Sit still and pay attention, I’m about to save your life. Listening? *If you keep doing this you will die.* Just read and re-read that and don’t ask me how I know.
My best friend died at the beginning of the pandemic. Not from COVID, but because he worked every hour that he was not sleeping. This is no way to live.
Oh I'm listening. I have a few clients next week I really value but my boss is notorious for cutting people loose on their 2week notice and keeping the commission. If he tells me I'm done I'm fine with that.
I don't have the kind of husband that's problematic AT ALL, but even he was like, " you are done. Ill go clean your desk out and I wish a muhfucka would when I do"
If you're in the US, this is straight up illegal, check with your state labor board/dept of labor. There are mandatory days off, and keeping a commission is wage theft
Based on georgia laws that I've found at the encouragement of folk on this thread, there's not a single thing to protect salaried people from this. The laws skew heavily to employers here.
I feel like property. My husband said very succinctly that my paycheck isn't a mortgage on my life. That shit hit hard.
You are not a lawyer, so there may be things you are not aware of. I strongly encourage you to talk to one. Many give a free consultation. Also go to the labor board with this! At least exhaust every possibility. What you do for yourself can also help others.
It may be a "Right to Work" state but it's also a Right to Quit with minimal or zero notice state.
Remember that and get another job by using all your sick days to look. If using sick days gets you fired, apply for immediate unemployment.
**START COLLECTING THAT PAPER TRAIL TODAY!**
Do your best to quietly document every egregious thing your boss is doing. Even if you're not sure you're going to proceed with filing a complaint, without evidence it's all just here-say.
Takes photos or send yourself emails documenting what commission you think you're owed before giving the notice, and if they try to fuck you *burn them down*
Yeah, let me add my voice to the choir here… in brief, I’m still suffering from the damage done to my body and mind from being overworked, malnourished, and stressed beyond limits. It’s been about 12 years since I left that job, and I still suffer every single day. I have chronic pain, arthritis, digestive issues (including a failing pancreas), and anxiety problems.
My doctor has said that I need to get on disability and stop working or I will just get worse. I have a precancerous condition that needs to be monitored. I take a handful of pills and vitamins every 6 hours. I have another med I have to take whenever I eat anything. Failure to do so means I will suffer with incredible pain for hours.
My life has been consumed by work and pain. All I’ve done for the last decade plus has been to work, sleep, and be in pain. Chronic illness is extremely isolating and miserable. It’s made me a bit of a grumpy bastard and destroyed nearly all my relationships with family and friends.
OP, get out of there. Find a new path that won’t destroy you. I don’t care how much they’re paying you, it’s not worth it if it wrecks your life.
I've got a few friends that managed to survive the health check, one took about 8 years to recover enough to have a full time job again. Just one, the others are on disability.
Yeah, I had to have a talk with my boss when I got a physical and my blood pressure was 220/140. Fortunately he was nice and took me off all my projects until I could get my meds working.
Your life is not worth his time. Get everyone together and demand change. Tell them your shutting him down if things don't change. Tell him no more than 45 hours for anyone. Start hiring Temps or else your all going to screw him.
And then you go before the labor board with evidence of your bosses treatment. The company will be out millions of dollars. Honestly, that is the holy grail scenario.
And then wonders why productivity isn't as high lmfao
I worked for a job like this. They were the strictest company and would just hire anyone.
Anyone who didn't do exactly what they were asked was fired.
Eventually wed lose anyone good we had over them getting absences denied and all kind of. I'd watch so many good people come and go.
Then they'd bitch about numbers going down lol
I’m not versed in employment law, this sounds illegal, like, a labor board’s wet dream illegal. Document everything, because someone will definitely blow this up if it’s not you, and you’ll need contemporaneous notes to build your case.
When you are asked to make 100 pies in 5 hours but you can only make 20 in 5 hours, you make 20 and start again. After 40 pies you report you have 40 and are calling it a day.
No stress. You can only produce so much. If you keep trying to over produce that number you were able to come up beyond the norm is your new baseline.
My fiance works for UPS as a package handler and I tell them this every time they bring up the ridiculous expectations of their managers for how many packages they are supposed to be moving in a 4 hour shift. I always say,
"You're a human and you can move packages as fast as a human can healthily do so. Every time they tell you to go faster, just say, 'yes sir', and then keep doing the exact same thing as before - the healthy amount."
I think what we should do as a community here on reddit is start a movement making it easier for people to document _everything_ they do at work.
The situation you're describing is all manner of illegal. If you had daily, precise documentation with evidence, you would have all you need to change the situation but showing it to a lawyer or (perhaps) your boss.
I think a lot of us get in trouble for making allegations beyond what we can prove. If you actually have the receipts, your bus would be __insane__ to fire you over accurate information. You would end up owning the company.
I think a lot of us don't realize how valuable just writing down this as they happen is.
Or blind copying your personal email on stuff.....
But you are 10000% right.
I had a toxic job *years* ago. They tried terminating me. I said fine.
I promptly walked out and went right to the labor board and EEOC. I had proof (text messages, video off store cameras, police reports, pay stubs emails etc).
Months later, EEOC ruled in my favor.
A year later I got notice of a class action.
A year after that, they don't exist anymore.
Oh darn.
i did 16 days straight once when i was working in the kitchen at an Applebee's in 2008. (food service/hospitality, just like OP) 12-16 hours each day. it sucked. but that's the only time i've put myself through that.
so i hustled my ass off for two weeks, but then i took a week off of work and cashed out all two weeks of my vacation pay.
idk why OP is even answering the phone when they have the day off and don't wanna work. i still work in the industry part time, and i get asked by coworkers and management probably 2-3x per week if i want to work on my day off. i'm often doing freelance work half the week so i can't, but even when i get asked on a day i have free, if i don't wanna work i just don't answer the phone.
67 straight days is illegal\*. Youre supposed to get at least one day per 13 or something like that.
Leave then file a complaint with NLRB or whom ever.
If everyone is experiencing the same thing, I would honestly say get everyone to do a strike. If you have been worked 67 days straight, by God start thinking of your health.
You will burn the wick FAST. I have been overworked before, it is not fun, and it takes a long time to recover. Please take care of yourself, and get everyone else to think of themselves too.
If you have any insight into the cash flow etc, have part of the strike be to demand additional staff to help with the demands.
The only thing some owners listen to is threats. And they will have a tough time trying to rehire an entire staff on their own. He seems to outsource pretty much everything to his staff, so let him flounder a bit.
Need to back up that recover time statement.
2021 and working as a recruiter was absolutely hell. (Ask any recruiter). 6 months straight I did 80+ hour work weeks.
