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HipChick

(25,485 posts)
Thu Apr 19, 2012, 01:12 AM Apr 2012

The stress on my job is causing...


my blood pressure to shoot through the roof

I'm not a smoker, but I'm bumming ciggies from co-workers so I can blow off steam

I'm covering for about 3 people, because they are too cheap to hire enough resources

It's not uncommon for me to put in over 60-70hr for one week, and I don't get paid overtime - I am supposed to take comp time, which I'm invariably never get to take

I know I need to walk away...
14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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The stress on my job is causing... (Original Post) HipChick Apr 2012 OP
Not being able to put a date on this, edgineered Apr 2012 #1
It should be 'Human Commodities'. TexasTowelie Apr 2012 #3
It's easy for me to tell you the truth right now... Amerigo Vespucci Apr 2012 #2
I worked for IBM for over a decade HipChick Apr 2012 #10
I was at Cisco pre-Blackberry, but I had to carry a pager. They also wanted 24/7 access. Amerigo Vespucci Apr 2012 #14
I was in similar situation. TexasTowelie Apr 2012 #4
I'm hearing more and more often about things like this these days. Honeycombe8 Apr 2012 #5
I don't get paid for O.T and I can rarely take comp time HipChick Apr 2012 #9
Give your state labor department a call HeiressofBickworth Apr 2012 #6
Way to go, Mom! You're a doer, not a talker! nt Honeycombe8 Apr 2012 #7
Comp time is illegal. bluedigger Apr 2012 #8
Illegal? lins the liberal Apr 2012 #11
That's a different thing. bluedigger Apr 2012 #13
That is a really good point. Iris Apr 2012 #12

edgineered

(2,101 posts)
1. Not being able to put a date on this,
Thu Apr 19, 2012, 01:19 AM
Apr 2012

but the writing was on the wall a few decades ago.

Signs on doors once read 'Personnel'.

Now they read: 'Human Resources'.

Amerigo Vespucci

(30,885 posts)
2. It's easy for me to tell you the truth right now...
Thu Apr 19, 2012, 01:23 AM
Apr 2012

...because I don't have your responsibilities, BUT...

I've posted here on numerous occasions about my year and a half tenure at Cisco Systems. It ended with my being a part of the 8500+ bloodbath of layoffs in June 2001.

At the time, it was the end of my source of income. It was unemployment. It was all kinds of things. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't easy, BUT...

...leaving that shithole was one of the best days of my life.

When I worked there, I smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. I chain-smoked like a fiend. I'd walk out onto the patio and finish a cigarette in about a minute flat, just deep-dragging the hell out of it and not lingering betweeen drags. I also pounded down a lot of caffeine...coffee, colas. I was tense and wired as hell every second I was there. I got the flu three times in one year. Ine instance turned into walking pneumonia. I didn't eat right, I didn't sleep right.

Then it was over..."this too shall pass."

So like I said, me telling you how much better if you walk away probably won't help if you're figuring out your next move, but you will. You might have some short-term pain while you sort out the details but if things are as bad as you're describing them, you deserve much better and you will find a way to bring it about if you step out in faith and purge this toxic situation from your life.

HipChick

(25,485 posts)
10. I worked for IBM for over a decade
Fri Apr 20, 2012, 09:28 AM
Apr 2012

I took this to get away from that...I just got done with a bout of walking pneumonia - this turned out worst than IBM...I traded one corporate slave driver for another with a new corporate umbilical cord - the corporate blackberry so they can get hold of me 24 x7

Amerigo Vespucci

(30,885 posts)
14. I was at Cisco pre-Blackberry, but I had to carry a pager. They also wanted 24/7 access.
Fri Apr 20, 2012, 10:36 AM
Apr 2012

Each quarter we had to do currency conversions in the system I managed. This mean that for three days, whenever I was home, I had the laptop plugged in and the pager on. I will never understand how Cisco mkes the "100 Best Companies To Work For" lists. I could feel the soul being sucked out of my body every minute of every day that I worked there. When I left Cisco, I made a radical change in course. May be time for you to consider the same.

