To not work over my contracted hours

[ILovePud]

I posted similar in a response to another thread but I was probably going off at a bit of a tangent so I'm starting a new thread as I'm interested in other's opinions. I don't work over the hours I am paid for, I hate the culture of expectation that people work over their hours. I think working longer hours perpetuates the myths that the amount of work expected to be done can be done within the hours allocated for it (by some employers at least) and I think it disadvantages those with caring commitments. I also think working longer hours than I am contracted to do would put those whom I manage under pressure to do the same. I genuinely work as hard as I can when I am in work and think that's enough. If there is a real emergency then I will stay late but I claim the time back. What do others think?

I work in the financial industry. I work 16hrs a week and no more. I'm always on time and leave a 5pm on the dot.

Before I had kids i used to 'go the extra mile' but never got any thanks for it. My employer just took it for granted that I would stay beyond my hours and clear work loads. When it was time for annual reviews my extra work was never taken into consideration.

Now I have kids I think 'what's the point' if I don't get the work load cleared. I'd rather have quality time with my family then sat in an office by myself slaving away for no recognition.

The way I see it, is that when I'm sick or on my death bed it will be family and friends that support me not my employer.

Yabnu I feel hard done by if I've done 10 mins not paid for. Long as I'm delivering the work and they are happy.

Life is too short to be spent doing unpaid work unless you love it. I did it before and it got me close to a breakdown. Now life is easy arriving at 8.05 and leaving at 3:58 but doing the odd bit here and there at home.

In the organisations I have worked in, delivered outcomes and the right personality and approach carry more kudos.

I know of a couple of single parents who had to leave on time who are promoted over those hang around till late.

Managers don't always value presenteeism.

Where I worked when I lived in London people I managed would be in at 8:30 and stay till 7ish. All young and keen, none with families etc. I started getting in at 8 to plan the day and tasks to delegate, and gradually my staff started being in that early too and badgering me to get started even though I hadn't had time to sort a to do list. I had to put my foot down and insist they stop working so many hours or it would have got ridiculous. I banned pre-8:30 starts without prior notice. And shutting down machines and dragging them to the pub/park/gym at 7 at the latest.

I left a job that expected me to do more than double my contract hours every week. I did get paid for the time that I worked but I didn't get anything else. No thanks, no sick pay, no extra holidays. You couldn't make plans in case you were told to work. It was a nightmare for childcare.

As a pp said I work to live.

YANBU, I was salaried in my last job but I was on minimum wage. Therefore any extra I did was literally unpaid and not covered by my salary.

I think work should be planned by management/ employers so it is possible to finish it in your contracted hours (barring emergencies). If you need to work longer you should be paid overtime. I hate the culture that thinks you are not a team player/ hard worker if you stick to your hours. I have no choice but to do only my contracted hours due to childcare and during the hours I am at work I work harder than some of my colleagues because I manage my time properly and get it done. Some employers foster a culture where staff are officially expected to work extra time cos it suits them not because it casts their staff in a good light. With work related stress on the rise I think it is dangerous and irresponsible to support these attitudes.

I always find it shocking to hear people defending the people who are tKing advantage snd getting hundreds of free hours of work out of them a year. Value your skills Nd experience and expect to get paid for it.

*taking advantage

I think it's a sad world if you are expected to work longer than your hours and if you don't then there is no chance of promotion etc. as so many are stating. If you work longer hours and become one of the chosen ones, it will never end-you'll be expected to work longer and longer hours as you climb the ladder until you literally are living to work-and then burn out surely beckons. Certainly if you are paid by the hour then you should work the hours paid for only and any more should be paid as overtime. I guess it gets a bit more washy if you are on a salary but if there are specific contracted hours then that should be when you work.

I used to have a job which required clearing up after finish-so I was paid that extra 15 mins as that was the time I worked until. My OH's work pay overtime to all staff who stay late-it is an unpredictable work environment and the need to stay varied from day to day.

So no-YANBU.

Not all of us work for private companies. I work for a University. I'm not putting money in their pockets. I'm not in the job to get recognition, after 14 years its not coming. It's my own self-worth, reputation and job satisfaction that matter more to me. I have to leave 3 days a week at 2.45 to pick up my 4 kids from school, so often I don't take a break, or do some emails/social media when I get home. I think it's got to come down to whether you feel happy working extra hours or not, I have done so much in the past I've gotten stressed and angry. I'm better now at saying no, managing my workload and other people's expectations. But work comes up unexpectedly because other people haven't planned, or someone further up makes a decision etc. If I was so rigid about it, the support for students would be affected so I do put extra time in.

I wonder how many of the people saying that they should only work their contracted hours would start screaming very loudly if teachers decided the same thing and their children's education was impacted?

Yanbu. Thats what contracted hours are there for, agreed time to work.