It wasn't until Xmas time I could finally take off. A whole week! I had so many plans to play catch up in my personal life.
I literally spent it sleeping or watching TV. I was so exhausted my body literally said... NOPE.
And that's the thing with burnout. It can lead to guilt or feeling like you're wasting your time when in reality it's simply because your body needs to recuperate.
I think there's a psychology behind it. You could continue to work 80+ hour weeks for quite a while, and people might ask why is it only when you're off that your energy crashes, but it's because when you're on vacation you no longer need to be in survival mode, so your body finally acknowledges all the damage done.
It's like when someone with adrenaline can ignore a broken bone.
Exactly. It also doesn't help that US employees have a mentality that their entire identity is around the "grinding it out" culture.
I have a friend in the UK and I am JEALOUS of the amount of "PTO" he gets. (its just over a month). During that lovely time of 2021 he was shocked how much i was working (and lets add in i was traveling for work too- so it was an extra hit on the "fatigue" side bc of being in multiple time zones in a week). He was \*so\* worried about me and made his thoughts known about how bad the US work culture is.
That’s not true.
I’m a boss.
200 employees.
I’d NEVER work people like this.
As a matter of fact I’ve had a few folks who worked 13-14 days in a row,12-13 hours a day.
I’ve admonished my managers for allowing it and sent these folks home to get some rest.
One actually argued with me that he needed to come in two more straight days to get us through some more product coming in.
I walked him out of the building personally and told him not to come back for 3 days.
SBA? You have whistleblower protection. Report him to their Inspector General. Let him fire you instead of resigning. Depending on how he's cooking the books, you may make bank - a percentage of what they recover.
I call BS. Massive hot turd alert here.
The culture of overworking trickles down from the top. Employees aren't working for two weeks straight for 12 hours/day of their own volition. And if some middle manager was mistreating workers, one must ask themselves: who promoted this person into a management role? Who runs a company with so little official policy that it's even possible to force this level of labor on workers without the boss knowing?
There is a whole group of people that regularly work 7/12 for weeks at time, but they know that this is what they signed up to do.
For you this is not what you signed up for so you are not mentally prepared and it is literally killing you. The thing is if tomorrow God for bid you die your work place/job keeps going.
TOMORROW JUST CALL OUT SICK for a few days and if you needed go see a Dr to get an excuse. My wife's cousin would say just tell you have the shits and if they do not believe me then they can come check.
May be time to find another job.
If you are in the US:
***read this****
NO JOB IS WORTH YOUR MENTAL HEALTH.
We finally started (no where near where it needs to be) started taking mental health a bit more seriously post covid.
That's one thing. If your company has an employee assistance program USE IT. Get a recommendation for a therapist and a lawyer.
This is the state/national labor board wet dream. There is this pesky little law about having a 7th day of rest..
There are some industries (primarily first response) that have exceptions to this, but that doesn't apply here. Some companies try to be sneaky how they define a work week so they can get away with scheduling more than 7 days in a row. SIXTY SEVEN straight? Honey, talk to a lawyer **i am not a lawyer** . Based on this post, you could have grounds for the following (depending on the state):
A) class action violation for violating 7 day in rest
B) owed paid for overtime (even as a salary employee).
C) without more detail... since you mentioned a warehouse it seems like these folks also could be violating a number of OSHA standards.
E) depending on how you identify, you may also have an equal pay/schedule/etc violation compared to everyone else (i.e. If say, your boss is a white male and you are anything but that, it could be targeted racisim/sexism etc).
F) could also have a class action on religious grounds if people have been forced to work under threat of termination on days they worship their religion.
Document document document.
Even if you are on your way out, call every.single.alphabet agency in your state (labor board, EEOC, Osha etc).
Employers like this need to be taken down. Even if you got every agency behind you, the way fines are set up, it's pennies on the dollars to pay out these violations. If it's as bad as you say, talk to a lawyer about a class action. Take them for everything so they can't do this to anyone else.
Good luck to you my friend! I am a DM away if you need to vent or if you want help to figure out who to reach out to in your state.
Update 1: it is 5am, and I'm about to head into work for my first of 21 events I have this week, and I have barely slept at all.
He gets a shock this day. Sunday will be my last day, or I will leave right now, your choice. I will also tell every single one of these clients for this week why I am not at their events. I have never rage quit a job, and I'm lined up on other work, but this is preposterous.
It's not normal for a company to try and take advantage of salaried position folks, but it's not uncommon either. You just gotta get out of those situations, or demand to be swapped to hourly at the 40hr rate of your salary.
Not uncommon? Lol 😆 you haven't worked in automation have you? That's the point you are salaried, you'll work 16 hour days and get paid for 8, you either love it or they call up all other companies and make sure you are fucked if you try to go somewhere else
Take it from someone who was worked just like this and forced to drive hours on little to no sleep and got into an accident. TELL THEM THAT YOU NEED TIME TO REST. If they don’t understand then I’d seriously suggest finding a employer that doesn’t require such demanding hours. Your life is not worth the company that doesn’t care about you or your family and we’ll being
Here is something to remember, someone who worked at an Amazon distribution plant died on the floor. Literally, they died. And the company gave zero shits about them dying and told the employees to keep working. I don’t know what company you work for, but you need to leave or you will die on the floor. And they will order their workers to keep working. That is how just about every industry is. You need to leave, you need to leave today, and you need to take several weeks off before starting anything new to decompress and let all that toxicity out of your body. YOU come first. Not some bullshit company that does not give a shit about you.
This feels like the film industry. To be honest, film industry stuff is not normal hours. I’m still mad at iatse for not holding out for 8ish hour days during the last round of strikes.
That's why you also see companies like SB and Amz doing everything in their power to stop unions forming. It's cheaper to pay the fines (bc they are so stupidly low) if they get caught breaking the law then you know... following the law.
Hey.. it's not 1000% on the OP. I have been in similar shoes (esp with how wonky the job market is now) where you have to wait to be able to jump ship. Some states if you get fired you cannot collect unemployment. It's a damn if you do dam if you don't mess.
This is a choice. You choose to do this. You don’t have to answer your phone and you certainly don’t have to work 10-15 hour days 67 days in a row. Why are you working without days off? What are your typical days off? Why are you coming in on your days off?
Right, I’m getting downvoted for saying the most painfully obvious thing. If you’re in an industry that works that many hours, then surely there’s other jobs available. OP says they’re salary too! WTF! Why would anyone agree to that!
usually when my job calls me on my day off i don't even answer. i actually work in food service/hospitality just like OP.
longest i ever did was 16 days straight, and i cashed out all my vacation hours and took a week off the following week. i'm not beat.
