Be the one to stop working for free by asking the boss to go home
November 13, 2015
News.com.au
Be brave! ... Pluck up the courage to talk to your boss about knock-off time.


WORKERS still are waiting for their boss to leave before they head home for the day, putting in hours of needless, unproductive and unpaid overtime, usually caused by a company culture. 

There are more jobs today that pay workers for the work they do (salary) rather than the hours they are in the office (wage), however, the hours workers are putting in to do the job are increasing regardless.   :(

The average worker does 44 hours a week, compared with the fulltime standard of 38 hours.

Technology also is blurring the line between home and work, making it more confusing for workers to know when they have clocked on or off.



Pointless ... Don’t sit around bored because you don’t want to be the first to leave.

A third of Australian workers regularly do overtime, for which about one-quarter are not compensated with time off in lieu or extra cash, Australian Bureau of Statistics research shows.   

The Australia Institute senior economist Matt Grudnoff says last year it found workers donated $110 billion to their boss in unpaid overtime — more than was donated to any charity.

“It’s still a serious issue,” he says.

“We’ve found whether you work a lot of unpaid overtime has less to do with how much work you have to do and more to do with the culture of the organisation.

“There’s a lot of pressure to not be the guy who leaves early or comes in later.”

IS THIS YOU?

* Monday is the day when professionals are most likely to work overtime

* 39 per cent of professionals work the equivalent of an extra days’ work at least in overtime each week

* 22 per cent of workers who access their work’s network remotely, such as emails on mobile, do some unpaid work from home


Grudnoff says workers are not necessarily using that extra time at work to get extra work done, and so are not productive for their full time at work anyway.

“Staying in primarily because the boss will stay doesn’t help productivity,” he says.

“People would prefer to be wasting time at home than at work.”

They are not brownnosing the boss either. Grudnoff says many workers simply do not know what time they can go home.

“If you go back 20/40 years, there were a lot more jobs where ‘this is when you clock in, this is when you clock off’,” he says.

“A lot more professional jobs and a lot more salary jobs are not paid by the hour, which makes it worse.

“There’s blurring of the lines between home and work. The boss gives you a laptop or a mobile phone, you go home, log in, check emails on your phone, when an email comes in, do you answer it? Is it home time, or work time?”


Not productive ... workers are not necessarily using extra time at work to get extra work done.

DID YOU KNOW?

* 28% of organisations increased overtime in 2014-15, while only 11% decreased the amount of extra hours worked, Hays reports.

Roy Morgan Research chief executive Michele Levine says online work networks can be mutually beneficial but too few workers and employers know the full affect on staff.

“Fulltime workers are increasingly willing and able, and perhaps expected, to access their work networks remotely, whether simply to check and reply to emails while out-of-office or to perform regular duties instead of, or as well as, coming in to work,” she says.

“Wireless internet access means many employees can potentially login from anywhere on any device at any time, whether in a cafe on the weekend, when sick at home on a weekday, or even on holidays.

“It’s easy to see how this could be good and bad for both businesses and workers.”

Hays managing director Nick Deligiannis believes working extra hours may come back to bite workers and their managers, so it is best to address the reason as to why it occurs.   :(

“If not managed carefully, overtime has the potential to cause employee stress and burnout,” he says.


Overload ... More workers are taking their job home with them and putting in unpaid hours. 

“There could be a very good business case for adding addition headcount — either permanent or temporary — to get through peak periods and relieve pressure on existing staff.

“These employers also need to consider if overworked and stressed employees can really perform at their best.”

However, the longer hours may have a longer term affect than stress or burnout.

A means needs to be developed to monitor time spent by workers at the workplace and an independent authority to force the employers to pay. Its not difficult with RFID and other electronic security devices to monitor the arrival and departure of workers.

Such a scheme would see employers quickly shepherding their workers out the door at knock-off time.

oh does that include us grannies..we work for years and years all for nothing....no time off for good behaviour no long service leave no holidays with pay no sickies no penalty rates....bwahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..

they drop the kids off... only be an hour wont be long.. be good for nanny kids... 4 hours later.....boom boom..

Sun Tzu wrote on Nov 14^th, 2015 at 5:51pm:

A means needs to be developed to monitor time spent by workers at the workplace and an independent authority to force the employers to pay. Its not difficult with RFID and other electronic security devices to monitor the arrival and departure of workers. Such a scheme would see employers quickly shepherding their workers out the door at knock-off time.

Or you could grow a pair and just say catcha tomorrow at normal knock off time.

