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Overtime at Work

kama_s

kama_s

Ideal_Rock
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Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
3,617
I have a few questions for all you working ladies (and gents!) relating to extra hours you''ve put in at work:

1- If you''re salary based, what is the usual form of compensation for the extra hours? Do you get more money, get to take days/hours off, more bonus, or nothing?
2- Are you satisfied with the level of compensation (or lack thereof) you receive?
3- Are you still willing to happily put in overtime (when needed)?
4- And lastly, has it differed from when you were new and starting out in your industry/field vs. several years down the road?

I''m merely curious. Would love if you''d all indulge me!
 
1- If you''re salary based, what is the usual form of compensation for the extra hours? Do you get more money, get to take days/hours off, more bonus, or nothing?

Nothing.

It isn''t company policy to pay for overtime when you are salary. But in Corporate America to get ahead, you have to show your face. If you are walking in at 8:30 and leaving at 5pm, chances are that you are very satisfied with the position you are in because you won''t be promoted any time soon. Face time is everything.

Aside from that, we are a global company. There have been times when I have worked until 10pm because I was working with the team in Singapore and that was the only time they were available.


2- Are you satisfied with the level of compensation (or lack thereof) you receive?

Yes.

I''m fortunate in that my directors pay attention to what the market is paying for my position and they will adjust. I received an adjustment two years ago that bumped me up $15k and there''s talk of doing another adjustment this year.

3- Are you still willing to happily put in overtime (when needed)?

Yes.

I''m paying my dues
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4- And lastly, has it differed from when you were new and starting out in your industry/field vs. several years down the road?

I don''t understand this question as much. Do you mean was my satisfaction with compensation higher when I started vs now?
 

1- If you're salary based, what is the usual form of compensation for the extra hours? Do you get more money, get to take days/hours off, more bonus, or nothing?

I am salary based, but as a lawyer of course I also work by billable hours which vary from actual work hours. Generally there are 1.5-2 work hours for every 1 billable hour. I also have "general targets" rather than set minimums for my billable hours.

I don't get more money for working more hours at this time (though I can bring more money into the firm by doing so and that can benefit me in other ways down the road) but I do have quite a bit of flexibility in that there are days where I really don't need to put in as many hours to get my billable hours as I am pretty efficient (except when hanging around on PS!). So I would say most of my compensation comes in the form of "flexibility" and work/life balance.

The really long hours tend to come in spurts - when there is trial preparation for example and I might have to work through the weekend. The rest of the time, it is fairly flexible. I don't really have a "boss" so can sort of structure my day as works for me and leave for an appointment or something if I need to. As long as I am not taking advantage of the firm, it's pretty flexible that way. Most everyone here can take off early on Friday's if they want...and so as long as I am not behind, I do too. Things like that.

My office more than repays me, and everyone else. They take us, and our spouses on all-paid trips (like to Las Vegas), hold many social functions for ourselves, and family and so on as well.

There are bonuses around the Christmas holiday, but this is pretty across the board to all lawyers and staff rather than being an incentive bonus.



2- Are you satisfied with the level of compensation (or lack thereof) you receive?

Yes, for now.


3- Are you still willing to happily put in overtime (when needed)?

Yes, I really enjoy my work and have a great working environment. As long as my personal life balance is still supported, I am more than happy to do so. It's sort of part of the job. I have done jobs before going back to law school where no OT was expected and I punched in at 8:30 and out at 4:30 and each day FELT like it was three times longer than it was!


4- And lastly, has it differed from when you were new and starting out in your industry/field vs. several years down the road?

I am still pretty new to this industry. I will say it really varies from area to area, and community to community. There certainly are peers of mine who work 16-18 hour days everyday, and living examples of the horror stories I heard before and in law school. They DO get paid quite a bit more but I definitely enjoy what I do more (at least from what I can garner talking to them).

In a couple years, I will also be gaining in addition to my salary, commission of sorts based on my billable hours, and then in due course the goal (of both myself and my firm) is that I would be made partner than I share in firm profits as well. I will be able to reach partner quite a bit ahead of many of my peers working in the much bigger firms in larger centres, so that is a perk for me!
 
Hmm...interesting responses. Thank you for answering.

Fiery: For questions 4, I was asking if your overtime pattern has changed over the course of years, i.e., were you more willing to put in extra hours as a new employee than you do now.