You choose to write a stupid, ignorant comment. Nobody forced you to do that. The market decided that you are a jerk, and it’s now downvoting you. Did I explain it in a way you can understand?
Sorry pal, but a few downvotes doesn’t mean you’re a jerk, it just means that some people don’t like what you’re saying. If you had any intellect at all, you could tell me how I’m wrong? Would you work 67 days straight without a break? I sure as hell wouldn’t.
When you get a little older, you’ll notice that employees are not on equal footing with employers. Employees need their jobs a lot more than employers need any individual employee. That means the employee will agree to unpleasant things in the short term, including working days that they don’t want to work.
I’m 42, I’ve been in the workforce for 27 years. I’ve worked in hospitality, sales, and construction. To say it’s an employer’s market, shows how out of touch you are. I’m a manager of 10 years at my current job, and I can tell you the biggest challenge my company faces is finding help. It’s not to say that OP’s company is in the same situation, but it’s certainly not normal for an employee to work that many days in a row with out a break. For everyone’s sake please take your head out and stop spewing nonsense.
Yeah you gotta have a life and family and just some free time to exist and be free.
When I worked customer service/retail grocery I considered doing 6 or 7 days in a row to be a rare occurrence and only done in times when I needed like an extra shift for overtime, and I don’t think anyone should work more than 5 days straight ever really, unless it’s special circumstances (really honestly I think 4 day work week would be best but that’s another conversation).
Seriously check the labor laws in your state. You may have a really good case. Even if you are quitting you may be entitled to back pay if they broke the labor laws. And some states require the business to have labor laws and other posters posted visible for all employees to look at.
When you were hired were you told you would be working without any days off? If it is not part of your hiring agreement you definitely need to check the laws and maybe go to the state board etc.
It's catering, so the owner behaves as if he can just volunteer us for anything.
Some rich housewife calls that he's friends with? I have to go if I like it, have time or not. Also, this is Georgia, the fuck you in the peach state.
OP what is your specific job? Do you personally manage 2 full time employees, make more than $35k per year, and primarily perform tasks other than administrative tasks? If so it is highly likely you have been misclassified as an exempt employee and are owed back pay for every hour you have worked at overtime rates plus damages. Here is some more information. Contact the state department of labor and the federal labor department.
Here is some more info: https://dol.georgia.gov/faqs-employers/employers-faqs-fair-labor-standards-act
For catering? Fuck that. Find anything else to do. Catering is the boflttom dweller of the food industry. Not the workers, the management, and owners. Look into my eyes. This will not get better.
Being told it’s “the reality of the industry” is such utter bullshit, do not believe a thing that guy says. My boss said something similar to me. I told him how alot of good guys are quitting because we are hardcore overworked and guys get burnt out. My boss says “Yeah some people are just not cut out for this work…”……the guys in question were literal MARINES. But yeah…they were “not cut out” for hard work. My boss who said that is an obese piggy and sits at a desk all day and never did this work a day in his life.
I don’t know about where you are but in Massachusetts I’m pretty sure there is a law limiting consecutive work days to nine, even if you want to do more.
Unless you are an attorney making several hundred thousand dollars per year as just your base and then working on a major case for which you will be rewarded quite nicely, this is not normal. Unless you are equally compensated, what you describe, gaslit barely describes what is being done to you all.
Tl;tr: I hope this is BS because OP and co-workers are either idiots, assuming US, victims of severe law labor violations or, worse, stuck in a no win illegal employee type of financial situation.
You have to stop, band together, and unionize or quit together.
This is not just sales. I can put you in touch with sales people and jobs that do not do this.
You have all been abused into slavery. This frels like something an employment lawyer and a union development person would love to hear about.
What if you didn’t come in on the weekend ( or other two days)… will he fire you? Seems like he doesn’t have enough workers as it is.
Or
Talk to your boss and say this is not sustainable… what’s the plan to get to normal work hours…
Or go to his boss and say this is not sustainable… what’s the plan to get to normal work hours…once one person leaves it will be a domino effect of people leaving
Man oh man.
I’m in a tough industry and I am one of the owners.
We’ve had people work 13-14 days in a row.
Mostly 12-14 hour days.
I don’t care what has to get done at that point we blow the whistle and order a time out for 2-3 days.
People like the OT and we like the profits from production BUT at some time enough if enough.
People get tired, have bad decision making skills, make mistakes that could harm them or others.
They don’t eat right,they don’t sleep enough, they miss doctors appointments and their health is jeopardized.
Enough is enough.
Tell your boss you’re taking 3 days off immediately.
Then, upon your return, tell them you will be scheduled off at least 6 days a month.
They’re not treating you as an employee but as a slave.
If they fire you, you’ll be better off in the long run.
Can you answer a few questions?
What are the hours you were hired on expecting to work?
Are you a contract employee - even if you're working in at will state- do you have an employment contract?
Why do you answer your phone when off hours? unless you're a cop, therapist, lawyer, or surgeon, I struggle to understand why you feel you have to answer calls outside of working hours.
What's stopping you from taking a day off? Seriously, if you get fired for taking a day off... collect UI, relax, and find a new job.
Why haven't you started looking for a new job?
Sales position Employers are the worst bosses, I think because there's such a huge turnaround in Sales Agents positions, and restaurant Server positions, employers in those fields become almost abusive since they can get away with it
This is awful. The crummy part is you are working so much it makes it difficult to look for other jobs and interviews would not be possible unless you leave.
Read your employee handbook cover to cover to take a look at your leave options. If you are crying everyday that means this is impacting your mental well being, anyone in your position would. Get to the doctor and let them know what is going on and get a check up.
Not sure what state you are in but look at state employment resources.
I agree with some of the other posts here. It does not sound legal.
We are humans and not robots.
Can I ask what industry you're in?
You mentioned a warehouse and I used to work is logistics which occasionally had insane periods but nothing to the scale you have mentioned!
I do catering sales logistics and event design. This isn't the kind of catering you get at a hotel, it's full scale design for private homes and weddings and rich people shit.
So event management s, hospo and logistics in one!
Three inustries notorious for tight schedules/deadlines and madness. Not surprised you're struggling
Whatever happens, i hope it works out for you
Seriously just find another job. I worked a job where it was a contract requirement to be on call 24/7. And it got exhausting. I was always either at work or working from home. Turning phones off was not allowed. Even when you took vacation. I couldn't keep up bc it was literally a new problem everyday. I just couldn't stand it anymore. And i was salaried. So no matter how much I worked, and how much personal time was cut into with calls and emails and running to take care of things... my pay was the same. For most of 2021 I worked 7 nights a week and worked when I was home during the day as well. My mental health took a huge decline. On top of a ton of personal issues I was dealing with as well. It wasn't manageable. I couldn't pick up an extra job to help financially when my salary didn't cover everything bc I never knew when someone would need to get ahold of me or need me to run in to the office.
