Boss cuts back on overtime pay, employee rebels by cutting back on excess work: 'I'm not working overtime unless I get paid'

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jul 14, 2024 8:00 AM EDT

Employees who regularly work expected overtime as part of the job come to rely on that money to earn their living. Time is money and money is time, right? So what happens when employers can't seem to afford that overtime payment but somehow maintain the expectations that employees should be completing that extra work? 

Well, if the employees are empowered enough, then they should let their bosses know the simple and fair truth: if employees must say goodbye to that money, then their employees must also say goodbye to that time and work. Thankfully, this Redditor was confident enough to stand their ground despite pressure from their bosses to answer the phone and complete tasks outside of their regular work hours. They ended up maliciously complying with these new overtime rules by asking whether or not every excess task will be covered via overtime compensation. This frustrated their employer to no end, almost like how their boss frustrated their team by cutting back on overtime compensation in the first place. Talk about getting a taste of your own medicine, sir!

For more stories like this, check out this post about an entitled coworker who demanded that an employee cover her shift.

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  • 01
    Cutting back on overtime in a field where urgent response is the norm?You'll pay for it.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 02
    I work in a field where urgent response is the entire purpose. My employer became suddenly budget conscious which led to them becoming much more stringent about our (frequent) overtime.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 03
    We were told that all scheduled overtime had to be approved...cool...no issue there. However, when it came to unscheduled overtime, which is where the bulk of overtime came from, the problem arose.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 04
    Any unscheduled overtime would be reviewed after the fact. If it was determined that overtime wasn't justified, we could either be faced being forced to take comp time within the same pay period so that the extra time would be negated, or they would attempt to not pay or claw back money (which is illegal).
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 05
    Cue malicious compliance in two ways: 1. I tend to work earlier hours than our main office, so it's not uncommon for me to get phone calls once I've returned home.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 06
    Normally not a big deal. I handle the call and go about my day. Most times because it's only a few minutes, I don't even request the overtime pay. This all changed once the policy went into effect. The very first day under the new rules I received a call form our main office about 10 minutes after I got home. I answered the phone by stating "Hello, my work day ended 10 minutes ago,
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 07
    would you like for me to continue this call on overtime, or can this be dealt with to tomorrow?" The response was, "no overtime, this will only take a minute." I ultimately ended the call and dealt with the issue the following day. This occurred about a half dozen times over the span of a few days.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 08
    2. I really made my point on this one. I received a phone call after hours that I was needed for an urgent (not emergent-I wouldn't have jeopardized anything to make a point)
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 09
    response. I listened to the details of what was occurring, and informed my supervisor that I'd be happy to get on the road...just as soon as they'd send me an email stating that an after hours response was required, and overtime for the night was authorized.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 10
    Nothing crazy, just a sentence or two. The response I got was "Just get on the road, I'll send you an email later or tomorrow."
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 11
    But I refused. I informed them that I was off duty, and they could either send me the email as requested so I'd be covered, or they could have someone from outside my territory respond in my place (which would've delayed the response over an hour). This back and forth continued for about 3-4 minutes until they relented,
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 12
    and sent me an email, which I received in about 30 seconds, before I'd even had a chance to use the restroom or grab my keys.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 13
    My points (along with my coworkers who took similar actions) were made. Our leadership only pressed forward with requiring approval for pre scheduled overtime, and even that has gone by the wayside.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 14
    kiwimuz . 14 hr. ago You were only complying with their rules. They obviously never thought this through or listened to staff.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 15
    Kementarii +2 11 hr. ago • The most ridiculous "overtime has to be approved" policy I had to comply with was at an airport. You know? Everything is time critical, and delays happen, regular airport.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 16
    So let's introduce "no overtime will be paid, unless it is approved in advance by Airport Manager". Note that this manager role is a 9-5 job. At the end of the night, there are a few critical staff left on the premises. Someone to put the
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 17
    airbridges to the aircraft and open the doors, a small team to unload the bags, and someone in the arrival area to deal with lost bags. Previously, it was just accepted that if you were on that "last shift" there would be overtime sometimes and
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 18
    you couldn't just walk out, you stayed until the work was done - even if you didn't want the overtime, you did it. It was midnight-ish, and there was nobody else there to do it.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 19
    Last aircraft scheduled to land was running 2 hours late? No option but to stay and wait for it. Anyhow, Madam decided that her new rules applied to this shift as well. No exceptions.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 20
    Oh how we loved phoning her at 11pm - Hello. Last flight is delayed, and estimated to arrive 15 minutes late. Do we have permission to stay and work overtime? We don't really want to cost the company money, so we are happy to leave at the end of our shift if you want.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 21
    She drove us mad for a while, then gave in, and went elsewhere in the company.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 22
    "Cutting back on overtime in a field where urgent response is the norm? You'll pay for it".
    via Firmbee

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workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace job work Horrible Bosses overtime reddit thread Reddit company toxic-work-environment
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