At what point do you say "NO" to work?

[burmjohn]

I received this anonymous email to post this question to the forums, just relaying because it poses a great question I'm sure many of us have had to deal with in the past.

 

 

 

 

Just curious...

 

I am salaried, work 9-5, which usually translates into 8:30 to 6pm.  Id say on average a  50+ hours a week, do what I can just get things done. 

 

  I get texts and calls off hours, which is fine to an extent, this is my personal non work paid phone.  At what point do you just say no, or ignore them?

 

Take for example today, received two texts... "Did you see that email on Saturday?"    I said no, I did not, I'll see it Monday morning when I get in though.  

 

Then another text rolls in, can you check it now?

 

Fine.. take 30 min to login to work because the VPN is down have to call the helpdesk, get them fired up. All in all there is a solid 1.5 hours of my Sunday wasted with zero compensation.   At what point is enough enough? 

 

Not saying this point me over the edge, but I'm on there looking down....  

 

This post wouldnt be here if I was properly taken care of...

 

 

 

 

[jjb4900]

I guess you say no when you have the luxury of going without work until you find a job of equal or better pay or if what you're qualified to do has a strong job market.

[burmjohn]

I guess you say no when you have the luxury of going without work until you find a job of equal or better pay or if what you're qualified to do has a strong job market.

 

Thats not true,  I have said no for the most part (weekends)  for the last 5 years and I'm still working.

[jjb4900]

Thats not true,  I have said no for the most part (weekends)  for the last 5 years and I'm still working.

but did it cost you your job? 

[burmjohn]

but did it cost you your job? 

 

No

[ncountry]

Every chance you get...I reallize I am not the norm. My family and my happiness comes 1st.. I never( at least try to) put myself into a position where I cannot say %$$@ em. Al sorts of saying about what you will regret on your death bed..Not many of them work related, unless you are lucky enough to do what you love..

Of course I have led a happy albeit not wealthy $$ life..

[jjb4900]

No

that's different, I was thinking about jobs who would tell the employee if they don't like it they can take a hike.

[NeverSeenNorHeard]

I don't connect my work e-mail to my phone. If someone calls I usually let it go to vm and then listen. If its an emergency I will get back to them. If not, I will text that I'm busy or out of town. I blame everything on hunting, fishing or being drunk!

 

Since I have worked out of the country and with people from other areas, mainly Europe, I have come to a disturbing conclusion. People in the US, including myself, have been conditioned to be afraid of being out sick, or even worse, nervous to use all your paid time off! People from other countries take, or go on "Holiday", some for an entire month! Think about it if you don't use your vacation pay or personal days you are technically paying to work...

 

[Jeremy K]

Ive been saying no to weekends until last week when they made saturdays mandatory, guess who is getting an AWOL next saturday , this guy is!

[nycredneck]

I work anywhere from 50 to 80 hrs in a five day week.  The project I'm on now will last almost two months and I have had only 3 days off so far this month, hunting season started last weekend and I have not seen my family hardly at all this month and forget about hunting. I get paid OK but feel it should be more, for any day I don't work, I don't get paid, no vacation or sick days here. It makes me angry now that I have a family but it is what it is I guess. Had to stop typing just now because even though I finished 2 hrs ago I just got phone call. Always try to not do these kinds of projects but I am helping a friend so he can put this one on his resume.

  Always get phone calls after hours and on weekends and don't like it but they usually revolve around people trying to line up things for all departments so everything will run smooth when we get back on Monday- Friday.

[letinmfly]

As a supervisor at my job I don't answer texts or calls any longer.  I used to do it but I wasn't getting paid for it.  Until they start paying me for working off the clock, I'll keep on not answering them. 

As a matter of fact word came down from corporate that salaried manager's cannot text or call supervisor's when they are off.  I stopped before it became company policy. 

[Red]

I'll answer my phone m_f. During work and usually an hr after work but after that shot me a text and I'll send you a quick one back I don't do Saturdays out Sundays I don't care what the contractors are saying to my.boss he's cool with it when I started there I told him the weekends are for the family and hunting in 3 years of working there I've worked one Saturday for 3 hrs and I was fine by 8am and that's because I.rented a 100' boom lift and wanted to finish the work without my boss getting charged an extra $1000 for the rental. I've said no to plenty of jobs. But depending on who your working for that could be hard thing to do with out worrying about being punished

[ELMER J. FUDD]

I handle off hours situations on a case by case basis. If I'm on vacation, the email gets shut off on my phone. I sync up email if I want to. If I can tell there is money being lost and workers standing around, I will always do what it takes.

They just better not say a damn thing if I need a mental break and visit Huntingny.com during business hours, lol.

[burmjohn]

I don't connect my work e-mail to my phone. If someone calls I usually let it go to vm and then listen. If its an emergency I will get back to them. If not, I will text that I'm busy or out of town. I blame everything on hunting, fishing or being drunk!

Since I have worked out of the country and with people from other areas, mainly Europe, I have come to a disturbing conclusion. People in the US, including myself, have been conditioned to be afraid of being out sick, or even worse, nervous to use all your paid time off! People from other countries take, or go on "Holiday", some for an entire month! Think about it if you don't use your vacation pay or personal days you are technically paying to work...

So damn true.

Sent from my LG-VS980

[ELMER J. FUDD]

We spend our whole lives sacrificing our health to make money, then when we get old, we try to buy back our health.