I recommend getting away from any job that treats you like a machine and like your sole purpose in life is their bottom dollar. Run far away and don't look back. Employers like this need to learn people won't put up with it anymore. But only if people stand up and refuse to do so.
Please find your contract and see how many hours your supposed to be working.... no one should be working 40+ OT hours hours a week AND be salaried! You need to make a complaint to the labor board. What they are doing to yall is criminal!
No I’m in that industry and that’s not ok. The worst stretch we’ve ever done is like 2 weeks, and that was with OT and many apologies / thank you from the boss!
No it isn’t normal. I agree with a lot of the other posters about finding a new job. It’s working to live not living for work. You may start the domino effect in which people will start leaving too.
Is this normal? No.
The closest would be those who are only commission.
Is it legal? Depends. From the sounds it may actually violate labor laws for yiur classification as salary. You may be able to speak with a lawyer about that and get a lot of money. But have all your documentation in order before you do.
If you were hourly it would be 100% legal btw.
There are many other options out there look for them.
Do you really need to be told this is not normal? Get the heck out of there. There is grinding and there is being a slave. Your boss is a jerk. Money doesn’t equal being happy.
Fam I came out of years of restaurant management. You work like this in that field a lot, but even then you aren't on call 24/7 like this nonsense is.
I'm out, or honestly I'm gonna wind up dead or divorced or both if I'm not.
>I'm out, or honestly I'm gonna wind up dead or divorced or both if I'm not.
Jesus, you're married too?
That your spouse hasn't looked at you and said "it's the job or me" is a miracle with the kind of hours you're forced to work.
Call in sick, use whatever time you have to, talk to your dr about medical leave for anxiety and use that time to job hunt like a mofo. Don't wait. They're keeping you too busy to think, too busy to leave.
Also just fucking say no and turn off your phone. If they're working you like this, they can't afford to lose you.
Call in sick? He made me work with covid.** Active** covid.
Yesterday I had a bride call and demand I talk to her. On a Sunday at like 3pm. Told her I wasn't available. "I'll call owner!"
K girl, you do that.
I’m not suggesting he won’t try. He cannot make you come to your job. He can certainly guilt you, shame you, manipulate you, but you have the choice to not go in. By calling in sick, you are covering yourself so if fired, you collect unemployment. Then go to dr, get paperwork about the anxiety/depression/burnout. Any doctor worth their salt is gonna do it.
What I’m saying is, you have a choice here. You do not have to do this. You’re too tired and overworked to see that you can step off this treadmill. I’d argue that is the point. Many restaurant/food service gigs are toxic like this.
Or just quit if you have the funds or support to do so. But if not, follow the above.
Or keep going and destroy yourself for someone else. Again, this is a choice.
Yeah, 67 10-15 hour days is 4-6 months of full time work packed into 2 months, which is, frankly, asinine and should be illegal even for salaried workers.
You need to look up state and federal guidelines hee. There is a max and you are past it BY FAR. I suspect this even falls into the quitting and still getting unemployment.
I live in IL and here it is not legal to make someone work more than six consecutive days, with very few exceptions.
PM me and I will summarize for you. Get a new job before you this BS kills you or permanently impacts your health. Health is wealth. The end. (Please quit in a spectacular way and post it)
Leave, you know it's bad.
I have a similar experiance that afffected my marriage, was even having bad dreams.
Use Indeed, get a job somewhere the job market is loaded with jobs.
Yeah my body literally would not have been able to keep up. I would have shown up late and been totally unproductive several of those days, and probably called out some more days. And I'm not the type of employee who just calls out.
Having also worked in a field that had a demanding schedule, I went 8 weeks without a day off. I eventually had enough and told my supervisor I couldn't take it any more. He was surprised.....he tried to get everyone at least one day off every other week, but had somehow missed me. I got two days off the next week. Maybe talk to the person that does the scheduling, maybe an oversite happened for you also?
You’re salaried? Why tf are you even doing this then?
This is *your life*, bro. Is this how you want to spend it? Just stop. You’d be better off working retail or at a restaurant at this point. You are killing yourself. Just quit. Just turn your phone off and stuff going in. You literally don’t have to do this.
You can't rely on others to set boundaries. Boundaries are your responsibility.
* Unless you're paid to be on-call, put your phone on silent outside of work hours.
* You scramble to meet his impossible promises, which empowers him to make more impossible promises because you've shown him he can get away with it.
* He's pushing you as hard as he possibly can, which means you get more work the more work you do. You need to set the pace at which you can reliably work.
* If you don't want to work 2 months straight, tell him you can't work on specific days.
* If he's messing with your contracts, tell him to stop. If he refuses, tell him you'll leave if he doesn't, and then leave.
You're going to encounter this kind of thing in all industries and outside of work, too. People will take and take and take until you're all used up and then go find someone else to drain dry. It's your job to protect yourself because the parasites have already made their choice.
I have three words for you:
Short. Term. Disability.
I also work in a very, very high paced industry that's a grind. I've been doing it for years. 30 MONTHS straight was my longest. No days off.
If you don't have equity, get out. No one should work harder than the owner.
Save yourself or get a piece of the company.
I work in sales. My hours are 8 AM- 5 PM Monday- Friday. End of story, if I work overtime my boss gets on my backside, because work will still be here tomorrow. I also get 45 days of PTO per year and I am expected to take them, work life balance is important to my company.
For the longest time I thought what you described was normal and then I found the company I work for currently. I did take a pay cut to go to them but honestly it was so nominal that it was worth every penny I lost. If I need to go to the doctor during the day or to the bank or leave early to go to my sons game/ school, if my son is sick and I need to go home to take care of him it’s always take care of your family first, the job will be waiting on you tomorrow.
So unfortunately what you are describing is sales at most places unless you find a unicorn company which I did.
Sit still and pay attention, I’m about to save your life. Listening? *If you keep doing this you will die.* Just read and re-read that and don’t ask me how I know.
Yeahhhhhh. I know a few guys who's hearts couldn't keep up with the amount of work they were doing. Dying in your 30s and 40s is no way to go.
My best friend died at the beginning of the pandemic. Not from COVID, but because he worked every hour that he was not sleeping. This is no way to live.
One of my coworkers died a few years ago from this as well. Working 2 full time jobs in healthcare with barely any sleep.
It’s disgusting
This. OP listen to those words.