Raikai: I like that you have the freedom to take hours off when business is slow. That is why I loved grad school so much. I could work 15 hour days when needed and then come in at 10am on a slow week. I made my own hours.

At my current job, overtime is expected. I''ve only been here 3 months and I''m doing tons of extra hours. But I''m finding it harder because a) my commute is two hours EACH way and b) it''s hard to wake up at 6 when I''ve been working until midnight. I, too, am a very efficient worker. Everyone else (including my managers and the partners) take an hour+ for lunch, chit chat in the hallway etc and encourage us to join. But when I''m at work, I''m working. I take 15-20 minutes for lunch and that''s about it. But, I am new. Not just to the field, but to being employed in itself. So I wonder if I''m just over-analysing and being over zealous because I have something to prove? I do wish I could take off an hour early on a Friday so I can be home before the sun sets!
 
I''m salary based and I get time and a half for overtime. I work as much overtime as possible (must keep King of Prussia green) and I''m pleased with the rate of pay. It is no different from when I started out.
 
I'll answer based on my last job.

I traveled a lot, and often worked more than 8 hours a day. Some of our manufacturing plants ran on 12 hour shifts, so often you would be there for 12+ hours. Other plants ran on 8 hour shifts, but you would usually need to get in before the shift started (around 5am) and leave after it finished (usually 4pm). On important trips I might have to cover two 8 hr shifts back to back. The longest I worked at once was 36 hrs straight. My boss didn't care - he even told people he didn't care (others back at the office were appalled though). I never received any monetary compensation. These are all hours on your feet without many breaks (the line workers would ask if we got breaks, and we'd say not if something was going on!)

There was a general policy (though unofficial) that if you worked weekends you would get a day off for each weekend day (or holiday, if you had to work on a holiday). One weekend I worked 16 hrs on Friday (granted, not a weekend day), 23 hrs on Saturday, and 8 hrs on Sunday, before driving 3 hrs to get home. I asked my boss for 2 days of comp time and he put me through the ringer about it. I was often written up for not working hard because I asked for these comp days (most other employees just took them - maybe by flying home on a Thursday and staying home Friday, but telling the boss they were actually flying home on Friday) and I was penalized for being upfront instead of lying about what I was doing (and it was a policy, if unofficial). This was by far one of the worst things about my job. I'm all for staying until the job is done and not complaining, but when I'm marked as lazy because I want comp day back for working 12+hr days on weekends, it just pisses me off. I didn't sign up for that. I was new, but things weren't any easier for the veterans. A few decided they were done with travel and long hours, but they had been around for 15-20 years. Everyone else in a non-managerial position busted their butts. One guy, extremely experienced and valuable, was owed 20 comps days that he never got. The boss wanted to give him a certificate for a job well done. HR suggested maybe he should let this guy take 20 comp days instead.
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Glad I'm not working there anymore!! Where DH works (and I hope to soon be working after my interviews on Tuesday) they occasionally have to provide coverage on a weekend. This can mean just working from home, or actually going into the office. If DH goes into the office for a half day, he gets another half day worth of vacation (an offcial policy) and if he works a full day (even 6 hrs or so) he gets a full vacation day. If he just works from home he doesn't get anything, because it's expected (and it's coverage, so he doesn't necessarily have to do more than an hours worth of work if nothing is going on). That seems fair to me.

eta: Can you tell this subject makes me angry? I got pissed off just typing this!
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I''ve never had a salary job, and have always gotten time and a half for overtime. I never minded overtime, unless I had something going on.

JD''s been salary since he started as a Foreman last year. It''s nice when the plant is running short hours. Weekends, he gets a certain $ amount for Saturday and a certain $ amount for Sunday, regardless of how many hours he works those days. So especially if they ask him to work Sunday and it''s just for a couple hours, we don''t care what we''ve got going on, he''s there. Doesn''t happen that way very often tho!

I would say he''s worth a lot more than what he makes-and they know it too. He runs 4 lines by himself in his room, and in the other room, they have 3 Foremen for 7 lines. And he still has to help them.
 
