Work Question Regarding Call Back and Overtime.

[JimRB]

Note that if you leave as an employee and go back as a contractor that you charge market rates for a quality company. In IT you can see hourly rates of $50-500 depending on the skills and tasks. Where I live, a carpenter might get paid $30 and hour but be billed at $60. Not sure about that. The weld shop that has a project of mine has a $60 an hour shop fee. That would suggest their emplyees get paid $20-40 an hour. You have to factor in overhead, taxes, accountant... when you are self employed. It willnot get better as long as the upper management plays by a different set of rules from the hourly employees.

I work for a person that got an MBA after years of working. She forgot that project management should include having your valuable staff audit a project before it starts to make sure the correct questions are asked. A satellite office seeing patients but no way to print from the EMR? Should have asked what hardware was going to be in the office. Different project. The rent is $10 a foot. What is your budget for electricity and natural gas? Those utilities are included in other lease agreements but not this one. Probably will work out to under $500 a month for those utilities. Lease says 2,000 sf area. Sure if you include the 500 sf of unfinished and unconditioned floor space. Hopefully that uninsulated rollup door does not let in a lot of hot air in the summer or cold air in the winter. Deduct the 500 sf you are going to use for a new department and now you want to put 25 people who were in nearly 2,000 sf into a 1,000 sf and no break room? Never mind that the best employees that she wants to move into that new space will have to add another half hour to 45 minutes of one way drive time. Not sure how that project will turn out.

 

[s219]

Ultra, sounds like you're too nice, you care, and you have a personal interest/legacy in the job. All of those things would make you a dream employee to a small business. In a big business, nobody cares and it goes un-noticed. I am reminded of that from time to time -- I work at a great place and have great bosses, but above them it's a big organization and a lot of things are out of our control. Sadly, it often forces me to distance myself from the work. I started my own business on the side in 2008, and pour my personal dedication into that where it can amount to something. Still thankful and grateful for my day job, but I know it's just a job and I am just an employee. It's not my life.

Interestingly, some have it a lot worse. One of my tasks is to manage a contractor who does computer support, which my employer outsources. He works for a big company and because they go after contracts, they are very lean and not real nice to their employees. This particular guy, who is in his twenties, is excellent. But I see over and over how poorly his employer treats him. Things like overtime pay, sick leave, etc, are really awful. Just the other day he came to ask permission to work from home for the rest of the day because he felt ill, and one look told me he should be home in bed. He was asking if he could finish up the day working from home -- something he can do just fine in an IT support job which is often phone/e-mail -- but I told him to go home and get in bed and I'd cover him for the rest of the day. His company's sick leave policy is so lousy that he can't really afford to take care of himself or a family member if someone's sick. That's not the way my bosses treat me and I would never treat an employee that way, contractor or not. This is one example, but I continually find myself having to do the right thing because his employer doesn't. It's sad when a business can't recognize how important and valuable good employees are. To me they are everything and need to be treated like family.

 

[ultrarunner]

For the reasons you mentioned as well as others I chose not to go into management many years ago. I work OT when I want to and only then.

I think if you are in a position to retire I would. Even if you are not quite ready still retire and inform the company you'd be interested in working as a contractor. You could then negotiate a good pay scale and benefits as you see fit. :2cents:

They do like contract workers but require a lot... makes it almost impossible for an individual... one of my vendors is a Mom and Pop... literally... he is the Operating Table Guru... older guy that does one thing... and that is rebuild one type of Operating Room Table and has the parts... and very reasonable.

He has not been paid in 4 months on a $330 invoice... and was doing us a favor. Corp has a vetting policy, high dollar insurance and requires Vendor Mate which for a fee Vets Vendors... old Bill looked into to it and said it isn't worth it... now if you are GE or Siemens.... not and issue... if you are Bill from Modesto... well...

 

[ultrarunner]

Lots of good points from those that have been there and done that...

I foresaw most of the problems we are having Hospital wide as the On-Boarding was being rolled out... but, the die was cast... raised my concerns and they were dismissed... it was the engineer in me thinking two moves ahead.

What is very telling is the physician partners are certainly less than happy... and continue to say so... which kind of leaves the staff in an awkward position because there would have been no sale without the support of the physician partners.

I don't have it bad by any means... only trying to understand the how and why and asking too many questions it turns out is not a good thing... learning it is better to be on the sideline and when it hits the fan be the one at the ready instead of taking preemptive steps...

Thankfully I have been blessed never having missed a days work in 26 years and had accrued the maximum 480 hours of sick leave years ago.... which disappeared with the sale. Now if an employee is sick more than a few days they have the option of taking vacation pay or going on State Disability which is about 50% of wages... glad to have never used but it sure was a comfort to knowing I had 3 months on the books.

One of my very wise good friends recently passed... he was Career Telephone Co and went through so many changes...

He likened himself to Br'er Rabbit and loved the Briar patch... said the key is having a great attitude and be the problem solver but remember you are more than the job... said he saw too many of his co-workers get all wrapped up which means nothing to a huge corporation... like many of you have said.

