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I work 50 hours a week salary, which obviously means no overtime pay. I left on a Friday 2 weeks ago an hour early, technically 30 minutes because Friday’s at 5 is cocktail hour. I accidently took both the keys home we needed to get the car an oil change so I had to meet my bf for lunch which took maybe 40 minutes at most. I was driving 3 hours away for my BIRTHDAY to see my family into snow and sleet, we saw 2 accidents and the roads were pure ice we were maybe able to drive 45 miles per hour.

On the following Monday I get confronted by my boss “I was told you took a long lunch on Friday and left an hour early”. I was like wow not only do I work 50 hours a week without overtime but I also work on my own outside of these hours bc somethings can’t be done during that time. I have worked litterally 2 24 hour days. I mostly never take a break or a lunch, sometimes when I do take a lunch it is because I have errands to run that I can’t do outside of work hours. I told my boss “Yes, I did leave early bc I was going out of town in a snow storm. And I went to lunch to swap keys bc I had both sets which took 40 minutes… but I usually don’t even leave for lunch.”

I was so upset I stewed about it and then I told him more of my and other employees angst. “I said we all are expected to work 50 hours while upper management leaves early or just takes days off, it is ridiculous” my boss takes every Friday off, the Executive Secretary leaves at 4 every day, our GM is gone about once a week and off early 2 or 3 days, the owner is never there which I don’t think he should have to be, but everyone else should. Lead by example not do as I say not as I do, that doesn’t work. All of us peeons are expected to work 7:30 to 5:30. They even have the tenacity to have salaried employees clock in and out now so they can ensure they are getting their hours. Um, we are doing well over 40 hours a week how does that work? And our PTO is calculated at 40 hours a week. If I take one day off a week I STILL did 40 hours a week but I have to take 8 hours PTO. Pretty niffty situation.

I come to find out who tattletailed on me and it is our CFO. I recently made an enemy of him because he was playing video games which was killing our bandwidth. I told him that “Whatever your doing is eating up our bandwidth”. He has since made it his business to monitor me and try to get me into trouble. When I caught him I didn’t go above him and tell our owner he was wasting company time and bandwidth I am sure the owner would love to hear that especially as much as he probably pays him. Maybe I should have seeing as how this guy is treating me now. He has no people skills and is obviously very childish and unprofessional. He always comes to my desk and demands I do this or that for him and then he stands there like I am supposed to drop everything I am doing to cater to his needs. I am sorry but email it into IT and create a ticket and I will prioritize it as I deem acceptable.

He asked me for a laptop bc he was going out of town on vacation, then he gives us the specific model lol. We kept having issues with sharing violations on some spreadsheets on our intranet about 2 times a week so we in IT decided we would make them into Google Docs, he comes over to my desk huffing and puffing “Why are you doing that and who told you to do that?!!!” I said “We decided that because you kept calling us weekly with violations that we would make this accessible for everyone. It works about the same as Excel.” and “How the hell am I supposed to learn how to use this?”. I am like figure it out that is what I do. He used to come to me all the time about Excel questions and such until I said you need to get a book or Google this stuff. If you need to do this for your job as the CFO then you better learn it, or I should do your job and get your paycheck also.

28 Spice ups
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Welcome to the wonderful World of Information Technology.

21 Spice ups
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If they are paying you salary the ownership has to do a little give and take. IT is not a 9-5 job and any time you do take off to do personal stuff never really adds up to the amount of time you spend after hours doing things that cannot be accomplished during normal business hours. If they do not see the amount of time you put in start documenting for the higher ups. You just have to take these folks with a grain of salt and just do your job the best you can. If they continue to nit pick bring out the document if the time you spend on your job and tell them to analyze it. If they still complain that you take a littpe time here or there tell them you want to be an hourly employee at the same rate…I am sure they will complain about all of the overtime, but they may get the message.

I have a CFO/Controller in the office that is pretty inept as well, but when the real CFO is hired I am sure things will change.

4 Spice ups
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Make sure you document everything in case the CFO tries to pull something.

10 Spice ups
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Wow this is a tough situation. The problem with most of IT is that the stuff you do is behind the magic curtain. The nights and weekends you put in are all hidden because the people that count are all gone home enjoying their families.