There is so much more to life than work. Many of us spend more time in work than anywhere else, why work extra if you don't have to and don't get paid?

I choose to work in a job where I am only required to work my contacted hours - my contract states that I only work my contracted hours.

If teachers did the same, that would be fine with me - but that is because I invest a lot of my time in my children's education (due to being able to only work my contracted hours) and do not leave it all to their teachers.

Teaching is slightly different due to holidays. They are contracted 40 hours Pw but get 12 weeks off so that extra 7 weeks leave is worked over the term time. It's not a job I would choose but that is the perk/arrangement. My problem is that if you start working overtime unpaid regularly you dilute your hourly rate to not much more than minimum wage, and when you've studied for years and paid £££ to get qualified that's not cool.
Teachers do work more than they should, and they shouldn't. I would support them working to rule if they chose to.

I view it as give and take.

Where my DH and I used to work, we both did hours over and above those contracted. But there was good will on both sides. When I wanted/needed to go part time, they were very flexible in the arrangement they agreed. When DH's Mum died suddenly and unexpectedly, they let him (and me) take way more days off to cope with it all than they were contractually obliged to.

If we had worked for a rigid inflexible company, I think we would have worked fewer extra hours.

working longer hours than I am contracted to do would put those whom I manage under pressure to do the same

I totally agree with this and really appreciate that my boss thinks the same. He is in on time and leaves on time every day.

That means I and my team can do the same.

I'm thinking back through all of my many jobs.

Jobs 1, 2 and 3 operated a flexi time system with keys being put in slots to record how long you were in so you could take that time back later. There was a different slot if you were claiming the time as overtime rather than flexi. Overtime wasn't optional - if the project needed more work you had to stay, but it was paid in addition to your usual wage. No-one stayed for free! Jobs 1 & 2 were on fairly low wages (about 15k in mid-late 90s). Job 3 was a lot better paid but the stakes were high so bascially management paid us very well in order to keep us happy and put overtime on top.

Job 4 - had to leave on time as the office was locked at that time.

Jobs 5 and 6. Was part time and flexibility was restricted by nursery/school drop offs. But I was as flexible as I could be.

Job 7 - full time. Very much task led. Sometimes I'll put in 30 hours. Some weeks it'll be 40-45. My DC was seriously ill and I was so touched by how good my bosses were - told me to take all of the time I needed, on full pay, no worries. I think they were so good with me because I do put a lot of graft in, I am flexible to their requirements so they paid it back.

In summary, I don't think YABU to stick to contracted hours, in fact some jobs demand it. However there is a lot to be gained from a mutually flexible working relationship. I think the key is feeling that you too are gettinmg something out of it - career prospects, time back - rather than exploited.

However there is a lot to be gained from a mutually flexible working relationship.

This. Particularly the emphasis on it being mutual.

I think that some employers have really taken the mick during this recession. DH works for a large supermarket chain. Most of the employees are on little more than NMW. That driver who delivers your shopping at 9pm on a Sunday will be earning less than £7/hr.

As the economy slowly picks up the good staff are going to move on. DH reports that in his area they already are.

Expecting people on low wage to 'go the extra mile' is insulting. What do they get for this?

you simply wouldn't be able to meet your targets / do what was expected if you adhered to contractual hours

Well in that case melanie the expectations are unrealistic and should be adjusted downwards. It's crazy, half the population slaving away doing unpaid overtime while the other half is unemployed.

^^ sorry that should be mandy not melanie.

I've worked for two huge national organisations where people do what they do for the love of it.
In the first there was no flexi system so if you stayed till 9pm one night to meet a deadline you'd be expected in at 9am the next day.
In the second there was flexi and time sheets so when you put the extra time in you got hours to take back at a quieter time.
Needless to say the second had better staff retention while the first was staffed entirely by young graduates in their 20s who moved on after a few years.

I wish I could say YANBU.

This is one of the issues I have with DH's job - the ridiculous workload piled on by his employer means that he routinely has to work late or bring work home just to stay on top of things. DH and his colleagues are routinely asked to volunteer for overtime too so that backlogs can be cleared. Really they need more staff but apparently there's no budget for that.

I'm going back to work soon after maternity leave, and I'm not going to be able to work over contracted hours because I'm constrained by nursery opening hours.

This worries me slightly - the culture in my office isn't really one of presenteeism on a day to day basis, but, in the last round of redundancies, one of the scoring criteria was timekeeping. Staff who were in the office for less than contracted hours (even just 5 mins a day most weeks) got low scores. Staff who were often in the office for lots more time than their contracted hours got top scores in that category. So I feel a bit twitchy about not being in a position to put in an extra hour here or there.

Depends on whether you are salaried or waged, and whether you have a career or a job.

Stupid question, but.....

What's the difference between being salaried or waged?