[Black Chili]

Legal pursuit can bring up a lot of money; I've seen it done to unfair employeers, but you damn well better be prepared with really solid evidence over a good period of time. The problem is most people aren't fully aware of their rights and think the lawsuit thing is too much of a PITA.

Legally an employer is allowed only to verify title and dates of employement. Anything else they offer may open them to a lawsuit, but it's still the rule 80% of the time with really vague questions and answers.

The good news is I don't think many companys are so lax they would keep a low-brow manager like the one above around very long but I've seen that too

Anyone that takes advantage of you already has your permission to do so weather you know it or not; sometimes you gotta revoke that permission. Most everyone gets screwed at some point in their lives and it makes it a lot easier to spot those people later on down the line when a lot more responsibility and money are involved.

[wuufer001]

fuck no, SHIT. thats crazy

[DFW_M]

The job market is good currently (not the greatest though), start looking around...

However, most of the companies do not care if you do 12 hour days or 6 hour days as long as you finish your work. Are you sure your performance is not slipping?

[txusa03]

Originally Posted by canucklion

oh.., that's a toughie then, when it's a small to medium sized company, there's really nothing you can do except leave and fine a better suited job for ya.

It's not fair that he demand you to stay for 10 hours, if you were paid by the hour, hey why not

But dont forget, before he packs up and leave, he should at least talk to the director as he indicated (does not hurt to talk). But, if you do talk, there is a good chance they will know you are unhappy and there are 2 outcome, (either they let you go or you leave on your own). It just depends on what kind of person the director is and surely this will get your immediate boss involved as well so be prepare for that. And b4 you decide to leave or start talking with the director, start looking/interviewing with other company. Dont just start talking to the director without having a backup plan. GL.

[MrSilver]

Ask for a raise.

[cburton]

My company does the same thing, during busy season you are required a minimum of 50 hours a week, with most people working longer than that. Being salaried there isnt really anything you can do besides finding a new job.

[obLu]

Somehow I knew when I started reading that you were in tech.

Tech market is just about as hot as pre-bubble days as long as you've got some experience under your belt. Salaries and comp aren't as crazy as they were, but they're realistic and have gone up by 10-15% in the last year.

My wife's a tech recruiter for a national firm. If you decide it's time for a change PM me and I'll have her refer you to someone in your area.

It's pretty common to have the team stay late when it's project time. But not a single person. Unless you're working on projects that nobody else is ... most dev managers I know are more than happy for their devs to take public transit. Means commute time they can be working on code instead of driving.

[SoYank]

Originally Posted by timn

I've been here for 1 year and 5 months. <<SNIP<>> But for the most part, If I had a penny for the # of times I was in before 25% of the company and when I left, there were less than 25% of the company left, I would have a lot of pennies.

A year and five months is 74 weeks. Five days a week is 370. A penny for arriving before 25% of co-workers totals 370; a penny for leaving after 25% totals 370. You've made a whopping $7.40. Splurge on a Starbucks today and tomorrow.

[Juggs]

Originally Posted by darkcloud

Yeah that's exactly what you do when you're 16. Ass. People hardly ever walk out on a job in the REAL world, which you know nothing about. And yes a boss can ask you to work longer, it's called "getting ahead". It's common practice in many fields. You think doctors in training work 24 hour shifts for shits and giggles? No they have to. Again own up to your life shit head.

well put

[timn]

An update......

I talked to the director. She was very understanding of the situation. She basically said that my boss shouldn't have said that taking the train would put my career at risk. One thing to remember is that I do not meet with the director on a regular basis. But, my manager does. She said that it was good that I stopped in to show her my side of how my relationship is with my manager. She says that we both have valid points in our work distress, and that she'll have to think about how to best handle the situation over the weekend. Overall, I feel a bit relieved.

[DFW_M]

Originally Posted by timn

An update......

I talked to the director. She was very understanding of the situation. She basically said that my boss shouldn't have said that taking the train would put my career at risk. One thing to remember is that I do not meet with the director on a regular basis. But, my manager does. She said that it was good that I stopped in to show her my side of how my relationship is with my manager. She says that we both have valid points in our work distress, and that she'll have to think about how to best handle the situation over the weekend. Overall, I feel a bit relieved.

Now, be prepared for another meeting with your boss after this. Directors/VPs are usually full of crap in this case, and probably will side with your boss on this.
I still cannot believe that an ass would tell you that way -- you need to work 10-hour days...

I'd look around, there are many other great companies.
BTW, what specific industry you're in? How much of experience you have?

[jbake]

welcome to the silicon valley...busy season where i used to work was you work at least 50hrs/week

people calculated their hourly pay based on salary and grew sick lol

[darkcloud]

Originally Posted by timn

An update......

I talked to the director. She was very understanding of the situation. She basically said that my boss shouldn't have said that taking the train would put my career at risk. One thing to remember is that I do not meet with the director on a regular basis. But, my manager does. She said that it was good that I stopped in to show her my side of how my relationship is with my manager. She says that we both have valid points in our work distress, and that she'll have to think about how to best handle the situation over the weekend. Overall, I feel a bit relieved.

Hopefully this meeting will help relieve any stress between you and your boss. Usually going the next step up helps in these sort of situations but sometimes like dr325i said can resort in more problems with your boss since he now knows you went over him.

My degree is in Sport Management and I worked for the Cleveland Indians a couple months ago in customer service and while there I really wanted to sit down and have a meeting with Mark Shapiro(GM) and talk about getting into baseball operations. When my manager found out I met with the GM and Asst. GM he was pretty angry with me since I didn't go through him to set up these meetings, which were done off of my work hours. He didn't really have anything he could do to me about the meetings but I think it was more of a jelousy factor. I worked there 3 months after the meeting and I was one of the few people, not including my boss, on my floor that the heads of the orginization actually knew who I was. Oh well though. Shit happens, that's why one should never strive to be middle management.

[elmaki]

try 12hr work days

[Louie A]

I agree with some of the posts that going to HR or to your boss' manager often creates more problems. I would recommend that you try to work things out directly with your manager. Try to understand why he is focusing on the # of hours you work vs. the quantity/quality of work that you provide while in the office.

Some key thoughts for dialouge w/ your manager:
1) What are your roles/responsibilities?
2) How do you measure up? What are your areas of development/improvement?
3) What are some actions that you can do to improve in these areas?


Also, it seems like your manager does not plan well and incurs numerous unplanned fire-drills which spill over into your area, causing long hours. If this is the case, try to step up and be more proactive with anticipating what is coming down the pipeline. Arrange meetings with him as necessary to talk about how you will tackle things coming up. Again, better planning means enhanced productivity w/ less last-minute drills and more recognition for you as a leader.

Good luck!