Advice needed: Mandatory overtime, a crackdown on PTO, and sketchy weekend shift practices (job offer, employees)

[brodie734]

I work for a big company and I honestly enjoy my job. I make decent money, have good perks, and the work isn't enormously taxing or anything. However, lately things seem to be taking a turn for the worse and I am in need of advice on how to deal with the changes taking place.
Three things have me concerned:

1. I was recently advised by my manager to "watch" my unplanned PTO usage as I had called in sick too frequently over the summer, ie when I was sick I missed 3 days of work and left early on another to go to the doctor. This has me terrified entering cold and flu season, for obvious reasons.
   
2. I recently returned from vacation to find out that they had implemented a draconian mandatory OT policy: we are now to work 9 1/2 hour days (an hour of OT every day plus giving up half of our lunch). From what I can tell, our workload is not demanding this... every single day since this was implemented, people have been sent home. But that just makes me more unsure of why this is in place. Other areas of the company are well known for treating employees free time with contempt, our sales force is required to work 80 hour weeks. I'm worried that this disregard for work/life balance (our CEO calls it "life balance" because he views work as integral to life, if that clues you on the culture) is spreading to my area.
   
3. We have to work a mandatory weekend shift each month, no big deal. I signed up for mine in November well in advance, knowing I had limited availability that month. While I was out of town, the entire schedule was scrapped and re-opened for no apparent reason. When I returned, my shifts were not only taken but I had been signed up by a manager for the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I cannot work that weekend, having family commitments out of town. I protested and it was removed, however I was chewed out for being "unprofessional" in sending an email beginning with the phrase "can someone explain how this happened?". Personally, I don't think that's an unreasonable question as it seems that they were trying to take advantage of my not being there to shunt an undesirable shift off on me with no warning or explanation.

I'm kind of at my wits end here. I know this probably sounds like I'm someone who just doesn't want to put the work in, but I am very good at my job and regularly get praise and great evaluations. I commute 40 miles each way to work, I just don't like this sudden and random encroachment into the rest of my life. I've been thinking of moving to a different city anyway, but was afraid of leaving this job behind. Can anyone give me any advice?

[DorianRo]

Find a new job.. Companies start slowly and keep adding on more nonsense to the pile until most everyone gets pissed off, burned out and ultimately quits. Today its this, tomorrow it will be something out.

[North Beach Person]

The leave situation is likely governed by internal work rules if there is no contract.

Forty years ago when I worked in a factory we had a similar system if you called off too many times, if I recall it was twice in a rolling 30 day period, you were counseled. More than twice got you a three day suspension. If it happened again within six months of a suspension you were terminated. Sick leave was not paid by the way. This was a union shop and spelled out contractually.

How is mandatory overtime addressed in the work rules or contract?

For the weekend work I can only speculate that someone with more juice than you didn't get the weekend he wanted. Are these situations governed by seniority?

[Cheesesteak Cravings]

If they can afford to give you all OT every day indefinitely you all need to organize for higher wages.

Mandatory OT jobs exist because of ridiculous deadlines, and/or because employees are cheap enough that the company can make a lot of money requiring it.

This is what unions are great for, but I know that's not likely going to happen in your case.

[BusinessManIT]

That is bad news. It sounds like your top management has decided to start squeezing all the work they can out of you and your coworkers. I do think it is going to get worse. You will have to decide if you want to become a workaholic robot or leave your company for something better. I worked as such a robot for 3 years for an awful company who had no sense of any kind of work/life balance. My work weeks ranged from 55 to 90 hours. After 3 years of this my health started to suffer (I was only 27). So I left for a better position and have not regretted it. But if you decide to leave, be careful that you don't jump from one frying pan into another. Many companies love to squeeze work out of their employees in the manner that you are experiencing. Good luck with your decision.

[brodie734]

So, I'd love more takes on this. In the months since, I was talked to again about call offs (when I stranded due to a snowstorm and wasn't due to be in the office anyway, merely skipped a team building exercise), our working from home has been further curtailed, a disastrous rollout of a new feature has led to us working 10-11 hour shifts every single day, and our weekend shifts have become mandatory twice a month.

This situation feels off to me, and like I said above I know other areas of the company operate in this way, but I am afraid of venturing too far from what I still see as a decent job. Advice?

[fishbrains]

Is this a salaried position? You are working 50-55 hours a week, a bit longer if it is a weekend shift. It’s also been going on for two months, which is too long in my opinion.

Given that the rest of the company seems to work this way, it looks like this might be a mandate from above. I personally wouldn’t put up with it, and would start looking. Giving up that much of my life is unacceptable to me.

[BusinessManIT]

If you still see this as a decent job, then stay. But is your physical and mental health going to be affected by this workaholism long term? Are you missing out on personal activities and recreation that you could be doing if you only worked 40 hours a week? You will have to decide. I know it is scary to try to find a new job and then jump into it sight unseen. Is it going to be better or worse? It is a gamble. I risked doing it and won. My new job was much better, and my old company folded about 4 years after I left.

[jnojr]

What do you expect to hear? If these things are too onerous, you need to find a new job. If you don't want to find a new job, you have to put up with everything they want to do. There's no middle ground. There is no magic phrase that someone can give you that will make the job be what you want it to be. You say you're "afraid of venturing too far from what I still see as a decent job", but what you describe is not a "decent job".

Get your resume together, get it out there, go on interviews. You don't have to take a job offer you don't want to. But nobody will ever love you so much as when they're offering you a job and trying to entice you to come on board. That's a perfect time to address all of the things you see as a problem... compensation, schedule, work conditions, etc. If you don't try, then you already know what your future holds for you.

[bande1102]

Did management change? Is it possible this was a bait and switch?

I once accepted a position that was amazing: work from home, work when I want as long as I get 40 hours per week, my production was off the charges, my quality was superb (we were routinely audited) I loved that position. It lasted about 4 months.

Then we got a new manager and all of the changes you describe started happening: I had to work a fixed schedule. We lost all of our sick leave. It became so difficult to use PTO, most people stopped. We had mandatory OT. Sometimes, we weren't told until 5pm that we had to stay another hour or two (violated state law, btw; but that didn't matter), they even took away our paid holidays. Things got increasingly worse. People started quitting and that made it worse for those who remained. Ultimately, we lost a major contract and there were layoffs. I got laid off in the 3rd round. Best thing ever.

My point is that I don't think things will improve. Ultimately, the only people who stay will be those who can't find jobs anywhere else. These are not the people you want to work with. I regret not quitting when all of these things started happening. My advice: get out now because I doubt it improves.