TexasTowelie

(110,970 posts)
4. I was in similar situation.
Thu Apr 19, 2012, 02:04 AM
Apr 2012

Frequently put in overtime with no pay. At one point, I hit 83 hours in one week and another lady was routinely pulling 85-90 hours a week. I finally said something about it, which may be why I'm unemployed.

Even though funds are tight, I have no regrets being away from the slave drivers.

Honeycombe8

(37,648 posts)
5. I'm hearing more and more often about things like this these days.
Thu Apr 19, 2012, 02:15 AM
Apr 2012

The employers seem to be taking advantage of the recession big time. I understand benefiting from circumstances, but things like you are experiencing are beyond the pale (assuming you didn't agree to that when you hired on).

Not knowing how old you are, if there are jobs in your area, if you've checked around for jobs, how long you've worked there, etc., it's hard to say what you should do, if that's what you are asking.

Is the O.T. temporary or a permanent situation? Will those hours decrease at some point? Or are they the kind of hours that come at certain times, then revert to normal, then go up again?

Jobs are precious. We all need a decent income and benefits. But quality of life is precious, too. If these increased hours are permanent, I'd say get the hell outta there in a professional manner. Don't burn bridges.

If you were making $ from the O.T., I'd say stick it out for a year, while you look for something else. Then, at least you'd end up with a nice wad of cash. But w/o the extra income, what would be the point?

But, I had a friend who was in your situation a couple of years ago. The comp time thing. But it wasn't permanent. It passed. She's still there and working normal hours. There are other issues there, but not the working hours.

All things pass. It's hard to remember that while you're in the grips of a heavy work period. You're tired, stressed out, unhappy.

If you want to share a few more details, you might get more specific advice. I hope you do. The people at DU are wonderful at giving opinions on this sort of thing. They've been around and learned a thing or two.

My thoughts are with you and the situation you're caught in. Please let us know how things are going. I really do care.

Oh, and one more thing: GIVE UP THE CIGGIES! I'm a reformed smoker with lungs that will never be completely normal. Even one cigarette does damage to the lungs, affecting your breathing when you're older. Plus, they are addictive. Not just habit forming. How about gum instead? Popping a rubberband?

HeiressofBickworth

(2,682 posts)
6. Give your state labor department a call
Thu Apr 19, 2012, 05:15 AM
Apr 2012

(anonymously, of course) and ask about the working hours, no pay, just comp time and no time to take the comp time. There may be some rules the company is breaking which, if brought to the attention of the authorities, could change.

My daughter's first job was with a cheapskate outfit. They didn't have air conditioning. Her computer would go down for a while due to the excessive heat, not to mention how miserable she was. She was just a kid of 18 so I took it upon myself (anonymously, of course) to report the company. A very nice person went to the office, checked out the complaint and told them they had to put in air conditioning because the conditions were not suitable for people to work in. They weren't happy, but since they didn't know how the labor people found out, they had no one to retaliate against.

Anyway, good luck, kiddo.

bluedigger

(17,073 posts)
8. Comp time is illegal.
Thu Apr 19, 2012, 08:35 AM
Apr 2012

Not only is your employer cheating you, they are cheating the government by dodging their employment taxes.

lins the liberal

(169 posts)
11. Illegal?
Fri Apr 20, 2012, 09:55 AM
Apr 2012

How can it be illegal since the law Bush rammed through where as long as you can be classified as a supervisor (read assistant manager in a dept in a discount store, among many others) you can be put on salary and worked as many hours as they please. My daughter who is an RN went from overtime to salary...no choice if she wanted to keep her job.

bluedigger

(17,073 posts)
13. That's a different thing.
Fri Apr 20, 2012, 10:31 AM
Apr 2012

It also sucks - I've seen it used in my industry, as well, but it is a different issue. I believe it involves reclassifying skilled labor as management/supervisors. I'm not a labor law guy, so maybe another DUer can explain better.

Iris

(15,623 posts)
12. That is a really good point.
Fri Apr 20, 2012, 10:00 AM
Apr 2012

I never thought of it that way before. It also explains their failure to hire more people.

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