Women complaining about working late

[bwana]

I decided when I had my kid that ppspending time with him is a priority.

Buying kids stuff is cool but there is just so much value to spending time with them.

I agree which is why when I'm not working I'm generally home. I fetch them from school when the missus can't, take them to their riding lessons or what ever extracurricular activities they might have, and I accompany them on school outings, etc. My evenings at work are fairly limited and seasonal (cricket, soccer, rugby) and sometimes they accompany me.

I think I'm doing a fairly good job at being involved.

Next year is going to be tough on them with the UK Sevens and RWC but as long as I bring them enough goodies back they'll forgive me.

 

[w1z4rd]

My wife often works 30 hour shifts (by often I mean once a week). I have no complaints about her working as she is needed and doing good work. It sucks being apart but we gotta do what we gotta do to put dinner on the table.

 

[SauRoNZA]

The reason it's always made fun of is because very rarely in sitcoms do the men actually work late.

 

[The_Unbeliever]

I hope you guys get paid overtime for all this extra time at work. Just saying...

I claim overtime. If the company doesn't pay, I don't work any overtime. Simple as that.

And what's with the idea of giving days off in lieu of overtime payment?

 

[OrbitalDawn]

I decided when I had my kid that spending time with him is a priority.

Buying kids stuff is cool but there is just so much value to spending time with them. Whether it's Playing cricket in the back yard or Skylanders together on the PS3 you can see how much he appreciates spending the time together.

My philosophy is that I'll work my full 9 hours at work. While my co-workers are reading 9Gag or Facebook or talking rubbish amongst themselves I am working. If I'm not meeting a goal because I run into a problem I battle to solve I'll work through lunch.

I'm a hell of a lot more productive than them even though they like to show off to the boss how much overtime they do. (I'm the only old dude with a kid. The rest are the type of manchildren who live at home with their mommies at age 35 or youngsters with nowhere better to be.)

/Looks at time of posting...

I kid, I kid...

 

[BobsLawnService]

/Looks at time of posting...

I kid, I kid...

fair comment. Right now I'm working my notice period so productivity is admittedly a bit lower than it could be.

 

[bokdrol]

I don't mind if my OH works late. He always lets me know. I do get annoyed when he goes into work over weekends and on public holidays, not with him, but with his bosses who I feel are taking advantage of his agreeable nature. I sometimes work late, but that is usually because of bosses that can only work by crisis management. If I am left alone and not constantly interrupted, then I can usually easily get the day's work done during normal office hours. I always work through lunch as well, when it is quieter (not healthy, I know)

 

[F1ve_Claw]

No one ever does, which is why i say screw working late.If you cant do your work during your alloted time then you are mismanaging your time.If you need to work late to please your bosses then THEY are mismanaging your workload.

No choice really. Have to be in early to plan for the day and leave late to correct errors the teams have made

Does she occasionally work over-time or does she work 2 or 3 hours extra every single day?

Also, while overtime is often a requirement, that level of over-time for that extended period of time is just messed up. Clearly your company needs competent managers because that should not be the norm.

She works an extra 3 hours every Wednesday. Like clockwork. I don't complain though because, like I said, no point in it - she isn't doing it because she wants to

As to my overtime, it is rather messed up. I haven't made myself a home cooked meal during the week in the last 5 months. I go home and eat a roll or two. No overtime pay either. I do however get 10% of what my boss thinks I bring to the company on top of my salary - lets just say that is a token R1000 if I'm lucky. Pathetic.

Back to the actual thread though. I do miss my Fiance' when she is working late. When you never see someone it does get very pointless to have a relationship, not to mention frustrating. No verbal complains though!

 

[BobsLawnService]

I claim overtime. If the company doesn't pay, I don't work any overtime. Simple as that.

And what's with the idea of giving days off in lieu of overtime payment?

Companies are cheap.

 

[The_Unbeliever]

There's times when you have to do overtime - like when doing backups, configuration changes and the such - when it's not feasible during normal office hours.

 

[BobsLawnService]

No choice really. Have to be in early to plan for the day and leave late to correct errors the teams have made



She works an extra 3 hours every Wednesday. Like clockwork. I don't complain though because, like I said, no point in it - she isn't doing it because she wants to

As to my overtime, it is rather messed up. I haven't made myself a home cooked meal during the week in the last 5 months. I go home and eat a roll or two. No overtime pay either. I do however get 10% of what my boss thinks I bring to the company on top of my salary - lets just say that is a token R1000 if I'm lucky. Pathetic.

