do you work overtime? is it really worth it? (Fairfax: sales, lawyers)

[heetseeker]

Don't depend on overtime to pay your bills. Two extra hours a day? you might learn to hate your job, and what happens if the boss says no more overtime.

[newgatedenizen]

Whether it is worth it is entirely up to each individual. As a salaried employee I never work less than 45 hours a week and during rare busy times it can stack up to 50-55 hours. I don't get paid for it but it is more or less expected that we work as many hours as it takes to get the job done. But I wouldn't work extra hours solely for extra money - I'd sooner spend that time at home.

A job I had years ago switched everyone but senior management from salary to hourly (with a time-clock no less). I said, “you don't want me clocking in" (at the time I was working 50-60 hours). But no, they wouldn't listen. So I started time card punching and I made like an extra 15K that year - for time I was giving them for free previously.

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by stp_fan

since we're all work-a-holics i'd figure i'd ask.

my boss offered me overtime, so i did the math and if I work an extra 10 hours a week (2 hours more a day) for a total of 50 hours a week, I can make an extra $20,000 a year or after taxes...about $500 more per paycheck.

If my base increases $20k, will this put me in a higher tax bracket? will i have to pay more taxes?

If my 401k contribution is 6%, does that 6% now apply to my regular pay and overtime pay combined?

Thanks!

So for $250 more dollars a week I can go cross-eyed and maybe crash my car on 66 yay!

I'm getting some good overtime in November so far. Is it worth it? As a college senior with his own apt and on his own for the most part every cent helps. An extra $6 an hour helps majorly.

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

I was once required to work a weekend day, if you can believe that. No comp time, nothing.

I was once required to hand over my plane tickets to the company for Christmas vacation. They reimbursed my tickets, but I didn't get to spend Christmas with my family as had been previously agreed to months prior. We worked 2 weeks straight, 7 days a week, 10 hours a day (they let us not come in on Christmas). No overtime pay or anything, just our normal salary.

That's the year I said screw the corporate world and went into teaching--they can't take away Christmas vacation from me anymore.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by CaliTerp07

I was once required to hand over my plane tickets to the company for Christmas vacation. They reimbursed my tickets, but I didn't get to spend Christmas with my family as had been previously agreed to months prior. We worked 2 weeks straight, 7 days a week, 10 hours a day (they let us not come in on Christmas). No overtime pay or anything, just our normal salary.

That's the year I said screw the corporate world and went into teaching--they can't take away Christmas vacation from me anymore.

Wow. Ok, you got me beat!

[sullyguy]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

I was once required to work a weekend day, if you can believe that. No comp time, nothing.

At a fairly large international corporation at which I w2-contracted, all "pushes to Production" of software updates (or new software) was necessarily done over the weekend (mostly on Sunday) since that literally was the only time the whole world was not at work - gave time to install, test, and rollback if necessary.

Those hours, and any wee-hour pager-derived-work, were all paid at the standard hourly rate that any other work was paid.

Perfectly fair: Need my help? Pay me. Done.

It worked great. It works great. Highly recommended.

[oneasterisk]

My current job doesn't pay overtime, but they do give you comp time if you work extra or allow you the option to leave early/come in late. Unfortunately it's a 24/7 shop so when you're on call you can be working some crazy issues sometime. Also of course our maintenance windows are inconvenient for sleeping

My past life I used to work a 2nd job to make some extra money. That lasted only a few months because I found I valued my time off more than the extra money I was pulling in. It was a decent 2nd gig paying about $20/hour, but I missed my weekends and it sucked working 7 days a week. You really have to weigh if it's worth it on a personal level. For me it wasn't...

[JfromReston]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

In the federal government, it's actually pretty fair: If you work extra, you get comp time.

Not everywhere in the government. I routinely work overtime and my Agency has no comp time agreement for my location. I've pushed the point and been told no comp time.

[NC211]

In my opinion, overtime beyond the need to meet a deadline, is for advancement potential, not increased income. If you need more income, and can't see advancement opportunities with your current employer or career track, then you need to evaluate one or both. Personally, my climb up the dollar ladder has always come from a new employer. If you don't see signals of potential after 3 years, a warning light should start to blink in your mind. Working yourself to death for an extra $150 cash (all the time, I understand unique situations like Christmas money or the like), just isnt worth it. You only get one spin on this planet. You want to spend most of it making someone else wealthy?

[tgbwc]

I put in a lot of extra hours to get the job done. 10 or 11 hour days are not unusual, but I am salaried so it may not technically be overtime... No extra $ or comp time.