In my mind them expecting you to work 50 hours a week yet only paying you for 40 is morally wrong. In this situation the time cards are your friend. Make sure you document every minute you are at work. Hourly people have it a little better because there are labor rules for demanding someone to work off the clock. A major retailer got into trouble for this not to long ago. There has to be some labor laws that would apply here too. With my guys I expect them to work their 40 hrs plus a week. But if they need to leave early for a family thing I let them (as long as there isn’t a pressing issue). We are all people just trying to do their own jobs with the least amount of hassle. There is no need to be a dink about it.

I hate to say I’ve been in your position before and it totally sucks. If they are watching the bits and bytes that closely it may be time to look for other employment. Looking while you have a job, you can afford to be pickier than without one. I think if it was me I would work my 40 at your hours and go home. If they are going to be stinky about 5 minutes here or 30 minutes there and not appreciate the 50 hrs a week. Remember when you work 50 hours a week yet only get paid for 40 then you cut your hourly rate by 20%. So you $20/hr turns into $16/hr real quick.

9 Spice ups
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another loyal IT nut getting screwed >sighs<

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I usually find myself in the exact same situation. I always come in on time but work AT LEAST a half hour longer than my scheduled shift. I am a salary employee. The one day I get held up and come in a half hour later than I am supposed to… I ask to leave on time so I can stop at the bank on the way home. Of course I get the lecture of “You can’t come in late and expect to leave on time”. Meanwhile I have been working 45 - 55 hours a week. On top of that while I am at work I am more active than any of my co-workers. I am usually running around in circles while my co-workers are talking about their “christmas” or “what car to buy”. The way I have been dealing with it is instead of over-achieving and working really hard to complete all of the support incidents coming through as fast as possible, I started documenting what I do and going over it. If I do one or 2 less issues a day and memorize what I’ve done and explain to my boss how hard I have been working, he has no choice but to congradulate me and address my work ethic positively. Explain the situation and the resolution. Also, doing this in front of co-workers makes it even better, because they don’t have much to report anyways. Keep your head up and don’t let this get to you! Sometimes it is not fair how hard your employer works you but just think about the expirience you are getting and eventually you might pass up the people around you.

2 Spice ups
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Well, if you have to play the game of “CYA” then next time you better clear any time off with your boss so you don’t run the risk of someone complaining you left early. In regards to getting along with co-workers, just kill them with kindness. Getting upset or arguing with them doesn’t get you anywhere.

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– This is what pisses me off the most. I am pretty sure if I had know it was a rigid 50 hours when I was offered salary I would have said I want to be hourly, that is 20 extra hours of overtime! Plus, we get 10 days of PTO until after 3 years. So we basically get screwed on PTO.

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Here is from the federal registry: Flsa.com

Rights of exempt employees.
An exempt employee has virtually “no rights at all” under the FLSA overtime rules. About all an exempt employee is entitled to under the FLSA is to receive the full amount of the base salary in any work period during which s/he performs any work (less any permissible deductions). Nothing in the FLSA prohibits an employer from requiring exempt employees to “punch a clock,” or work a particular schedule, or "make up" time lost due to absences. Nor does the FLSA limit the amount of work time an employer may require or expect from any employee, on any schedule. (“Mandatory overtime” is not restricted by the FLSA.)

They are within the regulations of the law here. That is why they (companies) try to push people into the exempt role. The logic is that you are compensated better than hourly people, which we really find is not the case in practice.

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– I hear you there I am constantly doing 100 things at once, 101 things yeah maybe I can’t do that. People just don’t understand what it is like being in IT. I am litterally mentally exhausted when I get home. Then I get calles on my personal cell-phone, I don’t get paid oncall or for my cell phone… And who is always willing to help with a smile, I am.

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Nice Rant. are you looking for some help, suggestions, recommendations or do you just want some cheese with that WHINE.

Welcome to the IT world.

Be very cautious about your words to anybody that has the 3 letter title ending in O. regardless if they are your boss or not, you can get fired very easily.

What is your job function?

