r/antiwork • u/Neon_Eyes • 8h ago
Work constantly asking for overtime.
Last week I worked 5 days, off Wednesday and Thursday. They asked me to come in Wednesday but I was going to the DMV, grocery store, and had a few things to do around the house so I declined.
This week I have Friday-Sunday off and they just asked me to come in again. This is all because they've laid off 30% of the headcount and want people to come in on overtime to save money.
A lot of my coworkers are wanting mandatory overtime so that they can force people like me to come in so they don't have to work as much. Which is crazy to me, why would you not be complaining about them reducing our head count. It's not even just boomers that are saying this. It's people in their mid 30s too which is wild.
I would try to find a new job but my wife and I are trying for a baby so I'm trying to hang on until paternity leave. As soon as I get on that though I'll be mass applying to jobs.
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u/DimmyMoore70 7h ago
This is why I will only accept and work Union jobs for the rest of my life. I don’t agree with everything they do, but the reasonable protection they provide is invaluable.
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u/Neon_Eyes 7h ago
I'm in the south :/ those don't exist here and if you mention it they'll find a reason to fire you
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u/DimmyMoore70 7h ago
I’m sorry to hear that. Any chance of getting medical accommodation for you or your wife that would legally limit the amount of OT you can be asked to work?
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u/QueenMEB120 6h ago
Also in the South and my husband works a union job. It's also their only location that has a union. Their HQ are in the northeast.
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u/sopcannon 8h ago
Overtime look for a better job.
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u/Neon_Eyes 8h ago
Yeah I plan to, but it's getting so much worse now. I'm trying to hang on so I can get paternity leave. But with talk of mandatory overtime I'm sure I will get fired since missing an overtime shift counts as missing your shift.
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u/sopcannon 7h ago
So many things wrong with the work life balance from employers in the US.
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u/Neon_Eyes 4h ago
Yeah. I wish I could immigrate to a better country but I would have to learn another language first
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u/Krynn71 4h ago
It's time to stop trying to wait for paternity leave then. Make that your back up plan and start looking for new work now.
Right now you're gambling on your livelihood, that's not what an expectant father should be doing.
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u/Neon_Eyes 4h ago
I get what youre saying but I feel like it's less of a risk to stay. If I leave then there's no guarantee it will be any better since jobs don't disclose their working conditions in the interview. And then at most jobs you have to working there 6 months to a year before you can have parental leave. Since I'll be the new guy it I switch they may decide to let me go once I'm out with a baby.
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u/Githyerazi 2h ago
They will outright lie about the overtime situation. I interviewed at a place that said "no mandatory overtime", but while touring the facility I saw a board with the overtime hours of all the technicians. They were all very close in amounts. The manager time me they like to "keep it fair", which to me translates to "you'll have to do your share of OT". I'm not sure what would happen if I declined to do my share.
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u/sopcannon 2h ago
Especially being a new parent, its hard on the mother in the beginning if there is no other family support.
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u/Githyerazi 41m ago
Could be the dad does the majority of the work. My wife joked about only changing lees than 20 diapers on the first kid. She did less on the second. Much less as the second was extremely squirmy.
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u/BallisticHabit 7h ago
Does your company offer parental leave, or are you using FMLA for the time off?
Companies HATE when you take FMLA as it's federally mandated that they comply. Once you return to work, be prepared for retaliatory manager shenanigans because you likely have a target on your back. Using the time off to mass apply for a better position is in your best interest.
Also, be aware that while on FMLA leave, you will not be collecting a paycheck.
Good luck with the new baby, job search, and navigating the minefield of US employment.
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u/Ok_Weakness_2021 6h ago
You are 100% correct. I was fired 8:00 a.m. the first day back from FMLA (buried my little sister) by a power-tripping boss who hated me. My UNION got me my job back.
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u/bisskits 8h ago
Stop answering. It's really that easy.
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u/Neon_Eyes 8h ago
Well that's not the problem. They're texts so they're easy to ignore. The problem is when I go back to work everyone is talking how people are lazy for not coming in for overtime (like working a mandatory 84 hours in a 2 week span is lazy.) then the coworkers are trying to convince the upper managers that mandatory overtime will be beneficial. They've some how been blinded to the issue.
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u/Libby_785 7h ago
That’s the infuriating part. Blaming coworkers for not working themselves to the bone instead of blaming the company for reducing manpower when they obviously need it.
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u/Neon_Eyes 7h ago
I don't know how they got so brainwashed. I thought that was a boomer mentality
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u/sopcannon 7h ago
No their parents and grandparents probably worked liked crazy and thought it was the norm, also they have probably never been to another country to experience what life is like there.
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u/handsheal 7h ago
Respond with comments about the company not staffing appropriately not being the employees problem to fix
Respond with comments about how you are not making the good money the owners are making
Start changing the narrative and maybe the others will follow
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u/DannyTangelo 8h ago
Don’t have kids. Is not worth it.
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u/Neon_Eyes 8h ago
That's my wife's goal in life. She wants to be a mother and she will be a good one. Times are bad now but they always change. I'm sure in 2008 people were saying having kids was a bad idea but up until COVID things were pretty good.
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u/miggismallz33 7h ago
Yes 2008 was not great. However, this is something different now. It doesn’t compare in my opinion. What is happening now is worse.
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u/Main-Animal-3499 6h ago
What’s happening now is so much worse than 2008. We are going to see a lot of Americans starting to die from medical neglect. The system just cannot handle the enormity of the boomers medical needs, I’m afraid we will bring it all crashing down.
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u/Neon_Eyes 7h ago
That's what people always say. The current calamity is worse than the last
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u/miggismallz33 7h ago
Not too sure about that. No one is saying this is worse than the Great Depression or living through the two world wars or even the Vietnam war era.
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u/sopcannon 7h ago
There is never a good time to have kids, there is always something in the way. You only live once. Not everyone can conceive so if you can do it.
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u/Main-Animal-3499 6h ago
Our medical system is imploding and the shit will really hit the fan after the midterms. Hospitals will close, practices will shutter and more people than normal will die.
I’m a retired RN who has a good sense of what’s coming and you do not want to be burdened with a child…not right now. God forbid you have a sick one who needs lots of medical care. The squeeze is not worth the juice to be a parent. If she wants to parent kids, a daycare is a great place to work.
I’m not trying to be cruel here but I am desperately waving a red flag at you and your wife.
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u/chompy283 7h ago
You should never answer your phone or text outside of work UNLESS you are being paid to be on call. You have to establish that you are "not available" 24/7 right at the start of any new job. If you want to give me On Call pay , then I will answer. If not, they don't own that time nor deserve a response.
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u/chompy283 8h ago
Don't answer your phone. Put it on silence. Messages on unread.