Overtime, or rest?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I recently got a job as bus driver, and started at the beginning of this year. Every quarter, all the drivers bid on runs in seniority order. I belong to a sub-class of bus drivers (called Community Bus) and we actually get a separate set of runs/seniority than the other drivers.

My plan is to work as a driver for at least 6 months, which is exactly how long our new hire probation lasts. Once that is over, I can work my way up the ladder. On the first quarter, I didn’t have much seniority (being new) and what limited choices I had on runs I resorted to a run that seemed simple and straightforward- its late enough in the day to never be late due to oversleeping, and its easy to do my job properly.

However, its repetitive. Extremely repetitive. Two-thirds into this quarter, and I’m already quite bored of it. Since we will be signing up for runs for the next quarter soon, I’m taking that in mind, particularly the lack of overtime I’m getting. Since my position is ‘entry level’, my seniority is steadily going up due to drivers above me promoting out to other jobs within the company. This means when I bid I will have a lot more choices, but I know that its critical I pick something I really think I can handle (since I’ll have it for THREE MONTHS, and there are no ‘do overs’ if a driver doesn’t like what he picked :stuck_out_tongue: ).

I’m curious on other Doper’s experiences ‘working for overtime’. Was it worth it for you? Or would you have rather had the time to yourself? Shifts here range from 8 to 10 hours a day, and due to overtime and all the little things they pay us for (for example, there are split shifts, but if they are longer than 10.75 hours from beginning-end we get extra pay on top of the overtime) some pay the equivalent of 12.5 hours! :cool: .

2

Incubus, I can tell you that in my case, when I was younger, I would take the overtime any day of the week. I was mostly broke anyway and had energy to still go out and do stuff I wanted to do when I was off work. The money was a big motivator.

However, when I had my son, I couldn’t do it anymore - even if I had wanted to. Someone had to take care of him.

Now that I’m older, I wouldn’t work overtime - I’d prefer the time to myself. I’m making a lot better money at 42 that I was back in my twenties (I should HOPE so) and can survive without the extra cash - I am much more content having time with my son, husband, and friends. It is no longer worth it to me.

Hope that answers your question.

3

Missy nailed it in one. For me, it’s always a cost-benefit analysis. If you’ve got a lot of other things going on in your life you need to have time for, don’t work the overtime. If you’ve got a lot of bills and not much else going on, take the overtime. If you’ve got a lot of stuff going on and a lot of bills, you’re SOL. :wink: But seriously, it’s always depended on the position I’ve been in when facing the decision.

4

I agree with the others that it was more useful when I was young. I did a couple of stints of extended overtime on some cable construction projects when I was 23-24. Both stints were 12-hour days, six days a week; once for three months, another time for six months. I intended to use the money for a house down payment (you needed 20% down back then and interest was around 15%). I ended up using the money to get myself started in college.

Anyway, if you have a plan for the money…be it education, a house, an investment for your nest egg…I’d say go for it. If you just want to spend it all on fun and toys, I’d think it was kind of pointless.