1. Nada. But working a little overtime does relieve me of any guilt I might feel when I take a day off.

2. Nooo. If I had a higher salary, I''d be more willing to work overtime. Time really is money.

3. Not particularly.

4. I''m in the early stages of my career so it''s hard to tell!
 
1- If you''re salary based, what is the usual form of compensation for the extra hours? Do you get more money, get to take days/hours off, more bonus, or nothing?

None.

2- Are you satisfied with the level of compensation (or lack thereof) you receive?

Yes

3- Are you still willing to happily put in overtime (when needed)?

Yes, it''s part of my job!

4- And lastly, has it differed from when you were new and starting out in your industry/field vs. several years down the road?

Well, I honestly am not as eager to put in long hours just for the sake of it, anymore. I put in long hours when it''s necessary, but I won''t jump at the chance to do it for non-criticial items or just to make it seem like I''m a super-duper hard worker. My work/life balance has become much more important.
 
1- If you''re salary based, what is the usual form of compensation for the extra hours? Do you get more money, get to take days/hours off, more bonus, or nothing?

Theoretically it comes in your bonus, but on an hourly rate that makes no sense
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So, none.

2- Are you satisfied with the level of compensation (or lack thereof) you receive?

Yes.


3- Are you still willing to happily put in overtime (when needed)?

Yes. I work in accounting, so there are certain times of the year when you will be required to meet deadlines and do other special projects. I''m not thrilled about it, but I know generally when it is coming, so I brace myself and clear my personal schedule.


4- And lastly, has it differed from when you were new and starting out in your industry/field vs. several years down the road?

Most people in my field do public accounting for a few years (like me) and those hours are crazy. As in 9am-11pm for months during busy season. You have to pay your dues in that field for sure until you start managing your own projects. Now I work for a financial company. Definitely the non-managers work longer hours, but the managers are constantly plugged in and available to upper management, so I guess it''s a different kind of overtime
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1- If you''re salary based, what is the usual form of compensation for the extra hours? Do you get more money, get to take days/hours off, more bonus, or nothing? Nothing

2- Are you satisfied with the level of compensation (or lack thereof) you receive? Generally

3- Are you still willing to happily put in overtime (when needed)? Yes

4- And lastly, has it differed from when you were new and starting out in your industry/field vs. several years down the road? No
 
My hubby gets time and a half. He works 24 hours at a time so it ends up being quite a chunk of cash and hard to pass up. Sometimes when he works many overtime days he just has to take a day off.
Either there is a lot or nothing, rarely anything inbetween.
 
1- If you''re salary based, what is the usual form of compensation for the extra hours? Do you get more money, get to take days/hours off, more bonus, or nothing?

We get comp time and we track it with internal time sheets. So if I work 12 hours one day, I''ll leave early another day, etc. Our schedules are very flexible and although I don''t love my job I do love being able to go in at noon so I can watch a World Cup game!

2- Are you satisfied with the level of compensation (or lack thereof) you receive?

Yes, comp time is reasonable to me although I''d rather get time and a half.

3- Are you still willing to happily put in overtime (when needed)?

Yes.

4- And lastly, has it differed from when you were new and starting out in your industry/field vs. several years down the road?

I''m relatively new so can''t answer this one.
 
1- If you''re salary based, what is the usual form of compensation for the extra hours? Do you get more money, get to take days/hours off, more bonus, or nothing?
Salaried with no compensation for extra hours. In fact, as of a few months ago, my team was asked to bill at least 120%. So instead of billing 40 hours per week, we are required to bill 50. Today, for instance, I spent 3 hours in a non-client meeting, which means I had to work 13 hours in order to meet my billable goal (no lunch, no other non-billable time). I''m taking off next Friday, so I need to bill 12 hours every other day of the week to meet my weekly goal and still take 8 hours of vacation. My boss''s justification for this is that other firms require 150% billability, so we are getting off easy.

2- Are you satisfied with the level of compensation (or lack thereof) you receive?
I was when I started, now I feel slightly underpaid.

3- Are you still willing to happily put in overtime (when needed)?
No. My overtime is now required and I''m a little resentful of it.

4- And lastly, has it differed from when you were new and starting out in your industry/field vs. several years down the road?
I know that my position has changed in the past couple of years--we used to get in trouble when we ran "hot" (meaning we were billing too many hours). Several of my colleagues left the agency for other positions or to go to business school and very few were replaced, so now there is more of a strain on the rest of us.
 
