Not living to work. Is there something wrong with me?

[Rageaholic]

After a year of treatment I just had to go on disability pension. What I use to talk about on CS was only half of it. The other half I never talked about because I was burying it and was under an NDA.

The other half is the suicidal callers, dead bodies, a stalker, etc, while spending 9 hours a day at work, 2 hours in transit and 10-11 hours asleep. I existed only to work and typically spent every shift on painkillers trying to keep undiagnosed PTSD symptoms at bay.

Never mind the amazing levels of verbal abuse. -.-

Stuff like this is why I'm convinced that a lot of corporate/management types have little to no empathy. They don't care how miserable they make their employees, just as long as their stupid 'bottom line' is met.

And they wonder why there's no loyalty?

[Gravekeeper]

Working a call center, particularly one that is an outsource with multiple types of clients that include medical or emergency, can be grueling. And if your bosses don't have your back and maintain a minimum level of sanity in the office, it's soul-crushing.

Yep. Call centres are becoming the new sweatshops in general. Never mind before you mix in emergency/trauma services. Some nights I'd get lucky and get the dead body hat trick: Police or search & rescue investigating, leading to a call for a coroner, leading to a call for what is politely referred to as scene clean up. ( Hosing the blood off the street/tracks/carpet/whatever ).

I lost faith in management having my back during that stalker incident. It was funny ( to others ) until it started disrupting operations ( and by that I mean it started happening outside of the graveyard shift. It was fine when she was just calling 80+ times in a row after hours ). At which point I was told I would have to go to the police and file a report myself.

I protested that this was happening through work, because of work and that the stalker was harassing everyone on staff at this point. Its just that she only knew my name. ( Any male that answered the phone had become GK as far as the stalker was concerned. She wasn't lucid enough to make any distinctions or listen to any disagreements. ). And that even if I made the report personally it wasn't me the police would want to talk to, it would be the company. Seeing as t was all happening at and because of my office and my office is the one with all the, you know, evidence.

Sure enough, I called and made a personal report ( on my own time ), and the police promptly showed up at my office and ended up talking to my boss instead. I never had to speak with an officer myself.

So the tone in the office basically went from "Haha, hey your girlfriend called again" to "You have to do something about this yourself because its a problem for us". Meanwhile I spent like 2 months with this deeply disturbed woman calling me all night convinced we were in a relationship. ( With me worrying if she was going to show up at our office and shiv me or a coworker some night ). Who had been steadily escalating in her delusions and intensity. But hey, it was funny until the client started asking questions about why they were seeing 80 calls a night on their account records I guess ( Clients are bill per minute so the client was being charged for this lunacy ). Then I had to fix it.

Ultimately, the police couldn't do anything either. They said the person in question was already known to them and mentally disturbed. Their advice was basically that she does this regularly and it will pass ( I guess as she moves on to a new target ) . They paid her a visit but that led to her calling and bragging that the police couldn't stop her. It ended up being the client who stopped her far as I know. I guess she finally made the mistake of calling during business hours and thus went straight through to them rather than to us.

( Protip to crazy stalker people: Don't call a US government office post 9/11 and act crazy. You'll never be heard from again. ).

[Gravekeeper]

And they wonder why there's no loyalty?

You should see our turn over rate. We basically replace 60-75% of our staff annually.

I got docked on my annual employee review for not attending company events. Seriously. Like, I had great reviews on my team work, etc with my co-workers on the job. But was being docked for not attending company events off the clock. You know, despite working graveyard and thus being asleep when these events occur.

Even putting that aside, while I like my co-workers, I do not want to hang out with them and my bosses at a bowling alley on my own time. I work for you, and I do a good job of it, but we are not friends. I would not partake in any of these events even with my own friends never mind my boss/co-workers.

[Andara Bledin]

I got docked on my annual employee review for not attending company events. Seriously. Like, I had great reviews on my team work, etc with my co-workers on the job. But was being docked for not attending company events off the clock. You know, despite working graveyard and thus being asleep when these events occur. .

Is that even legal? Does Canada not have any legal protection for employees being forced to essentially 'work' off the clock like that?

I know there are still some states that will let that shit slide, but a lot of them, possibly most at this point, have laws specifically preventing employers from doing things to employees based on what they do or do not do off the clock, provided it isn't illegal or a reflection on the company.

[Gravekeeper]

Is that even legal? Does Canada not have any legal protection for employees being forced to essentially 'work' off the clock like that?

It was wrapped in a lot of "we just wish", "we'd like you too", etc. Ass covering I guess. -.-

[Blue Ginger]

I'm a 'work to get money to go traveling' person. Part of the reasons why I will always be an 'office bitch'. The hours are good and I get weekends to sleep in.

