Employee works 75 hour weeks with unpaid overtime, boss complains about them being inefficient: 'Without me overextending myself, the problems quickly grew'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Jun 9, 2025 9:00 PM EDT

It is common knowledge to those with at least some experience in the corporate world that most companies will try to extract as much as they can from their employees for the least expense possible (see: the classic pizza party instead of a raise move). What's worse is that the attitude or inexperience of many hires is part of what allows them to get away with it. Doing hours upon hours of unpaid overtime might not be an official policy of the business, but if there are enough employees willing to promote that as part of the culture, it becomes unavoidable.

In a workplace such as this, it can be easy to feel like a cog in the machine for constantly going above and beyond with no recognition for it. However, sometimes it can be quite simple to disrupt the normal order of things in a way that any demanding boss will start to feel the consequences.

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  • 01

    Boss ‘suspicious’ of the free weekend overtime and extra effort I worked, so I stopped.

    I work in finance, where unpaid overtime is often expected. For several months, I worked 70-75 hour weeks due to a major platform change and resolving issues that followed-something unfortunately common in the industry. I put in more hours than most of my coworkers, to the detriment of my mental health, thinking it would be recognized. Instead our VP blamed me for a team error that hadn't even been reviewed by our managers yet. He told me working so many hours was a "shame" considering how much
    via finity99
  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10515571968
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • This is what one employee found out after the extreme levels of unpaid overtime they undertook, which went unappreciated by the VP of their company. After the boss insinuated that their team could be replaced if they didn't become more efficient, they decided to cut down on all of the work they were doing.

    This quickly caused issue after issue for upper management, especially as other employees began doing the same thing. Eventually, a new hire was added to the team, taking some of the pressure off.

  • 03
    That was my wake-up call. I cut back to 45 hours a week, stopped working weekends, and only did what was necessary and slightly more just mainly out of respect for my direct manager, who has treated me well (she reports to the VP). Without me overextending myself and volunteering myself, the problems quickly grew, exposing that the real problem was the unrealistic timeline pushed by the VP resulting in key reports and requirements from the new system which aren't working due to poor planning. Af
    via finity99
  • 04
    Eventually, the VP had to hire another staff on my immediate team because pressure from the CEO plus rehiring as one of my coworkers quit-her role being nearly impossible to replace cause we're honestly underpaid for our level of expertise. He finally started to realize how complex our jobs really are. I'm now looking for another role myself and can't wait to see how he handles my departure, especially since our "new and improved" system has only made my tasks more complicated.
    via finity99
  • 05
    Cheezburger Image 10515572992
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 06

    People felt like the story provided a lesson to faithful employees.

    Far_Possession5124 Time to unionize.
    via Far_Possession5124
  • 07
    Geminii27 Never do anything for an employer other than what you are currently being paid for. If they want more, they can make that call by opening up their wallet. If they're not prepared to be paying more, they don't want the extra work enough to pay actual market value. Promises of future recompense or payment are great - you can start doing the additional work at that future time, when they've started paying or delivering. If there aren't even promises... nope. It's in a contract, or it's ca
    via Geminii27
  • 08
    RealUltimatePapo "Shame you're working so much" OK great I'll stop | "...oh sh He sounds like he failed upwards, and is about to start spiralling. It sounds like he deserves it
    via RealUltimatePapo
  • 09
    finity99 OP Yup call me naive in the beginning and I only put in so much effort cause the rest of my immediate team are great, but as a leader of a group, you don't get blind loyalty by kicking your team when they're down
    via finity99
  • 10
    austsiannodel It's always wild to me to see people talk about working for free. I don't work a single hour without being paid in full for that hour. Never have, never will.
    via austiannodel
  • 11
    Fefalass He sounds like he is salaried. As a salaried employee, companies expect to you to do your role in whatever time it takes you to, often way above the normal 40 hour weeks. Since you are not punching in or out is difficult to prove how overworked you are.
    via Fefalass
  • 12
    sum_force Maybe Al could replace the VP.
    via sum_force
  • 13
    Smalls_the_impaler thinking it would be recognized Lolz
    via Smalls_the_impaler
  • 14
    donniedarko5555 I'm inviting downvotes here but here we go. An employee who is neurotic and overworks themselves is a problem for themselves and the company. They'll burn out eventually and are hiding a problem that we need more staff to address. In a situation where they dont go out of their way to be a hero we identify a problem and hire a 2nd employee with a stable workload for both. Otherwise our hero burns out and suddenly we hire 1 new employee and it takes months to realize that they were
    via donniedarko5555
  • 15
    maroongrad Don't forget!!! Get contact information for good coworkers!!! If and when you get a better spot, let them know when positions open up and encourage them to apply. Then, if they apply, let HR or whomever is hiring know that you will vouch for them as good workers. If they continue to be good workers, you end up with reliable competent coworkers and you look good to HR and your managers.
    via maroongrad
  • 16
    taker223 > "can't wait to see how he handles my departure" concentrate on yourself first, let them drown themselves AND DO NOT WORK FOR FREE!
    via taker223
  • 17
    momlv This is exactly why it's a horrible idea to work yourself to death like this. Not only will you not get credit but you hide problems. This makes life harder for everyone and of course management can't know about problems that someone is hiding. The correct response here was to never work that much and have new people hired from the get go. Martyr culture is toxic for everyone.
    via momlv
  • 18
    taker223 free weekend overtime No f*king way. All 3 red flags are shining!
    via taker223
  • 19
    Rare Specific_306 This isn't malicious, this is you doing what you should
    via Rare_Specific_306
  • 20
    Lanky_Pumpkin3701 To summarize: For several months, you were blocking that extra hire's paycheck without even getting it yourself
    via Lanky_Pumpkin3701
  • 21
    emzirek It's fun when you hold all the important keys at work and your boss is oblivious to it when you leave ..
    via emzirek
  • 22
    whateverhk To be honest your manager is also at fault if they can't push back on unrealistic timelines from the VP. That's their role to give a reality check to their boss and push back on timeline. So maybe you have respect for them but your manager is also you over and you didn't realise it yet.
    via whateverhk

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