'[I] will be expecting overtime pay': Tech employee agrees to work 36 hours straight at bosses insistence

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Feb 25, 2024 11:00 AM EST

The longest most of us ever work is 10 or 12 hours in a day, but this person had to work many more than that. In some jobs, people technically work a schedule of one week on, one week off. If you're a home nursing aid, that might be necessary for you to properly care for your client. But it's not like you're literally working 100% of the time. You still have breaks to eat meals or make phone calls, and you sleep at night while your patient is also asleep. No one would make their employee work such lengthy hours unless they were totally incompetent, or had it out for that employee. 

One employee in the tech industry shared the story of their day-and-a-half-long endeavor. It seemingly stemmed from their boss telling them that they were paid salary, not hourly. It's a trick that so many companies use to get their employees to work extra. The whole point of salaried work is that your company knows your value, and wants to have you around for 40+ hours each week to provide your expertise. It shouldn't mean working unlimited hours just because your boss insisted. At least this person's story has a great ending, which you can check out below. 

Next, check out these hilarious pet names, like one person who wrote, "My friend has a hedgehog named Quilliam Shakespeare." 

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 9885326592
    via Sander Sammy on Unsplash
  • 02
    You are salaried right? Just stay up for this meeting. XL OC Before we begin dear readers, a brief bit of backstory. I have found that every company has a Todd. You will know who your Todd is, because he is who you call when you don't know who to call. When the unthinkable happens and everything is on fire and there is no hope of salvation, Todd steps in to fix it. Todd spends his entire time just fixing the unfixable. He has been with the company since the dawn of time, knows the true names of
    via u/Ars-Torok
  • 03
    Our Todd has an elite team to be on call when stuff breaks. Each team member is the highest authority in the company for one specific thing or another. They are the elite. Their word is law and to question them is to question Todd. Our story begins shortly after I had accomplish greatest goal, and became the newest member of Todd's team. Now my company works with point of sale. We sell computers, software, printers, card readers, and pretty much anything you need to take money from someone else.
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  • 04
    Examples of this include getting smart lights to change on command from ordering kiosks, letting the staff control the new jukebox you bought with their employee ID cards, or getting the sales data for the day to report to your canadian counterparts in both French and English, but only if someone buys the poutine- saurus surprise that day. And other fun conundrums that only the client can fathom.
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  • 05
    It is important to note that during my time in the call center, I was paid hourly. As a specialist, I would be made a salaried employee, and would be on call. After accepting the position, I was told that I would have a trial period of one month to prove myself. I would remain hourly, but would have a pay increase to more closely match my expected rate as a salaried employee. I would have the title change and new responsibilities of my job, but I had this month to prove I was worth the extra den
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  • 06
    3. All of these upgrades must be done overnight while the store is closed. 4. if the upgrade fails, the store must be rolled back that night so thet can open hourly. 5. the window of time to do one of these upgrades is eight hours 6. the fastest they have been able to do one is ten hours. All of this means one thing. They need a specialist to do the upgrades. One that knows their integration. I give Todd the "Put me in Coach" nod and a deal is struck. Todd is about to leave on vacation, which le
    via u/Ars-Torok
  • 07
    I am now on overnights. Four nights a week I upgrade these stores. I supervise two to three technicians who are on site in seperate stores. I do all the software. They do the hardware. This process is staggered based on timezones, so I generally am pulling twelve hour shifts. The OT is amazing, especially paired with the raise I got. Fast forward a week or two. The initial batch does not go the best. I have a 40% failure rate. This is due to scripts provided to both the client and me by the vari
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  • 08
    A meeting between the client and us is schedualed near the end of the week, right in the middle of my off time. As I said I am working twelve hours a day. I live a full hour from work, and for security reasons can't do these upgrades outside the office. I have ten hours to eat, sleep, get up, and eat again before work. Once I get to work, there are no breaks on the upgrade train. No lunch, no stopping. So i get home around 11 am each day. The meeting is set for 4 PM. I can't get any reasonable s
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  • 09
