I guess the employer wins.... (transaction, owner, careers, companies)
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Going to "the extreme" doesn't promote credibility.
I completely agree. Now that we have that out of the way, let's discard your trite comment about people starting their own businesses or the success of the people in one industry and one city.
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Let's focus; the OP clearly stated 2-6 hours of "donated" time weekly. That's miniscule.
It is half a day, or about 10%. Not minuscule, but significant. Any employer would be ecstatic to increase their effective workforce/productivity growth 10% for free. Any worker should be compensated for the work, after all the employer is reaping the benefit.
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Hard work is always rewarded. If nothing else it creates an inner satisfaction that one gave their absolute best effort.
Leisure and family time is always rewarded. It creates stronger bonds between people, stronger marriages, allows people to gain skills, excercise, and travel. We have a finite amount of time in this life, why should I give a significant portion of mine to another person for no compensation?
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And I would never argue that a small amount of regulation is necessary but the current gov over-reach blows the mind and ultimately stifles motivation and growth for the people who deserve the most credit: Employers.
I disagree that employers deserve the most credit. Workers deserve credit as well. Let's leave the appropriate amount of government regulation for another thread.
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There are many industries, at least in the Phoenix market that will obliterate your "1-5%" numbers. Heard a commercial the other day where an HVAC contractor will pay a headhunter fee to anyone who refers a valid new hire. And a signing bonus to the candidate.
HVAC in demand in the desert! What a surprise! That industry is in the 5% though. How much demand is there for people selling snowmobiles and ice skates? Commercial fishing equipment? Logging?
I am focusing on the global, not the miniscule. You yourself said that we should not focus on the extreme but on the typical, and yet you keep going back to the extreme.
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Will be interesting to see if many unemployed college grads regret their chosen profession.
What does this have to do with uncompensated labor? Can you not focus on one topic?
My, my, a nerve has been struck, but then again, you are living in one of the worst paying states in the union, not to mention being the most rabid anti union state. Your stance allows most to see the real problem with any attempt by workers to have any say in anything. Thanks for making my point..
What I can say is each does have pluses and minuses...
I have been self employed, worked for a small family business... held a Union position, worked for small and now part of a 100,000 employee organization which has been a real eye opener when our 200 employee Community Hospital was acquired recently.
Part of the change for me was stepping down after 25 years as a salaried Department Director to hourly... I spend less time at the job and my paychecks are larger... as Director it was common to be there 7 days a week even if only for a short intervals on the weekend.
Don't know which is better but for me being self employed has been the most lucrative and keeping my Property Management business going has been a godsend because it left options open.
My most stress-free employment was in a Union Shop... highly skilled tool and die workers and everyone knew how things worked simply by going to the contract... you could set your watch by the time I got home because 5 minutes after the buzzer the gates were being locked.
Being Self Employed meant never being off the clock and you owned all the good and bad.
I liked being a Director and took it to heart and was "Giving" away hours each week but it was different.
Being hourly has meant for the first time in my life getting double time, weekend differential, etc... also means management makes certain all have a meal break that is uninterrupted... a big change for sure when you are not accustomed to that.
A wise friend once told me he had a 3-day rule... if he came home ticked off three days in a row it was time to move on and each time it worked out for the better in his case.
The large organization is inefficient and slow to respond... some would say bloated... but the hardest part for me is letting go because it is my nature to get the job done.
Last week there were several issues after I had clocked out... the Administrator was concerned about Overtime... said no need to worry as I was off the clock... just as I had been for decades... I was asked if I was trying to get her fired by me working off the clock?
What the OP described is wage theft or shaving hours. At just 2 hrs a week in a 50 week year that's 100 hrs= 2 1/2 weeks worth of work. To the OP if it's a large company, (national), maybe you could report it to corporate HR anonymously?
Managers often do this to please higher ups that expect more work out of less people in less time and the goal is constantly moved.
This happens all over, I knew someone who worked for an IT division in a large corporation. He was paid hourly and turned in a time sheet every week. While he didn't punch a clock, he would log in or out on the computer everyday. He was told to turn his time sheets in for 40hrs, although he was often logged in longer than that. As he was an intern he was hoping to return there the next year and knew if he complained he wouldn't get invited back. I told him to make up his mind after the internship was over and to put a complaint in with the wage and hour board.
