Salary and hours worked

[HiveQueen]

I’m just wondering what salary you would expect to work more hours than contracted?

I’m contract to work 37 hours a week and earn approx £35,000. I regularly work more than these hours to fit in everything I need to and am always behind in responding to emails. I am efficient and have a high output (which has been feedback to me by my manager) which I think is why I am given a high workload.

I’ve been talking to a friend who is on a similar salary who will never go beyond her contracted hours. On a salary of £35,000 would you expect to work additional hours?

Some days I feel aggrieved, others I think it’s reasonable. It will settle the internal argument I have to hear others opinions.

I did as a trainee accountant on £18k. One of my colleagues worked out that we were working for under the minimum wage. But college was paid for and the salary roughly doubled by qualification.

I don’t think you should be doing it regularly but, on an ad-hoc basis, I would do some extra time at that salary. But then I’ve always worked in accounts so we have busier times (month end, year end etc) when I would do extra but other times when I stick to my core hours.

I think being given more work because your manager knows you will do extra to get it finished is a slippery slope. Just make sure you don’t end up feeling like a mug compared to colleagues who do less (been there, done that!)

I did on far less than you, but how many hours are you talking about? A couple a week, or a couple a day?

I think it depends on your profession. Working significantly over your hours is the norm where I work.

I usually about 10 hours extra a week, sometimes more.

I am on a similar salary, regularly work extra, but varies enormously
ATt peak times too busy to take a lunch break, may work to 7 or 8 pm. Other days maybe half am hour or so 'extra' . We log hours and shouldn't rack up more than a weeks worth of hours.
Flexibility goes both ways though. If you knock off at 5 there are no stupid jokes about part timers. Theres no problem if you need to take a few hours in the day to get something personal done. My son has a regular hospital appointment, I take half a day each time from my flex, not annual leave.

Thank you for your replies.

I’m probably my own worst enemy as get frustrated when nobody takes a lead on a piece of work. I’ll end up taking ownership to see it through.

Recently it’s been daily and I need to make sure that this does not become normal. I’m happy with where I am and am not looking for career progression. I think if I was I would feel happier about it.

Depends on a lot of factors. Are you going for career progression? Do you love your job begins it being a means to pay the bills?

If yes then, I would work extra for no extra pay. Fwiw I loved a job where I was paid just over min wage for 30hpw. But I did 70+ hours for no extra money and did 7 days a week.

I'm on a lot less money and work through my unpaid lunch break (40mins each day) plus another 20 minutes after I finish just to get my work done and I am not a slow worker, the workload is a lot. Sometimes I stay for a few hours if I have annual leave coming up just to stay on top...

It really depends on the profession and environment. I did when I was on £60,000, but I enjoyed the job and they were appreciative. Another job was £45,000, and they expected about 12hrs a week extra. No appreciation, or allowance to take time back. I hated them for it, and now try to do my hours as close to my contracted.

I'll always remember those extra hours I put in, whereas companies won't!

Are there others in the team on same salary that do no extra?

Nobody should be working extra hours unless they want to. Either because they want quicker promotions or the experience will lead to bigger and better things.

If you’re happy where you are push back. Managing workload expectations is a valuable skill.

Of course a dysfunctional team that’s badly managed and always falling apart is a different story. I’m presuming you’re not forced to work longer hours ?
Salary shouldn’t be a factor IMO unless it’s exec level (they have stock options etc so the fixed salary argument is irrelevant). You’re paid for the hours you work whether it’s £10 or £1000 an hour. If the nature of the job requires extra work then you should be able to claw back some downtime.

This depends op. If you’re looking to progress then folks do what it takes, if this is it for you, do your hours only,

I'm on over 50k...I don't work over my contracted hours. If I work extra then I get overtime.

Again thank you everyone for your replies.

@TractorAndHeadphones,, thank you for your comment about managing workload expectation. It’s a skill I haven’t learned and is something I need to work on. I’ll discuss this with my manager in my next one to one.

@Window1 others in the same role vary. It’s a relatively recent promotion. These are both factors in me not being able to settle about it.

I earn £40k... I never work over my hours

Nobody should work over their hours routinely.

If there’s too much work a lot of the time you need more staff. To cover that fact up by everyone doing a bit more is keeping someone out of a job and isn’t doing you any favours as you and the others will all get taken for granted and expected to have the same output as when you were staying late all the time and comments will be made when you do less because youve gone back to standard hours.

Get them told that you e been doing a bit more lately but that you won’t be in a position to do that anymore. End of.

I think it’s an unhealthy expectation that people work more than they’re contracted to. I have a salary in the £30k region, contracted to 40hr per week. I work 40 hrs. No more, no less. The attitude in my workplace is that if anyone is working extra hours then there’s something gone wrong in project planning. This is a professional environment and it should run based on people’s contracted availability. Thankfully it generally works.

I earn nearly 10k less than you. I work over my hours in a regular basis.

on

I only work over my hours if I can take the hours back. I work in an industry where working long hours is sometimes expected but we're always officially told not to.
There's a lot of mixed messages and double standards from management.

I just won't do it, I value my work life balance and need to look after my well-being. I resent other people who do lots of extra hours because it increases the pressure on the rest of us.

Actually, we all roll our eyes at the ones who make sure they've sent an email at 9pm or 7am. Fuck off.

Half hour a day to catch up is one thing. 3h a night is nothing else, you do the next person no favours at all. Add your wages to hours and pro rota and see if you would apply for the same job now. So £30k for 37h not bad. £30k for 60h week is just over mim wage.

On a salary I wouldn't expect any overtime payments.

However I would expect to get the hours back as Time Off In Lieu

I always have, since the first salaried job (as opposed to an hourly wage). I don't like leaving thoughts half-thought or jobs half-done overnight, so I find it less stressful to work later and finish when my brain says I'm finished. Paradoxically given what I said about finishing stuff I also get distracted a lot during the day, and I find it less stressful to follow the distraction and finish the job later than keep pushing my brain back on task. (The distractions are all work so they do add value, and I have considered I may have ADHD).

I realise it's just the way I am and I'll do it whatever job I'm in, so I've taken the opposite view and gone for higher paid jobs where working longer hours/to the task not clock is expected. Figure if I'm going to do it I might as well get paid for it.

37.5 hours, £30.6k a year. Never go over my contracted hours and you shouldn’t either. Your organisation have ‘bought’ XX amount of hours of your time. If they’re giving you so much work that you can’t fit it all in, then they either need to pay overtime (if it’s only sporadic) or hire someone additional to you. Value your time and don’t give it away for free.