1- If you''re salary based, what is the usual form of compensation for the extra hours? Do you get more money, get to take days/hours off, more bonus, or nothing?
No extra money.
2- Are you satisfied with the level of compensation (or lack thereof) you receive?
Yes.
3- Are you still willing to happily put in overtime (when needed)?
Not Happily, but realize I am fortunate to have my position.
4- And lastly, has it differed from when you were new and starting out in your industry/field vs. several years down the road?
Yes. The compensation for experience is very good.
 
Date: 6/17/2010 3:26:15 PM
Author:kama_s
I have a few questions for all you working ladies (and gents!) relating to extra hours you''ve put in at work:

1- If you''re salary based, what is the usual form of compensation for the extra hours? Do you get more money, get to take days/hours off, more bonus, or nothing?
2- Are you satisfied with the level of compensation (or lack thereof) you receive?
3- Are you still willing to happily put in overtime (when needed)?
4- And lastly, has it differed from when you were new and starting out in your industry/field vs. several years down the road?

I''m merely curious. Would love if you''d all indulge me!
Click to expand...
1. No compensation whatsoever. Occassionally, I''ll manage to take part of an afternoon off, but generally I put in tons of time and get NONE of it back.
2. I''m not satified at all- my position is underpaid by at least $15K at my company and doesn''t bonus, which it typically would anywhere else. They don''t understand the true value of what my position does as it''s a specialized group within a company where everyone else does something completely unrelated.
3. I stll work overtime because I have no choice given my travel schedule and project load, but I won''t say I do it happily.
4. When i started my career, I was doing the front end work of what I do now, which is soup to nuts, if that makes sense. I had much more satisfaction earlier in my career with fewer hours required than are now. But the economy is tough and jobs are few and far between, so what can you do?
 
1- If you're salary based, what is the usual form of compensation for the extra hours? Do you get more money, get to take days/hours off, more bonus, or nothing?

I'm FLSA exempt (salaried) and I generally get no compensation for extra time put in. There are provisions for formally claiming overtime (time earned on a straight-time basis, I think) for working more than 5 days a week, but I've never used those provisions even when I could have.

HOWEVER... I can informally take compensating time off... my boss and I work it out when a project requires a lot of late nights and weekend work. ALSO I do not take time off my timesheet -- formally or informally -- if I need to come in late for some reason, go to a med appointment, etc. Legally I cannot take time off my timesheet in less than 8-hour increments under FLSA-exempt provisions. When we're in a furlough day situation, as we are now, the "exempt" rules don't count during furlough weeks and I do take one- or two-hour etc increments off as needed.

The working assumption for my position is that I will put in the time needed to do the job -- and for my job, the "time needed" tends to fluctuate.


2- Are you satisfied with the level of compensation (or lack thereof) you receive?

I am. If I were regularly working 6-7 day weeks to get the job done I probably wouldn't be, or I'd start being more rigorous about tracking my time.

3- Are you still willing to happily put in overtime (when needed)?

Happily? Not really. My personal life is valuable to me. But I believe in what I do to make a living too, so I put in the extra time when needed. A large part of my satisfaction with that depends on how my work is used and received...

4- And lastly, has it differed from when you were new and starting out in your industry/field vs. several years down the road?

In my field we have crazy periods and not so crazy periods. I've had months and even one-or two- year stretches where 60+ hour stretches were the norm. In theory it changes down the road as you get more authority and get to delegate work to subordinates. In reality... not so much. I have been able to delegate a lot of the work that involves travel. I like traveling but it sucks up a lot of time, especially home time, so passing that on has significantly changed the amount of extra time I've had to put in.
 
1- If you''re salary based, what is the usual form of compensation for the extra hours? Do you get more money, get to take days/hours off, more bonus, or nothing?

This is for my fiance- he gets time and a half up to a certain amount of hours, then double time, but his company won''t allow you to rack up double time. he''s salary based.

2- Are you satisfied with the level of compensation (or lack thereof) you receive?
So far, yes. He makes a bit more than some of our friends. We also get discounts on things (like our car and cell bill) because of the place that he works


3- Are you still willing to happily put in overtime (when needed)?
He''s willing, and sometimes very tired. He averages about 6-8 extra hours a week, sometimes 16 extra hours a paycheck. It''s not a ton of extra time, but considering what he has to deal with, it can take a lot.