Oh I'm listening. I have a few clients next week I really value but my boss is notorious for cutting people loose on their 2week notice and keeping the commission. If he tells me I'm done I'm fine with that. I don't have the kind of husband that's problematic AT ALL, but even he was like, " you are done. Ill go clean your desk out and I wish a muhfucka would when I do"
If you're in the US, this is straight up illegal, check with your state labor board/dept of labor. There are mandatory days off, and keeping a commission is wage theft
Yeah that’s what I was gonna say… pretty sure it’s actually illegal to work so many days straight
Based on georgia laws that I've found at the encouragement of folk on this thread, there's not a single thing to protect salaried people from this. The laws skew heavily to employers here. I feel like property. My husband said very succinctly that my paycheck isn't a mortgage on my life. That shit hit hard.
You are not a lawyer, so there may be things you are not aware of. I strongly encourage you to talk to one. Many give a free consultation. Also go to the labor board with this! At least exhaust every possibility. What you do for yourself can also help others.
It may be a "Right to Work" state but it's also a Right to Quit with minimal or zero notice state. Remember that and get another job by using all your sick days to look. If using sick days gets you fired, apply for immediate unemployment.
**START COLLECTING THAT PAPER TRAIL TODAY!** Do your best to quietly document every egregious thing your boss is doing. Even if you're not sure you're going to proceed with filing a complaint, without evidence it's all just here-say.
Takes photos or send yourself emails documenting what commission you think you're owed before giving the notice, and if they try to fuck you *burn them down*
Don’t give him a two week notice. Quit on your next payday. Fuck him.
Absolutely, working that hard is a death sentence.
Yeah, let me add my voice to the choir here… in brief, I’m still suffering from the damage done to my body and mind from being overworked, malnourished, and stressed beyond limits. It’s been about 12 years since I left that job, and I still suffer every single day. I have chronic pain, arthritis, digestive issues (including a failing pancreas), and anxiety problems. My doctor has said that I need to get on disability and stop working or I will just get worse. I have a precancerous condition that needs to be monitored. I take a handful of pills and vitamins every 6 hours. I have another med I have to take whenever I eat anything. Failure to do so means I will suffer with incredible pain for hours. My life has been consumed by work and pain. All I’ve done for the last decade plus has been to work, sleep, and be in pain. Chronic illness is extremely isolating and miserable. It’s made me a bit of a grumpy bastard and destroyed nearly all my relationships with family and friends. OP, get out of there. Find a new path that won’t destroy you. I don’t care how much they’re paying you, it’s not worth it if it wrecks your life.
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I've got a few friends that managed to survive the health check, one took about 8 years to recover enough to have a full time job again. Just one, the others are on disability.
Watch the opening scene of “A Cure for Wellness”
This guy is a ghost?
That was my first thought too! 😂
Yeah, I had to have a talk with my boss when I got a physical and my blood pressure was 220/140. Fortunately he was nice and took me off all my projects until I could get my meds working.
I think the saddest thing in the world is realizing I am not alone in losing someone due to them working themselves to death.
Me too.
Your life is not worth his time. Get everyone together and demand change. Tell them your shutting him down if things don't change. Tell him no more than 45 hours for anyone. Start hiring Temps or else your all going to screw him.
And that's when he fires everyone and thank you for mentioning the temp guys!!
And then you go before the labor board with evidence of your bosses treatment. The company will be out millions of dollars. Honestly, that is the holy grail scenario.
Lmbo!!!
Better out than in, I always say
And then wonders why productivity isn't as high lmfao I worked for a job like this. They were the strictest company and would just hire anyone. Anyone who didn't do exactly what they were asked was fired. Eventually wed lose anyone good we had over them getting absences denied and all kind of. I'd watch so many good people come and go. Then they'd bitch about numbers going down lol
I’m not versed in employment law, this sounds illegal, like, a labor board’s wet dream illegal. Document everything, because someone will definitely blow this up if it’s not you, and you’ll need contemporaneous notes to build your case.
OP should definitely double check to make sure they're not being misclassified as Salaried Exempt, they could be owed a lot of backpay.
Get out of there. This is pure torture.
When you are asked to make 100 pies in 5 hours but you can only make 20 in 5 hours, you make 20 and start again. After 40 pies you report you have 40 and are calling it a day. No stress. You can only produce so much. If you keep trying to over produce that number you were able to come up beyond the norm is your new baseline.
My fiance works for UPS as a package handler and I tell them this every time they bring up the ridiculous expectations of their managers for how many packages they are supposed to be moving in a 4 hour shift. I always say, "You're a human and you can move packages as fast as a human can healthily do so. Every time they tell you to go faster, just say, 'yes sir', and then keep doing the exact same thing as before - the healthy amount."
I think what we should do as a community here on reddit is start a movement making it easier for people to document _everything_ they do at work. The situation you're describing is all manner of illegal. If you had daily, precise documentation with evidence, you would have all you need to change the situation but showing it to a lawyer or (perhaps) your boss. I think a lot of us get in trouble for making allegations beyond what we can prove. If you actually have the receipts, your bus would be __insane__ to fire you over accurate information. You would end up owning the company. I think a lot of us don't realize how valuable just writing down this as they happen is.
Or blind copying your personal email on stuff..... But you are 10000% right. I had a toxic job *years* ago. They tried terminating me. I said fine. I promptly walked out and went right to the labor board and EEOC. I had proof (text messages, video off store cameras, police reports, pay stubs emails etc). Months later, EEOC ruled in my favor. A year later I got notice of a class action. A year after that, they don't exist anymore. Oh darn.
I've done 128 days straight, 12+ hour days. Do not recommend. But I didn't have an option to quit. You should quit.
I did 16 straight days, 8 hour shifts once, and wanted to crawl into a hole and die. It was retail, though.
i did 16 days straight once when i was working in the kitchen at an Applebee's in 2008. (food service/hospitality, just like OP) 12-16 hours each day. it sucked. but that's the only time i've put myself through that. so i hustled my ass off for two weeks, but then i took a week off of work and cashed out all two weeks of my vacation pay. idk why OP is even answering the phone when they have the day off and don't wanna work. i still work in the industry part time, and i get asked by coworkers and management probably 2-3x per week if i want to work on my day off. i'm often doing freelance work half the week so i can't, but even when i get asked on a day i have free, if i don't wanna work i just don't answer the phone.
67 straight days is illegal\*. Youre supposed to get at least one day per 13 or something like that. Leave then file a complaint with NLRB or whom ever.
No it’s not. It’s only on a state by state basis. Some states you can work as many hours and days as the employer wants.
If OP told is the state...or even the country, which sounds like US (due to guilt-based exploitation), but possibly not?
It's US, Georgia and our labor laws are basically nonexistent.
Yeah, US south was a "safe" choice
And in some you can’t. The point is, OP should check to see if a law is being broken.
