment, as near as I can tell, things are in balance. But the schools are cranking out the graduates at a pretty good clip, so shortly there will be excessive people looking for the jobs. Good times! hehe
As for the scheduling, yes, you are right, it would save them money in the long run. But from what I’ve been able to tell, the supervisor and the manager have no interest in that. The manager in particular uses the massive OT as a pitcher plant… most folks might not like it, but rapidly get used to the much larger checks. This, coupled with her own issues (she tries to keep her workers fighting amongst themselves) and some other shady things I’ve heard of make me think she’s well aware of it, and doesn’t care.
I will be looking into this “day of rest” law and such though.
I had the impression that the last time Pittsburgh was known for heavy industry was back in the 70’s…
Plus, there have always been tons of colleges and trade schools in Pittsburgh, which is why you see all these “why are all the young people leaving” articles in the newspapers constantly. There’s more graduates than jobs, so people move to other areas. The fact that several major banks and hospitals have been bought out in the last 10 years or so and moved most of their processing out of state doesn’t help either.
Anyhow, it doesn’t sound like you really have any recourse other than looking for another job. You are getting paid overtime, which is great. You also have the luxury of being able to look for a job while you still have a job. I don’t know if you’re planning on staying in the area or not, but there’s a huge demand for IT jobs down around D.C. (gov’t jobs) and down south (North Carolina, Atlanta, etc). Anyhow, I’d start looking around and see what else is out there. In the mean time, rake in as much as you can.
While my initial reaction is that this is another one of those “gotchaya” type requests that we sometimes get from the local legals, I’ll go with the assumption that it was a serious enquiry. Examples: