Expectancy of working past hours

If it isn't paid don't work it.

Start on time and leave on time, the promise of "it's noted for the bonus" is pure bull.
 
Working an extra hour or so 2-3 times a month on particularly busy days? Fine.

Being expected to do so every day with no renumeration*? They can sod off IMO!

*A bonus isn't guaranteed - if someone asked me to do a job for them and told me they "might" pay me for it, and didn't specify how much, they'd get told to do one.

When is the bonus due? If it's in the next couple of months I'd probably stick it out to see if it's worthwhile.

If it's not going to be until you've been there a year (another 10 months**), only to find out it's an extra £500, I'd be working contracted hours while looking for a new job; I don't know about you, but if I was doing unpaid volunteer work, I'd rather it be for a worthwhile cause than for a bank...

** 12 months of doing an extra 45 mins every day is an extra ~195 hours, your bonus would have to be ~£1,300 just to hit minimum wage...
 
Probation is 6 months, review is middle of next year. Bonus, no idea. Don't want to ask. Don't care. Won't be here for another month.
 
What industry? I bet finance. Shame you cant tell us which company as I would know to avoid them in future. Maybe you can trust me the details?

I would never stay after daily,on the one off or if there is a p1 or I am dealing with somethin then ok. But once that issue is dealt with I wouldn't take on new calls or emails after the time to leave. If there is more to do then they should extend your hours or set up shift work so more time is covered.
 
With most jobs, I think there has to be give and and take…I personally work to live.

Most companies these days will expect you to put the effort in where required to ensure the business continues to move forward. For example, extra hours to ensure on time delivery or fxing a high priority IT issue before you go home - even if it was raised at 4:55pm). I know of one retail company (in the press a lot due to expansions) which it's a case of if you don't stay late, you have no chance of promotions or gratitude (no roles internally advertised, you are told to apply if you are of 'adequate' type)

Unfortunately, most senior / above mid-level roles in this market will also state in your contract that on occasion they will expect you to work extra hours unpaid to meet business needs (up to a 48 hour week on average across 52 weeks).

That said though, I have always been against companies that EXPECT you to stay late on a regular basis to deliver work. I consider this poor resource management and cost cutting which ultimately employees pay for with work life balance / family time / socialising / relaxing.

A good example of this happened with me just over 18 months ago. I was a IT PM for a small consultancy firm specialising in an ERP systems. This role came with a heavy element of travel, for me this was a 2 hour flight from the UK to Europe.

On the weeks I travelled, this would involve me leaving my house at 4:30am to get to Heathrow for a 8am flight. I would be home on the Thursday by midnight or alternatively I would be home by 5pm Friday (if I took a Friday lunch time flight). Red flags started to be raised when I would submit my timesheet and my travel time was not considered 'working hours' as their contract with customers was poor. I was asked to make up the time I had missed or lie on my timesheets. With the travel time this put my weekly hours at around 47 on average, give or take time differences, on top of this I was expected to make up the additional hours.

This didn't sit particularly well with me but the company wouldn't have any of it due to that contract clause.... and 'how much money could I earn them' Needless to say I'm no longer with the company….

At the end of the day, sometimes a pay packet isn't all it's cracked up to be. Now I have the flexibility I previously had, yes I don't earn as much money but do I have any regrets? Not in the slightest.

If you're considering moving, just remember what you're moving for….
 
MooMoo444 said:
When free overtime is expected, you need to look elsewhere.
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I agree wholeheartedly. Overtime should be optional and paid at a premium rate.

There is something very wrong if before you walk through the door to start, you can predict with ~99% certainty, that the day's workload will take you >15 minutes and up to 2 hours past your contract finish time if done correctly at a reasonable speed.
 
There is always give and take, and as has been mentioned, if you sign away your EU working hours rights, you are expected to work as much as is needed. I've had this in the past when I was in Headhunting and would often do 50 odd hours a week but it was reflected in my pay pretty directly.
I just couldn't go for a "it'll be looked at when it comes to bonus" I'd want facts. What exactly do I have to do? Hit targets? Not some fluffy non quantifiable entity. Sheer number of hours unpaid work is not that.
I say that from now contracting though and I set the standard of, I'm here for 8-9hrs a day, more if I need to get something done and that is signed off as paid. I don't check emails outside of work, I don't do any work unless it's on the clock. If they want me to fly somewhere on a weekend, they can pay for my time then, or I'll fly during the week.

My time has a value and as soon as people realise that, they stop taking the mick with it.

EDIT: I actually had an argument with my line manager as I put in time and half for weekend time we worked on an upgrade project and he said we don't pay extra for weekends. It's Swiss law to pay extra on sundays and normal on Sat, so got my sign off on Sundays. He gets internal people to do weekend work now, which suits me as I get time to do things with my family.
 
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planty said:
Sounds like they need to hire more staff.
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Shared this on Random Thread earlier this week

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Basically this is a common state at many work place. Poor management
 
I wouldn't work for free, and I wouldn't work for an employer who expected me to work late on a regular basis. I value my spare time too much.

Having said that my employer has changed recently and become much less considerate of their staff - to the point where I feel like a bum on a seat and nothing more. They have made it abundantly clear that they only care about what they can get out of me. Why should I care about them beyond the same? As a result I never work past my agreed hours, always take my breaks, refuse any shift changes not expressly in my interest, and only take what overtime I want.
 
I did work with a guy that had a 1st line IT job at a hedge fund he said that they got £6000 bonus after tax.Even then I would be leaving on time. I don't understand the concept of working after the time I am paid. If I was working in a field where the more work I did the more money was made then I can see the point but in business services I don't get it.
 
I have a simple response to this, I don't work regular unpaid overtime.

If there is more work than I can do in my contracted hours then either there is too much to do and the company need more staff or I'm crap at my job. I like to think I'm good at my job so it must be the former.
 
Thats why I got back to contracting here... in fact /paid by the hour/ contracting. On some months, I do 7h/day, on some others, 9+, and I get paid for each of them.
if I arrive at 7:30, I can leave at 14:30 and yes some people raise eyebrows, but as long as my deadlines are met, theres no problems.

Previous job, I was a perm, did pretty much /everything/ on the development side of things, with no overtime on promises I'd be the director of software dev in the near future. At some point I gave them my letter, they immediately offered me 25% pay rise and I refused, telling them they were just paying for my overtime anyway. You should have seen their faces :-)

Now I don't have my work email on my devices or anything; I sit, I code, I go home :-)
 
I think a lot of people are missing that this is in a large bank.

If you're in the ZOMG I would never work for free/work your contracted hours brigade then don't go and work for, as the OP puts it; a large bank that is not a high street bank - as you really won't like it there.

And tbh.. even contractors I know in that sector don't bill extra because they've worked longer hours, they know they're going to be working more like 10 or 11 hours a day rather than 8 but they'll still bill their standard 600 or whatever a day.
 
At our place of work, if anyone is out driving past their contract hours they get laughed at, all of us oldies pretty much know how little management care so we get back with time spare to walk to the clocking out machine, even if we haven't finished our routes, which results in deliveries being bought back. If they planned better and didnt expect us to work miracles it would never happen, but they won't listen or learn.
 
Tell them to get knotted and find a job closer to home. I work unpaid overtime occasionally but that's because I waste most of time during the day on Overclockers.
 
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