4- And lastly, has it differed from when you were new and starting out in your industry/field vs. several years down the road?

He makes less now than he did before. long story. At least he has a job.
 
Date: 6/17/2010 3:26:15 PM
Author:kama_s
I have a few questions for all you working ladies (and gents!) relating to extra hours you''ve put in at work:

1- If you''re salary based, what is the usual form of compensation for the extra hours? Do you get more money, get to take days/hours off, more bonus, or nothing?
2- Are you satisfied with the level of compensation (or lack thereof) you receive?
3- Are you still willing to happily put in overtime (when needed)?
4- And lastly, has it differed from when you were new and starting out in your industry/field vs. several years down the road?

I''m merely curious. Would love if you''d all indulge me.
Click to expand...

In the industry I work (On site Power Plant Engineer/Maintenance) Salaried positions typically work a minimum of 50-60 hours per week (depending on the company) with no extra compensation. During Power Plant Outages where you may easily work 80 - 100 hours a week there is typically some form of extra compensation either in pay or partial comp time (depends on the company).

In the Nuclear Power Plant industry the wages are 40-50% higher than non-nuclear plants; but the stress & B.S. Level is much higher. I have mixed feelings about if the compensation is adequate. It really depends on the company as certain companies typically pay huge annual bonuses based on company and plant performance - and other companies typically don''t pay much (if any) in bonuses.

In my specific situation: Years ago Management really abused the free OT and work conditions and the Plant Engineers unionized (if you had told me that 100 independently minded Engineers would ever overwhelmingly vote to Unionize - I never would have believed it; but then I lived through the abuses...)

The result is that we are on a Salary + partial OT hour compensation plan, and have a modest bonus structure.
is it different than when I was just starting out in the industry: The companies are now less flexibile on work hours

When I work a normal work week I''d say the compensation is adequate: When I work very long hours for multiple weeks on end - I don''t think so.

I still happily work extensive OT when needed (and am currently doing so) - as long as it relates to stuff that is part of my normal job responsibilities.

As far as how is it now compared to when I started in the industry: Back then the companies allowed a lot more flex time and time off for extensive OT.

Perry
 
Date: 6/17/2010 3:26:15 PM
Author:kama_s
I have a few questions for all you working ladies (and gents!) relating to extra hours you''ve put in at work:


1- If you''re salary based, what is the usual form of compensation for the extra hours? Do you get more money, get to take days/hours off, more bonus, or nothing? Nope nothing - however on occasion (VERY occasionally) I will take a half day off without the need to record it.

2- Are you satisfied with the level of compensation (or lack thereof) you receive? Sort of...mostly more unhappy with how little I am appreciated given I work an extra week of hours in total every month (yes I calculated...) and have actually been told I don''t work hard enough...seriously.

3- Are you still willing to happily put in overtime (when needed)? Not as much as I used to...but not much choice either so slightly resentful here.

4- And lastly, has it differed from when you were new and starting out in your industry/field vs. several years down the road? I''m at the start of my career so can''t comment on this...although 2 years ago my job was much more relaxed!


I''m merely curious. Would love if you''d all indulge me!
Click to expand...
 
Not working right now, but I can speak to both my old job and the position I hope to get once my clerkship is over:

1. Old job -- no extra money, but I could take comp time on an informal arrangement between my boss and me, basically like VRBeauty's. Salaried employees didn't keep timesheets, but we did keep a record of "time off." So if I had a doctor/dentist appointment, I just wouldn't record it if I'd worked enough overtime to cover it.
Possible future job -- overtime gets banked, up to 24 hours, which you can then use in lieu of vacation or personal days. You can use and replenish as much as you want, but you can't bank more than 24.

2. Old job -- no, I was not satisfied with the compensation. I was hugely underpaid with little room for promotion, and it was one of the reasons I left. The working environment was pleasant, but that doesn't pay the bills.
Possible future job -- reasonably well compensated with an excellent work-life balance.

3. Old job -- I was usually happy to work overtime because my boss only asked me to do it when it was REALLY necessary, so I didn't feel taken advantage of.
Possible future job -- would probably be the same way.

4. N/A at this point, as I'm a career-switcher and don't really know what the future holds!
 
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