[PREDATE]

I just give my boss a heads up on Fridays and let him know if I'll be available or not. I just had 2 emergency plumbing calls yesterday and it's hard to pass up double pay! I'm lucky in that my boss loves venison. Last week when I mentioned deer season coming up he said, oh are you gonna take a few days off". I declined the offer, but early November will be different!

[New York Hillbilly]

My last hospital contract was to work 40 hours a week with occasional on call as needed. Their idea of as needed resulted in an expectation of routine 70 hours a week minimum, and as many as 120 + hours some weeks. Needless to say I'm no longer there. 

[martin]

I don't connect my work e-mail to my phone. If someone calls I usually let it go to vm and then listen. If its an emergency I will get back to them. If not, I will text that I'm busy or out of town. I blame everything on hunting, fishing or being drunk!

 

Since I have worked out of the country and with people from other areas, mainly Europe, I have come to a disturbing conclusion. People in the US, including myself, have been conditioned to be afraid of being out sick, or even worse, nervous to use all your paid time off! People from other countries take, or go on "Holiday", some for an entire month! Think about it if you don't use your vacation pay or personal days you are technically paying to work...

  Good valid point. Since I work in a hospital environment, I take calls. When I am on vacation or hunting, I let my bosses know if I'll have phone service. I don't get called a lot. Anything can happen at work. Would rather fix it over a phone call rather than go in for several hours and regret it. Weekends are a norm. I get a lot of stuff done that I cannot do during the week. I do get 3 day weekends after working a weekend. That's a plus. Just my $.02

[First-light]

The average salaried worker about 50 hrs a week. I really think it falls upon the individual to cut ties with work on off hours. When I call in sick I'm still watching email, setting up the daily schedule. I did a stay vacation in August and was on email everyday. A lot of people are used to this and its expected but not mandatory.

[coonhunter]

I am fortunate to work for a mid-sized machine shop that is owned by the same family that started it. They have always been good about time off and keeping hours down to 40 hours as much as possible. And, overtime is never mandatory.

 

On that note, I never worked a saturday for years when I ran hounds in competition. They had no problem with it. Now that I no longer run the hunts, I repay the favor by working overtime almost anytime it is needed.

 

And, if you happen to be on vacation, you may receive a quick call or text about a set-up or program. Another good thing about this company is that for the most part, everyone works together and has no problem getting a quick question on the phone to take care of something unexpected.

 

When I hear other people's horror stories about work, I feel really lucky. Funny thing about getting treated well by the owners, very rarely does anyone call in sick or bitch about their job all the time. Not the perfect job for an outdoorsman, but it is by far the best place I ever worked for.

[nyslowhand]

Pretty sure John (Burmjohn) is referencing salaried positions with uncompensated additional hours "above & beyond the call of duty"...? Hourly workers can only do so much compensated OT, unless greed is the driving factor. Either scenario, if you're working a lot, something is being sacrificed. Generally that's your family, friends &/or personal life! Just have to decide what you want out of life and where your priorities lie, unless you believe in re-incarnation. My philosophy was that I worked to live & not the other way around!

 

I finally put my foot down ~4yrs ago when I retired early & unexpectedly. Had enough of that crap!!! My mental health was worth more to me than padding the 401k. Sorry, couldn't resist..!

 

Not to overly simplify this dilemma, but it all comes down to when you're in the twilight years, asking yourself in hindsight- Would I do it all again? Would I change anything? Was it worth it? What did I gain or lose? Was my family or health sacrificed?

[phade]

Salary vs hourly is different. Plus its an at will state.

Email to cell phones are hellish for off hours.

[Doc]

Unpaid mandatory overtime is pure and simple slavery. No, that's not meant to be funny, it is a simple fact. I never minded putting extra free hours to get the job done, when it was MY idea. Mandatory overtime decrees without overtime compensation always caused me to dig my heels in and resist. Sometimes I relented because extra time really was required to finish a project. I think there came a time when I saw all this as a scam and a way of screwing employees. I always had a pact with industry, "I won't screw you if you don't screw me". They didn't live up to their end of that pact. That was when I started thinking about early retirement.

 

The downsizing frenzy was simply a way to remove cost via abusing the employees who were left. And then the mandatory uncompensated overtime was to make up for the bodies that had been kicked out. I grabbed a package and bailed. Enough time in the cotton fields .... I'm a free man! No more competing with all those overseas people who we cheerfully gave all our technology to and who have no problem turning their lives over to corporations for a few cents per day. I'm out of that game.

[Deerthug]

As a self employed attorney I'm constantly connected to my office, emails, etc. I too only respond in emergencies which are rare since I do personal injury litigation, both plaintiff and defense. So I won't get that Saturday night jailhouse call. I will return calls and emails if it's a new potential client. The best part is making my own hours. I can work from 6:30am to 2:00 pm or so and I'm done or go in at 11 or 12 pm after court and work until 7 or so.

As far as others who don't have my luxury of my flexibility, as a boss of others I would not expect them to be always on the clock after hours again unless of emergencies.

Edited September 29, 2014 by Deerthug

[chiefbkt]

You say no until they start compensating you.  I was salaried for 40 hours but would get comp time (time and half) for anything I worked over 40.  This was my supervisors policy, not the companies.  I was the same way with the people I supervised.  They were all salary except one.  So I typically gave that guy the first dibs on OT.  Everyone else received comp time for being flexible and working when the OT was required.  We did it this way because we never saw any bonuses and the pay raises (unless promoted) were typically 1-4% annually.