My parents are also 'work to get money for the weekend' people which has helped.

My last job was great money but a small company. And because the boss had no life, or many friends, he had no problem demanding people work overtime at the last minute. When I had nothing on that was fine, but I cap my work hours to 45 a week when I need to do overtime and no way in hell do I work on Sundays.

He royally fucked up with a lodgement date for information to go to a government department and needed everyone to work late on a Friday and all weekend. Apparently my saying no, because I had a family function out whoop-whoop and had already arranged to leave early on Friday, meant I wasn't committed to the job and I lacked a good work ethic.

My response was typical me. 'You hired me for office hours. Office hours does not include working to 10pm or working all weekend. You do not own my time outside of normal work hours. I am not missing a family function because you couldn't read lodgement dates.'

It went down like a lead balloon but I made it very clear. A week later a few other people started to object to all the overtime too.

[protege]

Stuff like this is why I'm convinced that a lot of corporate/management types have little to no empathy. They don't care how miserable they make their employees, just as long as their stupid 'bottom line' is met.

That's exactly it. Companies and managers don't care about their employees. They only care about their bonuses and that their sales (or other) quotas are met. Rewards are only for them, and screw everyone else. Then they scream about "employee loyalty" when good employees finally say "fuck you" and leave.

We're going through some of that where I work. There have been several violent drug-related crimes near my office. Hell, there's an actual crack house next door. That place has been raided *multiple* times since we moved to the area. We've seen cops haul people out in cuffs, there's the odd needle on the sidewalk, and several of the staff have said they feel uncomfortable there at night.

Even with all of that shit going on, we never had a security system other than a basic burglar alarm. No keypad on the front door, no locks, nothing. That is, until one of our female traders (who brings in a *lot* of money) was confronted outside, and she threatened to leave. Almost immediately, things changed--security got seriously beefed up.

And yes, some of us are pissed about that. We were telling management that the neighborhood was unsafe and we got ignored. It was only after that trader threatened to hit the company's wallet, that my boss finally did something.

[KabeRinnaul]

That's exactly it. Companies and managers don't care about their employees. They only care about their bonuses and that their sales (or other) quotas are met.

Seconded. I once tried to get the weekend after Black Friday off so we could go see my wife's great-grandmother one last time, because she was 103 and not expected to live much longer (and she died that January). I tried to stress to my manager how important this was, and that we may never have another opportunity to see her.

His response?

"Look, I know how you feel. I always go out for the first day of hunting season, and this year, I have to miss it."

Because yes, in his view, a death in an employee's family was just as important as his yearly hunting trip.

[wolfie]

Even with all of that shit going on, we never had a security system other than a basic burglar alarm. No keypad on the front door, no locks, nothing. That is, until one of our female traders (who brings in a *lot* of money) was confronted outside, and she threatened to leave. Almost immediately, things changed--security got seriously beefed up.

At one former employer, there were 2 buildings across the street from each other. Complaints about people being hit by the door at the employee entrance to building "A" (someone coming out when someone else is trying to come in, flinging the door into the face of the person entering) were frequent, and ignored. One day, someone was bringing in a piece of prototype equipment to be shipped to a trade show. The door was flung open in their face, and they nearly dropped the prototype equipment (i.e. near miss on destroying something that wasn't readily replaceable). Within a week, there was a window installed in the door.

[protege]

Because yes, in his view, a death in an employee's family was just as important as his yearly hunting trip.

What an asshole. Still, it doesn't surprise me.

I remember when my grandmother was dying in 2010. She was 93, and her condition was deteriorating. She'd had a stroke, and was confined to her bedroom. Naturally, I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could before she died. So, I told my boss that if the worst was to happen, I'd have to leave to help my mother with things.

He didn't say anything. Instead, he did and said everything he could to drive my stress level up. I remember him chewing me out on the trading desk over some stupid report that had a minor typo on it. Rather than just let it go, he had to bust my balls. I don't remember what was said...but I do remember snapping the brass pen I was holding, in half

Actually, the doesn't even cover it. His jaw hit the desk, and that was the last thing he said to me the rest of the week. I'm sure he thought that I'd leap over the desk, and strangle him. I mean, how dare I give him notice that one of my favorite relatives was dying, and that I was being nice by telling him. I could have always not bothered calling until she actually had died, and let him figure out how to cover for me.

I should mention that his reaction really doesn't surprise me at all. This guy, when *his* mom died, didn't even bother leaving town to be with family. No, he came in to work instead.