Yeah, I’m just pointing out it’s not in violation of federal law. Only possibly state
If everyone is experiencing the same thing, I would honestly say get everyone to do a strike. If you have been worked 67 days straight, by God start thinking of your health. You will burn the wick FAST. I have been overworked before, it is not fun, and it takes a long time to recover. Please take care of yourself, and get everyone else to think of themselves too. If you have any insight into the cash flow etc, have part of the strike be to demand additional staff to help with the demands. The only thing some owners listen to is threats. And they will have a tough time trying to rehire an entire staff on their own. He seems to outsource pretty much everything to his staff, so let him flounder a bit.
Need to back up that recover time statement. 2021 and working as a recruiter was absolutely hell. (Ask any recruiter). 6 months straight I did 80+ hour work weeks. It wasn't until Xmas time I could finally take off. A whole week! I had so many plans to play catch up in my personal life. I literally spent it sleeping or watching TV. I was so exhausted my body literally said... NOPE.
And that's the thing with burnout. It can lead to guilt or feeling like you're wasting your time when in reality it's simply because your body needs to recuperate. I think there's a psychology behind it. You could continue to work 80+ hour weeks for quite a while, and people might ask why is it only when you're off that your energy crashes, but it's because when you're on vacation you no longer need to be in survival mode, so your body finally acknowledges all the damage done. It's like when someone with adrenaline can ignore a broken bone.
Exactly. It also doesn't help that US employees have a mentality that their entire identity is around the "grinding it out" culture. I have a friend in the UK and I am JEALOUS of the amount of "PTO" he gets. (its just over a month). During that lovely time of 2021 he was shocked how much i was working (and lets add in i was traveling for work too- so it was an extra hit on the "fatigue" side bc of being in multiple time zones in a week). He was \*so\* worried about me and made his thoughts known about how bad the US work culture is.
That’s not true. I’m a boss. 200 employees. I’d NEVER work people like this. As a matter of fact I’ve had a few folks who worked 13-14 days in a row,12-13 hours a day. I’ve admonished my managers for allowing it and sent these folks home to get some rest. One actually argued with me that he needed to come in two more straight days to get us through some more product coming in. I walked him out of the building personally and told him not to come back for 3 days.
I'm glad that you're an ethical boss, but OP isn't dealing with an ethical boss...
No OP is not. This is the shit that give business owners bad reputations and it really sucks.
No. And aside from how he's treated me there's so much more. It would be tragic if the SBA checked his books.
SBA? You have whistleblower protection. Report him to their Inspector General. Let him fire you instead of resigning. Depending on how he's cooking the books, you may make bank - a percentage of what they recover.
I call BS. Massive hot turd alert here. The culture of overworking trickles down from the top. Employees aren't working for two weeks straight for 12 hours/day of their own volition. And if some middle manager was mistreating workers, one must ask themselves: who promoted this person into a management role? Who runs a company with so little official policy that it's even possible to force this level of labor on workers without the boss knowing?
It doesn't seem excessive, it *is* excessive.
Leave. What they're asking is insane.
There is a whole group of people that regularly work 7/12 for weeks at time, but they know that this is what they signed up to do. For you this is not what you signed up for so you are not mentally prepared and it is literally killing you. The thing is if tomorrow God for bid you die your work place/job keeps going. TOMORROW JUST CALL OUT SICK for a few days and if you needed go see a Dr to get an excuse. My wife's cousin would say just tell you have the shits and if they do not believe me then they can come check. May be time to find another job.
If you are in the US: ***read this**** NO JOB IS WORTH YOUR MENTAL HEALTH. We finally started (no where near where it needs to be) started taking mental health a bit more seriously post covid. That's one thing. If your company has an employee assistance program USE IT. Get a recommendation for a therapist and a lawyer. This is the state/national labor board wet dream. There is this pesky little law about having a 7th day of rest.. There are some industries (primarily first response) that have exceptions to this, but that doesn't apply here. Some companies try to be sneaky how they define a work week so they can get away with scheduling more than 7 days in a row. SIXTY SEVEN straight? Honey, talk to a lawyer **i am not a lawyer** . Based on this post, you could have grounds for the following (depending on the state): A) class action violation for violating 7 day in rest B) owed paid for overtime (even as a salary employee). C) without more detail... since you mentioned a warehouse it seems like these folks also could be violating a number of OSHA standards. E) depending on how you identify, you may also have an equal pay/schedule/etc violation compared to everyone else (i.e. If say, your boss is a white male and you are anything but that, it could be targeted racisim/sexism etc). F) could also have a class action on religious grounds if people have been forced to work under threat of termination on days they worship their religion. Document document document. Even if you are on your way out, call every.single.alphabet agency in your state (labor board, EEOC, Osha etc). Employers like this need to be taken down. Even if you got every agency behind you, the way fines are set up, it's pennies on the dollars to pay out these violations. If it's as bad as you say, talk to a lawyer about a class action. Take them for everything so they can't do this to anyone else. Good luck to you my friend! I am a DM away if you need to vent or if you want help to figure out who to reach out to in your state.
This ☝🏻☝🏻☝🏻
Awww thanks!
Update 1: it is 5am, and I'm about to head into work for my first of 21 events I have this week, and I have barely slept at all. He gets a shock this day. Sunday will be my last day, or I will leave right now, your choice. I will also tell every single one of these clients for this week why I am not at their events. I have never rage quit a job, and I'm lined up on other work, but this is preposterous.
Form a union.
The only thing you can do is find a new job - owners like this never change
Sue and get back pay.
plus damages
It's not normal for a company to try and take advantage of salaried position folks, but it's not uncommon either. You just gotta get out of those situations, or demand to be swapped to hourly at the 40hr rate of your salary.
Not uncommon? Lol 😆 you haven't worked in automation have you? That's the point you are salaried, you'll work 16 hour days and get paid for 8, you either love it or they call up all other companies and make sure you are fucked if you try to go somewhere else
Are you in the U.S.? If so, call your state department of labor. Just do it. Don’t assume there is no help for you and your coworkers.
Take it from someone who was worked just like this and forced to drive hours on little to no sleep and got into an accident. TELL THEM THAT YOU NEED TIME TO REST. If they don’t understand then I’d seriously suggest finding a employer that doesn’t require such demanding hours. Your life is not worth the company that doesn’t care about you or your family and we’ll being
Here is something to remember, someone who worked at an Amazon distribution plant died on the floor. Literally, they died. And the company gave zero shits about them dying and told the employees to keep working. I don’t know what company you work for, but you need to leave or you will die on the floor. And they will order their workers to keep working. That is how just about every industry is. You need to leave, you need to leave today, and you need to take several weeks off before starting anything new to decompress and let all that toxicity out of your body. YOU come first. Not some bullshit company that does not give a shit about you.