Back to the actual thread though. I do miss my Fiance' when she is working late. When you never see someone it does get very pointless to have a relationship, not to mention frustrating. No verbal complains though!

Sounds like an unfortunate situation. Also, if one of your minions stuffs up start keeping them in late to fix up their stuff ups. When they realise their errors are eating into their down time they will start being a bit more careful.

 

[F1ve_Claw]

Sounds like an unfortunate situation. Also, if one of your minions stuffs up start keeping them in late to fix up their stuff ups. When they realise their errors are eating into their down time they will start being a bit more careful.

You can't keep them, they just walk out. The problem is that they don't have the expertise to fix their mistakes.

My situation is that I manage teams of nurses, on top of a lot of other stuff,who are collecting questionnaire data and blood from people for research purposes. If they take a mistake in anything they don't have the technical knowledge to fix it or to understand the effects it has when in conjunction with the research protocol

 

[F1ve_Claw]

Double.

 

[mooks]

This is an ongoing issue in my home. When we first got together, I was the one pulling 12-14hr days in the office, often only getting home around 10pm. My SO was consistently home alone in the evenings and it took a huge toll on our relationship actually resulting in a 2mnth separation. When I started my new job I made a conscious decision to separate home and work and now only occasionally work overtime, but then from the comfort of my couch. It has in no way affected my professional progression to date.

My SO on the other hand has now become the one who works sometimes up to 16hrs every day. He commutes between UK & NL in 3 week cycles (2 weeks NL, 1 week UK) and works from home when he is here in NL. The problem with that is there is zero separation of home life & work time - there is no symbolic 'leaving the office' to signify the end of the work day and the start of personal time. If it was occasional long hours for particular projects etc it would be fine, but it becomes detrimental to our home when one of us is constantly in work mode (weekends too). Its also difficult when both people are working full time but only 1 person is working full time PLUS transporting children, doing the groceries, cooking the meals, laundry, cleaning etc. The whole 'I'm working' thing becomes a bit stale after a while. Even more challenging is when you have small kids in the house who need (and deserve) the attention of their parents - especially since they only get time with us for a few hours every day.

I fully support how ambitious, dedicated and committed my SO is to his job and we have collectively made repeated sacrifices in support of his desire to do more, be more, achieve more, but there has to be a balance. IMO, it is not unreasonable for a family member (wife, husband, child, whatever) to say 'I want to spend more time with you, not time with the top of your head and the back of your laptop screen'.

Each home is different and different balances work for different families/couples, so putting it all down to that fact that women are needy or nagging is not always an accurate reflection of the complexities of balancing home/work/family.

I personally think that, despite minimooks' complaints that all the mothers of her classmates work part time and have more time for their kids, it is healthy to instil a solid work ethic in your children. Work hard, be rewarded etc, but its equally important to teach your kids that being a workaholic is not a sustainable family model.

 

[Insint]

No one ever does, which is why i say screw working late.If you cant do your work during your alloted time then you are mismanaging your time.If you need to work late to please your bosses then THEY are mismanaging your workload.

Could not have said it better myself. Time spend at work while not being paid for literally means your company is stealing from you.
I will only work late if there is a emergency but that almost never happens.

Almost all my time at home is spend with very soon to be wife or UNISA studies.

 

[Replay]

Geez...reading about the dilemmas you lot face every day.....makes me feel much better about my life

 

[Drifter]

I hope you guys get paid overtime for all this extra time at work. Just saying...

No, I dont.

 

[Replay]

Could not have said it better myself. Time spend at work while not being paid for literally means your company is stealing from you.
I will only work late if there is a emergency but that almost never happens.

Almost all my time at home is spend with very soon to be wife or UNISA studies.

I think it depends on a few factors..

Your position in the company
The urgency value demanded by the project
Set targets for activities
Your own commitment, determination and work ethic...loyalty
Do you share and understand the vision of your firm
Work overload...when last did the company re-evaluate the staff compliment and workload?

I'm sure there's more reasons

 

[noxibox]

If you live in South Africa and work overtime, except in rare cases of desperate need, then you're choosing to do so. That applies whether you're getting paid or your employer illegally uses it to determine your performance. If your employer is requesting it in a time of genuine need, but refusing to pay for it, then you're choosing to allow them to continue their criminal activities. One way or another if you're willing to give your time away for free, or if you'd rather sell it all rather than spend time with your partner, well then don't be surprised if they're not happy about it.

 

[noxibox]

Your own commitment, determination and work ethic...loyalty

Is your employer going to be loyal to you? In hard times are they going to keep employing you no matter what?