forced overtime

[Tina Shupe]

I am new in the IT field and I know the market for IT is bad, but I have to ask. Do a lot of companies out there force overtime? Something like you need to work 3 Saturdays with a minimum of 6 hours a day by the end of November otherwise actions will be taken. Is this common? I feel as though the weekends are all that is left.
Is it smart for a company to force everyone to come to work on weekends? I believe it makes bad employee morale knowing that I have no choice if I want to work on my days off.

[Abadula Joshi]

It depends on how you interpret the word "force". Basically in the USA nobody can force you to do anything you don't want to do, like working overtime. However, in many cases, some companies overloads lot of work on some employees and asks them to finish it within a short time, they usually don't say you have to work overtime, but in reality you have no choice at all.
When this happens, it differs from company to company, some will tell you that they don't pay for overtime but you can get compensated off hours later on; some may tell you they will pay for overtime; some suckers may just take advantage of you and take it for granted. You need to deal with the company and negotiate. But, if you feel you need to work overtime, you better communicate with your boss before you did it and negotiate the compensation with him. If you are constantly asked to finish unresonably large amount of work and have to work overtime constantly without getting any compensation, your employer is not obeying the law.

[Tina Shupe]

I personal don't need to come in, I am caught up on all my work. There are other departments that are behind so they want the whole company to come in 3 Saturdays and work. When we were first informed it was an option to come in if we wanted, but later it was known that it wasn't an option and if we have no work to do they can find something for us to do.

[Abadula Joshi]

It depends on you. In principle, you are supposed to work for only 40 hours a week. If this overtime situation really rarely happens under some special circumstances, it may not be a big deal to put one or two extra Saturday mornings if you feel the company generally has treated you well. But if it happens more frequently you should discuss with them. Of course it is still up to you, but I will choose to talk to them if this often happens.
Abadula
SCJP/SCJD/SCWCD/SCEA

[Mark Herschberg]

I highly recommend "Death March" by Edward Yourdon. Employees are often asked to make that extra effort, "just for a few months on this project." But more and more commonly, "this project" is "every project."
This book is a must read for anyone who gets involved with such a project. It covers why these projects happen, what the consequences are, and how to survive them (or, at least, it shows you the bullet racing towards you).
The book itself is cheap ($16.99), and a very fast read. When you think about how much you're going to put in on overtime to the company, this book is a very worthwhile investment of your time and money.

--Mark

[Pradip Bhat]

Always see the opportunity in difficult time
3 years back in a company where I was working, manager used to ask to come on Saturdays.We used to come,but used to take the printout of 100/150 pages ,from bruceeckel books quietly .He came to know this and he also started coming on Satuday to keep a 'watch' on us.
I don't know from where you are, but generally in India companies are reluctant to pay overtime,instead they pay for your lunch/diner.We used to order from one of the costliest Restaurant in surrounding area while coming on Saturdays

[Mark Herschberg]

Rahul gives an example of behavior mentioned by many experts. When people are forced to work more then 40 hours a week for extended periods of time (roughly more then 2-3 months), they start to cheat. They may be in the office, but do personal things such as email, reading, paying bills, running out to do errands, etc. So the net time is really less then the total hours in the office, but the company still gets the "benefit" of burned out, frustrated employees.
No company can afford the amount of supervision necessary to really combat this. Their most efficent tool is fear ("you'll be fired"). While that may work on some employees, perhaps many in an economy like this, it doesn't breed loyalty (resulting in good work), and all employees will be keeping an eye out the window for something better.

--Mark

[Abadula Joshi]

if a company constantly forces employees to work overtime without paying for any compensation, I really don't know why employees should keep being loyal to them. Well, some small companies don't care about that, as long as they can take the maxim advantage of employees, they just do it, and when the employee can't suffer any more and leaves, they just hire another person from the market...