    I need to be there to explain why the project is going so poorly, and that my explanation better not just be throwing other people under the bus. He tries to explain that i am salaried and therefore need to be there when the company needs me. Especially when I am the one who is up. Again I try to remind him of my probationary period but he won't listen. And there my friends, begins the malicious compliance. I clock in at 10pm the day before the meeting. I do my upgrades, all three of which are s
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  • 10
    in my email. No need to attend the meeting. I thank them and sign out. Then I sit. For six hours I twiddle my thumbs, take a lunch break, (and a car nap) and wait for the meeting. When its time, I walk ipstairs to the top floor and the conference room, where everyone but Steve is shocked to see me. I calmly take my place and wait for the meeting to start, stating that I was asked to be here. The meeting lasts 30 minutes, and consists of the new procedure, praise for my dillagence, and a quick ov
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  • 11
    with the best part. The person giving the talk states that she knows I am asleep right now, so she will go over the changes with me personally when I get in tonight. Meanwhile, the guy I asked to sit in on the meeting for me will work with them to set up the changes to be deployed, (about three hours of work) so that it's all ready when I get in at ten. The meeting ends. Steve makes a comment about the changes being done by someone with more experience and hints that it should be my responsibili
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  • 12
    At the end of day two, I have spent 36 hours at work. Caffeine is my only salvation, and we are almost done. Near the end, I am basically waiting for a technician at my last store to finish testing, so I tell him to call me, and shut my eyes for about half an hour, just to rest a bit. All is well. I get called, everything is green. The vigil is over. Two of my friends insist on driving me home, where I promptly pass out into the most heavenly sleep I have had in ages. I wake up to an email, aski
    via u/Ars-Torok
  • 13
    I calmly explain that Steve had asked me to show up to the meeting, and then asked me to stay later to set up the changes, and by the time I took my nap (during what I called my paid 30 minute break) I had been in the building for 35 hours. I politely remind the HR head that I am on my trial period, and will be expecting overtime pay for that time. It came out to about 33 hours and change, due to my extended lunch break. Todd returned from his vacation and tore Steve a new definition of duties.
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  • 14
    Edit: a bit more info, since people are asking. Steve would later be fired several months later due to a similar situation where he threw someone so hard under the bus that everyone stopped and saw how uncool that was. He was replaced with new Steve, who is a superior Steve in every way.
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  • 15
    Thundertushy So someone reported you to HR and had camera footage of you during your power nap within 24 hours of it happening? Sounds like someone put a bullseye on your back after that meeting. 1.1k Ars-Torok OP Reply Share No. Who would possibly do that? Oh no... But yeah as soon as I mentioned what Steve said. Ms. HR was just like. "Thanks for coming OP." And sent me on my way.
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  • 16
    This_is_my_phone_tho Getting called in on your OFF DAY because some f ing busy body spotted you "napping on the job" but failed to realize you had been at work for 36 hours is an absolute fing nightmare, steve only got in trouble because his brand of miserable wasn't the right brand of miserable.
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  • 17
    bscross32 Steve: Don't throw people under the bus! Steve: ***D well would have thrown OP under the bus if the last three weren't a success***
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  • 18
    KrymsinTyde Arrogance, ego, pride... WTFever you want to call it, it never has a place in a corporate scenario. It's always gonna cost someone a lot of money in the end
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  • 19
    partofbreakfast See, this baffles me. They know your schedule. They know the times you have to work with. if you HAVE to be at a meeting, why not do the meeting right at 11 am when your work for the night is over? 101 Ars-Torok OP Reply Share Everyone but Steve was under the impression my one coworker would fill in for me. Only Steve wanted me at that meeting, so he could use me as a human shield if needed.
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  • 20
    Butokboomer I hope you got paid for having your time wasted by HR on your day off. 177 Ars-Torok OP Reply Share I didn't argue that point. I wanted Ms HR on my side. Also I wanted to get my car anyway.
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  • 21
    droneb I'd be more concerned about the company having someone specifically focused that you took a nap
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  • 22
    sajnt Why would anyone want to be salaried? Time is our most valuable possession. 58 Ars-Torok OP Reply Share Because for the rest of the project. If I got a fail, or got done early. I went home. So long as the project got done. I made my own schedual, and came and went as I pleased.
    via u/Ars-Torok

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boss call center malicious compliance malicious-compliance-reddit Horrible Bosses malicious compliance reddit
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