Sun Tzu wrote on Nov 14^th, 2015 at 5:51pm:

A means needs to be developed to monitor time spent by workers at the workplace and an independent authority to force the employers to pay. Its not difficult with RFID and other electronic security devices to monitor the arrival and departure of workers. Such a scheme would see employers quickly shepherding their workers out the door at knock-off time.

lol,  if they did that a lot would have their wages halved after the monitoring revealed they spent 1/2 their day on facebook and did the grocery shopping when they were on the road  ;)

The real problem with unpaid work is that it creates a false impression of a workers worth...

If one does the "extra" stuff to get an unrealistically time allocated job done, this creates a false impression of what can realistically be done. The next person to come along is made to look poorly equipped and inefficient in their position because they cannot match the previous output in the time allocated...

This false picture is then ruthlessly exploited by employers, who will quite glibbly then complain about having to pay any overtime penalty rates.

It will not matter how proficient, excellent, self developed or skilled a worker is once the deliberately falsified bench mark is in place.

Any and ALL work should be paid for in full, this is the problem that employers refuse to own up to. All those who do the extra are doing is making it worse for the rest. I am sure if we lived in la la land where those who employ were decent, honest, respectful, trustworthy and caring individuals doing a bit extra would be not such a big problem - the harsh reality is though that we don't.

aquascoot wrote on Nov 15^th, 2015 at 6:05am:

Sun Tzu wrote on Nov 14th, 2015 at 5:51pm: A means needs to be developed to monitor time spent by workers at the workplace and an independent authority to force the employers to pay. Its not difficult with RFID and other electronic security devices to monitor the arrival and departure of workers. Such a scheme would see employers quickly shepherding their workers out the door at knock-off time. lol,  if they did that a lot would have their wages halved after the monitoring revealed they spent 1/2 their day on facebook and did the grocery shopping when they were on the road  ;)

Yeah that is the problem: every IT group in the world monitored facebook time and it is always a good idea to leave food and milk in the car while you work a 14 hour shift?

Phemanderac wrote on Nov 15^th, 2015 at 6:53am:

The real problem with unpaid work is that it creates a false impression of a workers worth... If one does the "extra" stuff to get an unrealistically time allocated job done, this creates a false impression of what can realistically be done. The next person to come along is made to look poorly equipped and inefficient in their position because they cannot match the previous output in the time allocated... This false picture is then ruthlessly exploited by employers, who will quite glibbly then complain about having to pay any overtime penalty rates. It will not matter how proficient, excellent, self developed or skilled a worker is once the deliberately falsified bench mark is in place. Any and ALL work should be paid for in full, this is the problem that employers refuse to own up to. All those who do the extra are doing is making it worse for the rest. I am sure if we lived in la la land where those who employ were decent, honest, respectful, trustworthy and caring individuals doing a bit extra would be not such a big problem - the harsh reality is though that we don't.

There was a time when anyone who undermined working conditions could expect to be ostracised by their work mates now they all compete with each other to see who can reach the bottom of the barrel first. 

Dnarever wrote on Nov 15^th, 2015 at 7:54am:

see who can reach the bottom of the barrel first.

I agree with that, provided that by bottom of the barrel you mean a receptacle planted firmly up the employers rectum... 

One of the companies I worked for had this mentality and culture, that is to do some not all overtime for free.

I explained to the senior person that told me this, when life's essentials are for free, when my kids schooling and clothing and everything we need is for free.

Then I will work for free.

I never did one hour of overtime that I didn't claim, only lasted 6 months at that job wasn't happy got another one.

Quote:

Stop Working For Free Putting In Unpaid Overtime

The funny thing is that it actually damages productivity, they are actually guaranteeing substandard performance.

Phemanderac wrote on Nov 15^th, 2015 at 6:53am:

If one does the "extra" stuff to get an unrealistically time allocated job done, this creates a false impression of what can realistically be done

too true. My wife former employer would give her a job that would take 2 hours at 4 pm and expect that it be finished that day.

She worked for a company where despite the official hours being 9 - 5, was expected to work until 6 every day. That was before they sacked 3 other staff and lumped all their duties onto her. It wasn't uncommon in that office that staff work until 7 or 8 pm for no extra pay.

In the end she had to put her foot down and demand her boss get rid of all the 'extra duties' she had acquired since starting or she would quit. The boss took the extra duties of her and lumped them onto someone else. He still wouldn't hire anyone else.

Wifey dearest didn't hang around in that job for to long.