Culture of overtime

[Nev]

Nice, cant wait till im getting something for the extra effort, even if it is only when it is a lot extra

[Avatar]

This is a pet peeve because of how I've seen people being taken advantage of in the Australian workplace. Jobs can be hard to find and some companies take advantage of this. Companies want as few people as possible to eke out as much work as possible from because they want to pay the minimum possible for labour and in some cases this has become a prevailing mindset. What would have been considered abuse of workers is now becoming accepted practice and if you can't keep up with the over-the-top work expected, then you are seen as a slacker. Companies will combine two or three roles into one role and Joe Bloggs then is expected to do project management and secretarial work and computer programming etc etc, which is fine if there are enough hours in the day to cover what's needed, but when someone is being expected to complete too much work all the time, and isn't being compensated fairly for it, then that is slavery, not a job. Unless one is a very highly paid worker, one should never work overtime for nothing - it just reinforces this mindset by employers. Ironically, if you are someone that will work overtime for nothing (and this goes for South Africa too), then you will be expected to do this, and other people who stick to their work hours and come in and leave on time may not even be asked to do this - one therefore needs to set boundaries and manage the employers expectations, where possible. There are some people in Australia who are so desperate for work that they are hired as volunteers, merely to get experience. I have seen this - people are carefully screened and interviewed for a role where they will earn nothing. Nothing for a good days work! And then one wonders why it is so hard to find work, when employers can get people for free and where they want perfect robots who can be busy all the time. Yet often the most creative people work in spurts, and will be overlooked in such a marketplace focused on hands being busy at all times. If there are people willing to work the amount of work expected for two jobs, why should a company hire two people if they can get the same amount of work out of one person and pay them nothing extra too? Doing a bit more than required is a good thing and no-one minds the odd bit of unpaid overtime, but there are only so many hours in a day, and a job should never constantly exceed those hours (unless the person is terribly inefficient of course).

Edited July 21, 2015 by Avatar

[SurferMan]

I am currently clocking over 60 hours a week and I am billing for every minute. Client pays with a smile. I guess its cos Ive cost them x but already saved them over $750K in just 5 weeks.

Next week I will be talking to the boss about extending my contract from the current 3 months to December 2017.

Praying it goes to plan.

[AshB]

There is no work life balance in Aus, these jobs are reserved for the Auzzies.

[DXB2OZ]

AshB, if you believe that I do wonder why you are on this forum. I would also question an opinion like that held by someone who is based in SA, not in Australia. Don't you think you should perhaps live in the country before making snap judgements?

Yes, I work overtime. However most of my colleagues are in the same boat. When it was clear that I was overloaded, my Australian colleagues stepped in to take some of my load onto their own overladen plates.

These are not the longest hours I have put in and I have been cutting steadily back. My longest hours (averaging 16 hour days) were in South Africa. It doesn't mean that South Africans work crazy hours - it just means the longest hours I had were at a job based in SA.

If you are genuinely intending to come to Australia I would suggest that you be careful with comments such as these. They will not be appreciated and will not help you. Please see this as friendly advice - opinions are welcome, but judgements should be tempered.

[HansaPlease]

There is no work life balance in Aus, these jobs are reserved for the Auzzies.

Apologies for being blunt, but - That's a load of k@k

[Nev]

@Ash

Last year 25% of the people in Australia were expats or first generation expats, are you saying 25% of the population is biased against themselves?

What do you base your assessment on?

[Mara]

AshB, I have worked across a number of industries in Australia and I have always found my employers to be very accommodating of "personal time" or of allowing different office hours to assist with commute!

[Steve-o]

http://topinfopost.com/2014/05/12/top-5-regrets-people-make-on-their-deathbed

I'm glad I read number 2 while I'm young and I try my hardest to avoid repeating it.

30 years from now am I or anybody going to care about the uncontracted OT I didn't put in? Or is my family going to remember me not being there to cuddle my daughter to sleep on a night she wanted her daddy?