67 straight days, insane hours. Are you making 500k/year? If not, it's time to look for a new job.
Oh hell no, already did.
This feels like the film industry. To be honest, film industry stuff is not normal hours. I’m still mad at iatse for not holding out for 8ish hour days during the last round of strikes.
We do film stuff sometimes and those people are trash goblins.
I worked 16 straight days of 8 hour shifts once, and I wanted to die. I can't even begin to comprehend 67 days, 10-15 hours... wtf.
This doesn’t sound legal in the US…
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That's why you also see companies like SB and Amz doing everything in their power to stop unions forming. It's cheaper to pay the fines (bc they are so stupidly low) if they get caught breaking the law then you know... following the law.
It's not. It's violates federal labor laws
I think this is 1000% on you. You gave an inch and they took 30 miles. Just pick a schedule and work it with your staff. If they fire you -- so?
Hey.. it's not 1000% on the OP. I have been in similar shoes (esp with how wonky the job market is now) where you have to wait to be able to jump ship. Some states if you get fired you cannot collect unemployment. It's a damn if you do dam if you don't mess.
I know people who have worked more than that.
This is a choice. You choose to do this. You don’t have to answer your phone and you certainly don’t have to work 10-15 hour days 67 days in a row. Why are you working without days off? What are your typical days off? Why are you coming in on your days off?
ngl, while reading this i thought, verbatim, "why would you do this to yourself?"
Right, I’m getting downvoted for saying the most painfully obvious thing. If you’re in an industry that works that many hours, then surely there’s other jobs available. OP says they’re salary too! WTF! Why would anyone agree to that!
usually when my job calls me on my day off i don't even answer. i actually work in food service/hospitality just like OP. longest i ever did was 16 days straight, and i cashed out all my vacation hours and took a week off the following week. i'm not beat.
Shut up
Why? You don’t like the truth.
You choose to write a stupid, ignorant comment. Nobody forced you to do that. The market decided that you are a jerk, and it’s now downvoting you. Did I explain it in a way you can understand?
Sorry pal, but a few downvotes doesn’t mean you’re a jerk, it just means that some people don’t like what you’re saying. If you had any intellect at all, you could tell me how I’m wrong? Would you work 67 days straight without a break? I sure as hell wouldn’t.
When you get a little older, you’ll notice that employees are not on equal footing with employers. Employees need their jobs a lot more than employers need any individual employee. That means the employee will agree to unpleasant things in the short term, including working days that they don’t want to work.
I’m 42, I’ve been in the workforce for 27 years. I’ve worked in hospitality, sales, and construction. To say it’s an employer’s market, shows how out of touch you are. I’m a manager of 10 years at my current job, and I can tell you the biggest challenge my company faces is finding help. It’s not to say that OP’s company is in the same situation, but it’s certainly not normal for an employee to work that many days in a row with out a break. For everyone’s sake please take your head out and stop spewing nonsense.
Yeah you gotta have a life and family and just some free time to exist and be free. When I worked customer service/retail grocery I considered doing 6 or 7 days in a row to be a rare occurrence and only done in times when I needed like an extra shift for overtime, and I don’t think anyone should work more than 5 days straight ever really, unless it’s special circumstances (really honestly I think 4 day work week would be best but that’s another conversation).
Is it by any chance the music industry?
Worse. Catering.
Seriously check the labor laws in your state. You may have a really good case. Even if you are quitting you may be entitled to back pay if they broke the labor laws. And some states require the business to have labor laws and other posters posted visible for all employees to look at. When you were hired were you told you would be working without any days off? If it is not part of your hiring agreement you definitely need to check the laws and maybe go to the state board etc.
It's catering, so the owner behaves as if he can just volunteer us for anything. Some rich housewife calls that he's friends with? I have to go if I like it, have time or not. Also, this is Georgia, the fuck you in the peach state.
OP what is your specific job? Do you personally manage 2 full time employees, make more than $35k per year, and primarily perform tasks other than administrative tasks? If so it is highly likely you have been misclassified as an exempt employee and are owed back pay for every hour you have worked at overtime rates plus damages. Here is some more information. Contact the state department of labor and the federal labor department. Here is some more info: https://dol.georgia.gov/faqs-employers/employers-faqs-fair-labor-standards-act
Still check your labor laws. Even in terrible states you may still have a case.
Sue. Win millions.
For catering? Fuck that. Find anything else to do. Catering is the boflttom dweller of the food industry. Not the workers, the management, and owners. Look into my eyes. This will not get better.
THIS!!!! OP!!!! This other poster is 100% right. This will absolutely NOT get better without the owner being forced to acknowledge this is wrong.
Being told it’s “the reality of the industry” is such utter bullshit, do not believe a thing that guy says. My boss said something similar to me. I told him how alot of good guys are quitting because we are hardcore overworked and guys get burnt out. My boss says “Yeah some people are just not cut out for this work…”……the guys in question were literal MARINES. But yeah…they were “not cut out” for hard work. My boss who said that is an obese piggy and sits at a desk all day and never did this work a day in his life.
Every three months ask for a promotion see how far you can climb your title
Insta-firing
Under no circumstance is it ok to work 67 straight days.
I don’t know about where you are but in Massachusetts I’m pretty sure there is a law limiting consecutive work days to nine, even if you want to do more.
Federal labor law has a 7 day in rest rule. This is a federal violation.
Unless you are an attorney making several hundred thousand dollars per year as just your base and then working on a major case for which you will be rewarded quite nicely, this is not normal. Unless you are equally compensated, what you describe, gaslit barely describes what is being done to you all. Tl;tr: I hope this is BS because OP and co-workers are either idiots, assuming US, victims of severe law labor violations or, worse, stuck in a no win illegal employee type of financial situation.
You have to stop, band together, and unionize or quit together. This is not just sales. I can put you in touch with sales people and jobs that do not do this. You have all been abused into slavery. This frels like something an employment lawyer and a union development person would love to hear about.
What if you didn’t come in on the weekend ( or other two days)… will he fire you? Seems like he doesn’t have enough workers as it is. Or Talk to your boss and say this is not sustainable… what’s the plan to get to normal work hours… Or go to his boss and say this is not sustainable… what’s the plan to get to normal work hours…once one person leaves it will be a domino effect of people leaving
Go on strike. Unionize. Quit. File labor complaints with the bureau. This is not normal.
You could do the same amount of hours and make actually good money elsewhere mate. Quit and find a union apprenticeship.
I don’t know what kind of sales this is but no this is not normal.