Lee was let go twice due to consolidation and within a week Pacific Telephone and later AT&T were begging him to come back... and the last time he demanded a 2 year consultation contract and got it... he also just took a huge severance package to boot. The Telco reorganization and forced retirement left no boots on the ground as the institution knowledge was out the door.

 

[ultrarunner]

It's sad when a business can't recognize how important and valuable good employees are. To me they are everything and need to be treated like family.

One of my Grandfather's sayings was an organization is only as good as it's people... loyalty goes both ways.

I make it a point to remember that with our vendors... and they would give me the shirts off their backs... but, with low bid contracts and constant change, this attitude is quickly fading...

The owner of a family HVAC business is a great guy and very reasonable... I had a 17,200 bid to replace a very large rooftop package unit... his work is excellent and always done on time... corp said it now handles this... and to their credit... they got the same unit installed for $17,150... good company... but 160 miles away... we had a warranty issue and the logistics made it impossible to get a quick resolution... where as my local guy would have someone there with in an hour.

 

[MossRoad]

After college I worked about a year in a Union Shop... great experience and everyone knew the rules... just needed to look it up or ask the steward when in doubt.

For 10 years I had my own company which I still have on a greatly reduced scale.

For 25 years I was salaried exempt management holding a Director Title which was eliminated.

Since the merger 9 months ago my position was reclassified as hourly with time card and we are are not a Union Hospital.

My question is regarding Call Back and Overtime as an hourly employee.

We have had a rash of early morning hour attempted break ins (2) and a weekend emergency Boiler repair... over the last two weeks.

The second break in I actually caught the guy... followed the trail of blood from where he cut himself after smashing a window and crawling through at 1 am on Sunday... the police, clean up and boarding/securing the area took 4 hours... the steam boiler was more involved as I had to replace a pump Sunday so as the surgery schedule would not be impacted for Monday...

The Hospital Admin called me in and praised me for my efforts BUT said paying me overtime is a problem... believe me... I would rather have stayed in bed instead of apprehending a 3rd strike petty felon or cancelled my family plans for Sunday fixing the boiler.

Anyway... going forward... anytime I work outside my 5 am to 1:30 pm daily shift will have to be taken away from my next scheduled shift... so if I have 5 hours of Sunday Call In... my regular 8 hour Monday shift will be reduced by 5 hours to 3 hours... making it 5 am to 8 am...

Sounds odd to me but this is the way it has to be... having no experience working hourly outside of a Union Shop... is this typical?

For 25 years... I had plenty of Call... but being salaried it was simply my job... no matter when or how often... I was expected to manage my own time and get the job done.

Have to admit I hate spending time in front of the time clock waiting to clock back from mandatory meal break...

Admin's goal is Perfect Time Cards... but I don't see how this is possible for hourly engineering without 24/7 onside engineering presence.

Corp has said it is the responsibility of salaried managers to respond to after hour events... but 100% of the management is female and they bluntly refuse to respond to any after hours event or they live a great distance away... I live close and have been doing the response for 25 years.... the only thing that changed is now there is a time card record of it.

Post Script... HR says I am under no obligation to respond outside my shift and only those receiving On-Call pay are required to be available... and my position does not qualify... however I am the only local contact for Police, Fire, Security, etc...

I'm sorry for your dilemma. You're getting screwed. They need to either compensate you for being on-call, or pay you overtime if you work past 40 hours in a week or OFFER you the opportunity to leave early on your regular shifts, but not FORCE you to leave early. They should not hold you in limbo without compensation. They may have a legal right to do that, but it doesn't make it moral.

 

[Oldpath05]

WOW, 4 pages in 24 hrs. The shipyard better pay me overtime or I'll call my shop steward, file a grievance and get payed for it, plus emotional damages.

 

[oldballs]

When I had a job that I did not like (for several different reasons), I just quit and moved to a different job or occupation. Worked until I was laid off at 74 years old, along with 15 others (most of which were "older"). Generally I liked what I was doing and where I was doing it or just moved on. Sometimes it was a "take this job and shove it". Sometimes it was I found a "better job". Sometimes it was straight commission....sometimes it was salary with bonus....sometimes it was time clock. I fit the job to my needs and went at it wholeheartedly.

Good Luck Ultra
Mike

 

[ultrarunner]

WOW, 4 pages in 24 hrs. The shipyard better pay me overtime or I'll call my shop steward, file a grievance and get payed for it, plus emotional damages.

It worked this way in the Union Shop... I was only there for a year but not a single grievance filed... not a one... not saying there were not things that came up but the owner of the company had the final word and really was reasonable about things...

The biggest difference I see when you are part of a 100,000 employee organization is No One really has the final word... everyone is accountable to someone higher up... even if they happen to be hundreds of miles away.

 

[LD1]

Tough situation for sure.

But quite simply you are not required to go in on call, nor do you receive call pay.

So if you continue to go in on call being a nice guy.....knowing that you dont have to.....you are basically agreeing that the company can take those hours back within the same pay period.

You have been given a simple directive.....dont exceed 40hrs a week. You can choose to work your normal work week to get that. Or you can go in on call and adjust schedule later.

I really think its time you be planning your exit though