... Hard work is always rewarded. If nothing else it creates an inner satisfaction that one gave their absolute best effort. ...
Won't bother to go through your whole post, just this one statement is enough. Do you really believe that? Always rewarded? You've either been incredibly lucky or incredibly naïve to believe that.
We older workers talk all the time about a thing called "work ethic". It comes from the way you were brought up, and how you view your job. A lot of us come from the "If you are going to be a hamburger flipper, be the best hamburger flipper you can be and better than everyone else at your workplace" mentality. We show up on time, don't screw around on the clock, do what is needed to get the job done, and partner ourselves with our employers to give them an honest days work for an honest days pay.
What we are talking about here is the big picture, not simply working an extra 4-6 hours a week off the clock. I have been salaried most of my career, and I regularly put in 60-80 hours a week, and felt good about doing it. Because of that hard work and dedication, I had a good life, made some serious money most years, and had people calling me to ask if I would consider coming to work for them. I never had to look for a job, they came looking for me.
Todays workers have lost a lot of that drive and work ethic. We wonder why other countries are cleaning our clocks when it comes to productivity, and it is because they take their work seriously, and look at the big picture.
One reason I read these posts is to catch a glimpse of the current state of the American job culture. Why? Because we have to hire from this now contaminated work pool. I'm afraid CD is a pretty accurate representation nowadays. Fortunately it allows me to see the other team's playbook.
There are indeed 2 types of workers:
Users/consumers vs contributors/producers. Users are preoccupied with "their rights", "fairness", recreation/entertainment, and selfishness. They throw out terms like "40 hours", "work-life balance", "mandated by law", FLSA, and "I shouldn't have to ...". They absolutely love playing the victim card and believe they're constantly getting a raw deal by the employer. (One might call them Socialists.) They are easily recognized by their constant whining and displeasure toward anyone with authority over them.
Contributors/producers on the other hand practice hard work with a great attitude (this is KEY!), selfless serving (even toward causes they're not passionate about.), have a "long view/big picture" attitude, and understand the employer is NOT the big bad boogieman. They embrace capitalism and freely give away time for which they may never be compensated for. (Don't get me wrong; many have selfish agendas as well but they're smart enough to understand the food chain and that life is full of deal-making.)
The OP's position is apparent: He views "the company" as THE WINNER and the employees as THE LOSER. While he may present himself as a social justice warrior his motive is pretty obvious: The contributors are making him look bad.
Working an extra 2-6 hours a week? Are you kidding? Most user/consumers waste that much time weekly in their jobs; the least they should do is be willing to donate some "free time" as well to the company.
I smiled when I read the OP's post because it exposed his internal strife and torment... not because I wish him ill will but because I have great hope that self reflection may yield repentance.
And there is more than one kind of employer, too. Not all follow the law. In fact, they are the reason there have to be laws instead of common sense. I have noticed the workers that you describe, parasites really. But just because you work hard and go above and beyond, does not mean you will be rewarded, very often you will be taken advantage of by someone who gets credit for a low payroll that no one questions exactly how that is possible. Especially since the people who have the power to fix things literally have no idea how the job is done to be able to know when something is off. And no incentive to learn exactly the business is truly run. And before you say "just quit" - that is hard when you started your career at company years before management changed. When you are top of the food chain in your field, any move is downward and you lose your seniority. Moving for me will probably entail a new career. Got any ideas? 😀
At my last job, I had a supervisor tell me that I would never be management material because I only worked my 40 hours a week. So basically, even though all of my work was completed and there were times I was just twiddling my thumbs after helping coworkers with anything they may need help with, I should be in the office for more than 40 hours a week if I wanted to move up. Guess who decided that they didn't want to become a manager if that's how it worked?
Edited to add: This was a white collar office job.
Bad management. You get compensation and promotions based on results or the expected results you will deliver. The amount of time you spend a week means nothing. That is zero indication if you are management material or not.
Find a better company to work with that has good management, because staying there isn't going to be a successful outcome.
Yeah, we should all work for spit and be abused by the employer, because the job might get shipped to a country where they have tons of human abuse violations and no regulations to protect the workers. How is your attitude helping anyone, except the employer?
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