Advice about ongoing unpaid overtime and work stress

[mariole]

Hi, my friends! I'm up writing at 3:30 in the morning because I have a tension ball in my stomach and can't sleep. A wonderful situation at work turned on its head. Any advice regarding my mistakes and situation is very welcome. And listen, feel free to tell me what a jerk I've been, because I am not blameless in this mess I've made for myself. I'm

Comments

[fantasy_fan]

I'm so sorry it happened, but I don't think you're all to blame. You reached your breaking point; the confrontation was unfortunate but it happened and you have to assess where to go from here.

I agree with gentlehobbit that you need to document everything. If there is any official corrective action proposed, you need to present your side of what happened for the official record. If there is anyone who can give you a supportive statement, that might be valuable as well. Especially document the time you spent doing things that were now trashed, the errors the "fixes" introduced, and the time spent trying to recover from them.

I wouldn't do anything rash with this job, but I would do some heavy soul searching about it. There are some industries where overtime is expected, and just part of the job. A lot of these industries involve deadlines, where the personnel just have to suck it up before a deadline and work long hours to get things done. My business of grant writing is like that. However, often there is compensation in terms of flexibility of hours at other times, comp time, to make up for it. Is your industry like that? Is it something you can live with or do you need to make a lateral move to something that uses your skills but doesn't have this inherent stress?

Some workplaces are more toxic than others. Often this is a reflection of management style at the top. The admin office across the hall from my lab is one of those places where people are not allowed to talk to each other outside of a rigid reporting hierarchy, "compliance" is the most overused word in the universe, and decisions are micromanaged by the lead management (head accountant, compliance officer, and administrative director, who cuts a lot of red tape - lengthwise). I would last 30 seconds in an environment like that because I would not be able to accept the inefficiency and CYA attitude that are the result. I would say the wrong thing to the wrong person. If I could last, know I would theoretically have more job security there, but I would have that same knot in my stomach that you have. By the way, they can't figure out why they can't keep people. Is your company and its management style the problem? Would other places have the same (or their own issues)? You need to start networking with others in your field outside your company. If you decide you need to move jobs, you will need these contacts. And keep track of who in your company will give you a good reference, and who might not.

cont. below because I am too words for LJ.

[fantasy_fan]

What would happen if you just did the minimum required for your job requirements? If they have proved they're not going to compensate you for maximum effort, what happens if you let all that go? If you take all your vacation (scheduled appropriately per their policies), work your hours but stop volunteering for extra, do the overtime when it's absolutely required but pass on responsibilities that aren't really yours, let the poor presentation stand and let the people who screwed it up take the blame, and basically stop being the "team player" who ends up the "team patsy"? This starts with a conversation with your boss about your exact job responsibilities, and a note from your doctor about the physical effects workplace stress is having on you. Your colleague ought to do the same, for his own good. Hiding it isn't helping anyone. This also gives your boss (indirect) notice of your plan to look out for yourself if nobody there is going to support your efforts. The days are gone where you gave loyalty to your company because you knew they were going to be loyal to you - what has replaced that outdated business model is a delicate balance between corporate goals and personal goals. It is not a career failure any more to leave a job and find another. I know that's easier said than done, but if an attitude adjustment is all that is needed, you might not have to change jobs at all. (I would also insist that the boss make the marketing people work with you on the front end of designing any new presentation, if they are going to have veto power at the back end. You can grin inside as you say, "I'm so sorry this is so much extra work for you, but we need your valuable advice now so that we can design an acceptable product." and "That suggestion about reworking the whole second half is a great one. I'll let you design all that part over the next two weeks, and when you're finished, just send it along to me for some final technical tweaking." Isn't there a fanfic out there somewhere about Frodo teaching Merry how to give an insincere apology?)

Take a couple of deep breaths. You are strong, and you will get through it.

[singeaddams]

Ditto all of Fantasy Fan's great advice. Document everything! Be on the look out for something better.

But the point I want to make is, standing up when the bitch stood up was an act of self-defense even if she is a small squirt. She's howling about your unprofessionalism and 'feeling threatened' as a misdirection from her own terrible behavior. Stop beating yourself up about it. You're a human being, not a cold, corporate machine.

Whatever you decide, whatever happens, you'll be fine!

[mariole]

You're quite right. I see now that this isn't the end of the world. It just felt that way!

Thanks for your kind words. It really helps. :)

[mariole]

> Especially document the time you spent doing things that were now trashed, the errors the "fixes" introduced, and the time spent trying to recover from them.

This is excellent advice and I started implementing it Thurs and Friday. Yes, the prima donnas want design power, but what they're forcing me to use takes 10 times as long to produce. They design a shitty page, it will have repercussions for every project that has to use that bad design. It's my responsibility to make management aware. The trick for me is how to do it without seeming defensive or confrontational. I think it's obvious from my post that I obviously don't have that fine-tuning down!

Regarding OT, this is primarily a writing job-- content production. That means peaks before the deadline, and usually a fallow period afterward to recover. The problem is, my time is triple and quadruple assigned to different depts., so there's no longer any downtime. I finish a project and start out already behind on the next. I'm 2 months behind on the main core software! And I've been ordered to not support them, because they want 100% of my time for training.

Obviously this is not sustainable. I'm not willing to continue working OT, because that is a no-win battle. The more I give, the more they'll want. So to answer your question, if I went back to working regular hours, that would be a black mark against me, because they expect to take over my life. Well, they can want my life, but they don't get it. I will do short peaks as _I_ see fit, and then back away. Because, unless I get a substantial raise (which I highly doubt), the overtime degrades the salary that I do have. I really hate feeling like a chump, and this company is making me start to feel like a chump.

> let the poor presentation stand and let the people who screwed it up take the blame

I know I should relax and let the natural disaster take its course. My fear is that, these people don't know anything about electronic design. They don't recognize a disaster when they see one, because they're thinking print. So I lose, because I get an unworkable template, the customer loses, because they get a substandard program, and the company loses because they're hurting themselves by producing inferior product. I still haven't figured out how to make this "work" for me. How can I get my message across without being threatening to Marketing, who is already wildly defensive (as they should be, as they know squat about this arena and it shows).

Time to take a break and reassess. I fear next week will be tough. I'll feel better going into it, though, because of your and everyone else's good advice. Happy weekend!