When you chose to work in IT did you not realize you would be working over 40 hours, often nights and weekend for maintenance windows. 50 hours is a breathe of fresh air, try 60-70+ depending on your actual IT function

One way to handle the issue with the guy playing video games is to present him with the corporate computer and internet use policy. If your company does not have one, Then there is nothing you can hold him to. Do you have a webfilter? If he keeps playing games, another action you can do is block the game port in your firewall. or set up QOS on your network.

I have been in this field for 15 years and have seen and heard it all. I have worked from entry level helpdesk to director of IT.

so for what your ranting about is mostly true, you also have to take in effect your own actions, if you needed to extend your lunch call your boss and let them know, When you knew the weather was getting bad, did you ask your boss if you could leave earlier? Just because you never take lunches that is on you, by law, you are required to take a lunch, whether you do or not that is on you,

6 Spice ups
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I would start looking for other employment. They are obviously screwing you over. Put in a crappy review of the company on Glassdoor.com after you vacate the premises.

If they do not trust you enough to do your job and give you time to have some semblence of a personal life they are not worth working for. In this case the pasture can only get greener.

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Sounds to me like it’s time to fire up the LOIC!

In all seriousness, it sounds like a tough situation. I would definitely look for another job, it’s not like they are not out there. With IT Experience we are always in demand. Good luck!

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While I don’t care for the tone of Warrior5Delta’s “suck it up cupcake” post there are some elements that are important to remember. There are two points that are vital for you.

  1. Have clear and open communication with your boss/supervisor.
    I wouldn’t expect one of my guys to just leave early or take a 2 hour lunch without letting me know AND giving me the opportunity to say no. You need to keep your boss in the loop 100% of the time. He should have been able to deflect this by telling the CFO “yes I said it was ok, I promised to work her twice as hard tomorrow”. End of issue. As long as your boss knows what is going on and willing to defend your actions as justified he/she should stand up for their subordinates (as long as this isn’t a routine offense). If your boss is not willing to support you in this, its time for a new boss.

  2. Really a lot of this is on you. Your dedication to the job exceeds their dedication and respect of you.
    Is there a real urgency that requires you to work 50 hours a week or is it a perceived urgency on your part? There is a different between its 6p and a production line is down waiting for an IT tech and a user’s printer is broken. Which can “really” wait until morning? A general rule should be, if it is keeping your company from shipping product then it should be “all hands on deck”. If its a user’s printer… well then you need to decide if this person is a VIP or not.

Also a ticketing system (Spiceworks) will help you here with documenting your activities during the day. Maybe based on your work load 100 items are not realistic maybe 80 is closer to the mark. Having a paper trail and audit logs are helpful when explaining “What did you do today”. It also makes it easier to show how adding an additional tech will cut your ticket backlog down. Understand I am not suggesting that you slow down your activities just to adjust things to meet expectations. But having a ticket backlog is not such a bad thing.

11 Spice ups
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After reading this I want to watch Fight Club

4 Spice ups
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I’d just dip out for another gig. People get away with what you let them.

Dust off the resume and be done with it.

Good luck.

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Agreed.

Anyone “requiring” 50 hours a week, with a set schedule, is probably violating fed law.

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/fairpay/fs17e_computer.htm#.UNx0mqy9nsc

My guess is that not only screwing someone over with hours is probably not paying enough to exempt them from OT.

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George, I was pretty much referring to my situation as a 1 man shop. Sure there is always give and take and I would never think of leaving the office without letting someone know. If they are a shop with more than one person and someone they report to it is an entirely different story. I would give my subordinated a little lee way if they are doing their jobs above and beyond the call of duty.

Every situation is unique Skeeziix, so vent away and try to gain some perspective in regards to your situation.

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You seem to be in quite a pickle, normally I would set my own parameters for the workplace, I usually state that I cannot work weekends, I do not take work related calls while I’m off and if I do then I must be payed for it, (I will not do my job for free, for any reason), And I will never work salary, my job is an hourly job and I expect to be payed for what I do. I’ve been hired for every job I’ve applied to with these rules set, most managers can understand your reasoning for these rules and if they don’t, then it’s not a place you should be working at, you’re there to do your job and make money, not be controlled and treated like a dog.

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