Boss tells supervisor they have to work 2 extra hours every day or quit, totaling an extra 10 hours of unpaid work every week: 'HR backed my supervisor up. They agreed.'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Aug 29, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

"We work to get paid" is an idea that you've probably read a great deal scribbled on the walls of this site, and it's a sentiment that echoes around the internet and in workplace spaces. The idea being that no matter how your employer tries to sugarcoat your lackluster compensation with pizza parties and declarations of being "family" and the like. Essentially, trying to cover the office with a metaphorical fine dusting of glitter when the reality is that the workplace environment they're creating is quite dull and dismal.

At the end of the day, all that really matters is where the rubber of payment meets the road of the time and the labor you have provided them.  

But while payment (aka the money you see in your bank account every month or fortnight) is the bread and butter of workplace compensation, it's not the whole picture. There are finer details in the shading and color of what the working conditions are. Whether or not you feel respected and empowered, what your working hours are, and if your time is valued, what flexibility you're provided, and whether or not you're going to be surviving in a pressure cooker of stress, or if things are going to be pretty even-paced. And those are just a few of the things that you might want to consider when taking a new job or a promotion.

As I've written about recently, sometimes it's just not worth climbing up the ladder when you're going to get just a little bit more pay, but work far worse (or more) hours and deal with an increased level of stress on top of that. This can be even harder to justify being worthwhile when you're salaried and might be expected to work extra hidden hours without additional compensation.

For example, in this account that a workplace supervisor recently shared online, they shared how their own boss was insisting that they work an extra two hours of unpaid time every day. Their boss argued that it was just a requirement that went along with their station and that it was their duty to do so.

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  • 01

    "Boss said that I have to work 2 extra hours for free everyday because that’s how it supposed to be."

    My schedule as a supervisor is from 6AM till 2:30PM. Yesterday, my boss. said that I should work from 6AM till 4PM because I am a supervisor and I have to put the hours. Insane, right? Our production ends at 2:30PM and everyone is gone at that time so I asked him what I should do on those hours? He said that I should come up with ways to improve workflow, but the schedule should be like that always. He also said that if I don't like it I should quit. Which it made me said "woah".
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  • 02
    A young man sits working at his computer in his office
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    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 03
    I want to apply for another job, should I update my resume with the current? I just don't want to be seem as a job hopper. edit: for people who are saying to contact HR I have to say that HR backed my supervisor up. They agreed. Second edit: I am salary paid. They don't pay me by hours is fixed to 40 hours per week. The director said that I should be here because supervisor have to do hours and thats how it is. So the extra 10 hours per week is because I am a supervisor but I am not getting paid
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  • 04
    Third edit: so as far as I understand from replies. If you work in salary it means that they can demand you to work as much as they want until the goal is completed? What if the goal is un achievable? They can exploit you as much as they want? Fourth edit: everyone, I understand the idea of improving the workflow and it's reasonable. My only issue is that we always achieve our goal one our before the shift ends for hourly paid workers. We overproduce most of the times in a day. I am not saying t
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  • 05
    What they told me in my interview was the following: supervisors should be working 8 hours every day, but if the production hasn't meet the goal then they should stay working until the goal is completed. Which is something I agreed upon, but now the director says that we should stay 2 hours extra even tho the production finished hours ago. That's my issue. And we not only reach our goal, we overproduce sometimes because the team reaches the goal 2 hours before closing.
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  • 06
    Seen from behind a young man works at his desk writing in a notebook with his laptop open in front of him
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  • 07
    Inkarozu Are you paid hourly or on salary? If hourly, illegal, never do work off the clock! If salary you're out of luck, use the time to apply elsewhere. *edit: In USA. You should include this job on your resume so there isn't a gap.
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  • 08
    Agitated Highway6 Are you hourly? Then you get paid for the hours you work. Sometimes in salary positions there is this fake tough guy mentality of I had to do it, so you do to. Apply to other jobs first
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  • 09
    Banjo-Becky I worked for that person. Then I left for another job.
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  • 10
    twofourfourthree Saved the most important part for the end. Your salary. Pretty much end of story. If you're not happy definitely find another job. When you have opportunity to take longer lunches / breaks / coming in late take them because you're salary.
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workplace discussion employment issues antiwork workplace-stories jobs employee employment-discussion job work employees overworked-employees workplace Horrible Bosses employment in the workplace
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