[Andara Bledin]

I have learned, over the last 25 years, that if my employer won't let me off for something that I might only ever have one chance at doing, I just tell them I will be out that day. They can sign off on the time or not as they see fit, but I will not be in and they'd better find coverage if necessary, because the job isn't worth the regret of not doing that thing that I'll likely never have a chance of doing ever again.

When I was young and too timid to confront my employer, I had one actually revoke a vacation day when I had actually paid money to attend a harbor cruise party. I realized the week after that accepting the order to go to work was one of the stupider decisions I've made over my lifetime.

[Rageaholic]

He didn't say anything. Instead, he did and said everything he could to drive my stress level up. I remember him chewing me out on the trading desk over some stupid report that had a minor typo on it. Rather than just let it go, he had to bust my balls. I don't remember what was said...but I do remember snapping the brass pen I was holding, in half

I despise people like that. They get your stress levels up over unimportant trivial crap. This one bitch I work with seems to go out of her way to make my job miserable. When I was assigned to work with her one time, she was insufferable. Constantly nagging me about the order the books were in and pointing out mistakes before I even made them.

She is what I like to call a workplace fundamentalist. The type of person who does things exactly by the book (or at least gives that impression) and overestimates the importance of the job. He or she will chew anyone out who they deem not worthy of having the job, spewing typical corporate cliches about the importance of putting the customer (or company) first.

[Blue Ginger]

I am glad in some ways that I'm not the only one who's boss was a jackarse when I asked for time off for a funeral or to grieve.

From the end of 2012 until end of 2014, my extend family has had nearly 40 deaths. On top of that, there have been approx 70 cancers or terminal illnesses diagnosed. Yeah, we have had a shit last couple of years. But out of all those funerals, I went to 3, mostly because other people were closer to the deceased and Gran didn't want or need all of us going to all of them.

(BG: both of mum's parents are of Irish Catholic descent, which means really big families. They also are country people, which means everyone keeps in contact and the family reunions run in to the hundreds/low thousands.)

At the start of 2014, my neighbour and family friend since 1980 passed away due to complications from parkinsons. I had let my boss know, via email because she wasn't in, that I may have a funeral to attend soon, because we knew it was the end. My boss' response, via email, was that the Team Development Day was more important and she expects me there even if the funeral is that day. No sympathy, no sorry about the bad news, no anything. Just insisting I go to a stupid team day thing. When I read it, I had no words. I was so furious that I said 'read that' to my coworker and shut myself in the printer room behind my desk. Even my co-worker was shocked and she got our team leader to read it too.

They ended up moving the Team Development Day to the day before because the funeral was on the day it was to be. And then I got dinged on the assessment for it because I didn't 'participate fully'. I was in shock and grieving and hate 'team building' games at the best of times. What the hell did they expect?

Then when my Nana (Dad's mum) passed away in July, work again made a big deal because I had 4 days off over 2 weeks. Nana was taken to hospital, diagnosed with leukaemia and passed away sleeping within 3 days. You know it is bad when a doctor is waiting for a family member to arrive on a Sunday morning.

My team leader, not my boss, was really good about it all. I got in contact as soon as we knew how bad it was and she said to take any time I needed, just keep her updated. I had that Monday & Tuesday off and then the Monday & Tuesday of the following week for the funeral.

Apparently that was taking advantage of bereavement leave and I would need to show HR the death certificate to prove that there was an actual death. I think my response boiled down to 'fuck you'.

Was so very happy when I quit that job.

[mjr]

I work in a technical field. When I deal with technical recruiters, I make it clear to them that I do NOT want a job working 50+ hours a week. Working my 40 is good enough for me.

If I were running my own business, that would be a different story. But I'm not neglecting my family or myself for, as some would put it, "the man".

I've known too many people who ended up in that situation, and they ended up with strained/broken marriages/relationships because of it.

There was an anecdotal story I read about EA Games that was like that. I like a few of the EA games, but I didn't like how they treated people, based on this story.

The story, in a nutshell, was that a guy started off on a project working the standard 40 hour week (5 days x 8 hours). by the end of the project, his relationship was strained, he was super-stressed, and was working 15 hour days, 7 days a week (so going from 40 to 105 hours per week).

[TheHuckster]

There was a lot of press about EA Games being pretty crappy to their employees a few years ago.

I'm a software engineer, and I can tell you that sometimes working 50-60 hours a week and some late nights/weekends comes with the job when you're approaching a deadline. That crunch time is fine only if it's occasionally. If it's constant then morale lowers, the quality of the product is negatively affected, people start finding new jobs, and the whole thing breaks down. You really need to keep people with a good balance of life and work to have a good result in any development job. The gains you get from slave driving are only temporary, and when it's a constant thing, you'll end up losing those benefits.