POETS day – Push Off Early Tomorrow’s Saturday (yes, there is an alternative verb) has been a regular event for many staff every Friday – usually as lunchtime approaches. The weekend is there, looming large on their immediate horizon, and everyone knows that it will be over far too quickly and the hated Monday morning will be around before they know it. Not only that, trying to get any sense out of anyone on a Friday afternoon is a lost cause (mainly because they’ve also had the same idea about POETS day).
We used to joke about it as our big boss made a dive for the door every Friday lunchtime muttering something about an important meeting he had to go to. We all knew exactly who the important meeting was with although we weren’t sure if his wife did. As a bit of fun, we would take it in turns to stand in the office door earnestly asking him (pointless) questions about jobs we were working on. As we pretended to be making mental notes of all his sagacious suggestions, he would hop about from foot to foot as if he was in desperate need of the bathroom. Sometimes we even used to ask him that.
But that was long before the tens of thousands of job cuts and the news that an estimated 5,000,000 people are working 7 hours or more a week unpaid.
This started me thinking. What is a reasonable expectation for an employee to work gratis for the good of the company?
I’ve been on both sides of the fence – as a senior employee who got a warning (that I couldn’t be bothered to contest) for ‘not making sufficient effort’ after having worked about 80 hours in a week when I was going to be paid for 40. It actually happened at just before 9pm on a Friday night (so much for POETS day) when I was supposed to have clocked off at 5.30pm. I’ve also been a director of a company sitting and watching in exasperation as staff gaily dumped what they were doing and sailed out the door the instant the second hand pointed to the magic number.
Clearly, it doesn’t pay to burn yourself out in an effort to keep your job. Not only does this not work (we’ve seen enough of proof that in the news), but you also lose everything you are working for. In addition, it actually becomes expected of you and you get taken for granted. No, burning yourself out for your job is not the answer.
Equally, and irrespective of the job you do, get rid of any naive ‘lefty’ beliefs about ‘It’s all up to your employer to sort out the mess’. Your job security is tied to your employer’s efficacy. If they cease to be cost-effective or viable or fail to perform, you will be out on your ears and don’t look to the State to help you – not any more.
I admit that I’ve been guilty of riding part-time staff a bit too ‘enthusiastically’ in the past. While I will never accept the attitude, “I’m here from 10am to 2pm and what happens outside of that time has nothing to do with me”, it is unreasonable to expect our part-timer to put in the same amount of unpaid time (if needed) as a full-time person.
What about making it a percentage – say 5%? Thus, someone who does 35 hours a week could be expected to stay on up to 21 minutes a night if needed. Our 4 hour a day person would be asked to consider staying up to 12 minutes a day.
Please note, I am not condoning staying on for the sake of it nor am I promoting working for nothing. You should, wherever possible, try to get your job done within the defined working period. What I am postulating on is what constitutes a reasonable expectation if the occasion demands it.
So, before you celebrate POETS day, are you sure you’ve done all you should have done?
Do let us know your thoughts on what you think is reasonable by way of unpaid overtime. We’d like to know them.
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