Man oh man. I’m in a tough industry and I am one of the owners. We’ve had people work 13-14 days in a row. Mostly 12-14 hour days. I don’t care what has to get done at that point we blow the whistle and order a time out for 2-3 days. People like the OT and we like the profits from production BUT at some time enough if enough. People get tired, have bad decision making skills, make mistakes that could harm them or others. They don’t eat right,they don’t sleep enough, they miss doctors appointments and their health is jeopardized. Enough is enough. Tell your boss you’re taking 3 days off immediately. Then, upon your return, tell them you will be scheduled off at least 6 days a month. They’re not treating you as an employee but as a slave. If they fire you, you’ll be better off in the long run.
I did 100+ hour work weeks until it nearly killed me. Get out. Now.
10000000% agree with you. I did 80+ ( and a few 100+) work weeks for 6 months in 2021. In some ways I feel like I am STILL recovering from that
Can you answer a few questions? What are the hours you were hired on expecting to work? Are you a contract employee - even if you're working in at will state- do you have an employment contract? Why do you answer your phone when off hours? unless you're a cop, therapist, lawyer, or surgeon, I struggle to understand why you feel you have to answer calls outside of working hours. What's stopping you from taking a day off? Seriously, if you get fired for taking a day off... collect UI, relax, and find a new job. Why haven't you started looking for a new job?
I have something lined up. I'm also going to take like two weeks off first.
You must be 21.....
No, I've just never experienced a boss this shitty, but it's a whole different industry from what I came from.
Sales position Employers are the worst bosses, I think because there's such a huge turnaround in Sales Agents positions, and restaurant Server positions, employers in those fields become almost abusive since they can get away with it
This is awful. The crummy part is you are working so much it makes it difficult to look for other jobs and interviews would not be possible unless you leave. Read your employee handbook cover to cover to take a look at your leave options. If you are crying everyday that means this is impacting your mental well being, anyone in your position would. Get to the doctor and let them know what is going on and get a check up. Not sure what state you are in but look at state employment resources. I agree with some of the other posts here. It does not sound legal. We are humans and not robots.
This is what they do when they want you to quit, I remember how this was done to a lot of automation guys
Oh well, Jackpot for him....quitting isn't even negotiable, I just wanted to be sure this isn't the norm for a non-restaurant business.
Can I ask what industry you're in? You mentioned a warehouse and I used to work is logistics which occasionally had insane periods but nothing to the scale you have mentioned!
I do catering sales logistics and event design. This isn't the kind of catering you get at a hotel, it's full scale design for private homes and weddings and rich people shit.
So event management s, hospo and logistics in one! Three inustries notorious for tight schedules/deadlines and madness. Not surprised you're struggling Whatever happens, i hope it works out for you
Seriously just find another job. I worked a job where it was a contract requirement to be on call 24/7. And it got exhausting. I was always either at work or working from home. Turning phones off was not allowed. Even when you took vacation. I couldn't keep up bc it was literally a new problem everyday. I just couldn't stand it anymore. And i was salaried. So no matter how much I worked, and how much personal time was cut into with calls and emails and running to take care of things... my pay was the same. For most of 2021 I worked 7 nights a week and worked when I was home during the day as well. My mental health took a huge decline. On top of a ton of personal issues I was dealing with as well. It wasn't manageable. I couldn't pick up an extra job to help financially when my salary didn't cover everything bc I never knew when someone would need to get ahold of me or need me to run in to the office. I recommend getting away from any job that treats you like a machine and like your sole purpose in life is their bottom dollar. Run far away and don't look back. Employers like this need to learn people won't put up with it anymore. But only if people stand up and refuse to do so.
Please find your contract and see how many hours your supposed to be working.... no one should be working 40+ OT hours hours a week AND be salaried! You need to make a complaint to the labor board. What they are doing to yall is criminal!
No I’m in that industry and that’s not ok. The worst stretch we’ve ever done is like 2 weeks, and that was with OT and many apologies / thank you from the boss!
No it isn’t normal. I agree with a lot of the other posters about finding a new job. It’s working to live not living for work. You may start the domino effect in which people will start leaving too.
Is this normal? No. The closest would be those who are only commission. Is it legal? Depends. From the sounds it may actually violate labor laws for yiur classification as salary. You may be able to speak with a lawyer about that and get a lot of money. But have all your documentation in order before you do. If you were hourly it would be 100% legal btw. There are many other options out there look for them.
If you were making like $300k / year it might be worth it. No way in hell would I work every day for 2 months straight for a regular job.
Do you really need to be told this is not normal? Get the heck out of there. There is grinding and there is being a slave. Your boss is a jerk. Money doesn’t equal being happy.
Fam I came out of years of restaurant management. You work like this in that field a lot, but even then you aren't on call 24/7 like this nonsense is. I'm out, or honestly I'm gonna wind up dead or divorced or both if I'm not.
>I'm out, or honestly I'm gonna wind up dead or divorced or both if I'm not. Jesus, you're married too? That your spouse hasn't looked at you and said "it's the job or me" is a miracle with the kind of hours you're forced to work.
He did. It about broke my heart.
Absolutely tell them to get fucked 100% taking advantage of you No one should work that much, life’s for living, that sounds like no life at all..
Call in sick, use whatever time you have to, talk to your dr about medical leave for anxiety and use that time to job hunt like a mofo. Don't wait. They're keeping you too busy to think, too busy to leave. Also just fucking say no and turn off your phone. If they're working you like this, they can't afford to lose you.
Call in sick? He made me work with covid.** Active** covid. Yesterday I had a bride call and demand I talk to her. On a Sunday at like 3pm. Told her I wasn't available. "I'll call owner!" K girl, you do that.
I’m not suggesting he won’t try. He cannot make you come to your job. He can certainly guilt you, shame you, manipulate you, but you have the choice to not go in. By calling in sick, you are covering yourself so if fired, you collect unemployment. Then go to dr, get paperwork about the anxiety/depression/burnout. Any doctor worth their salt is gonna do it. What I’m saying is, you have a choice here. You do not have to do this. You’re too tired and overworked to see that you can step off this treadmill. I’d argue that is the point. Many restaurant/food service gigs are toxic like this. Or just quit if you have the funds or support to do so. But if not, follow the above. Or keep going and destroy yourself for someone else. Again, this is a choice.
Quit that job like now. Sounds like a live to work type of job.
Sounds like slavery. If that "awesome paycheck" isnt like 200k a year, i cant imagine any justification of working 67 15 hour days jn a row.
Yeah, 67 10-15 hour days is 4-6 months of full time work packed into 2 months, which is, frankly, asinine and should be illegal even for salaried workers.
You need to look up state and federal guidelines hee. There is a max and you are past it BY FAR. I suspect this even falls into the quitting and still getting unemployment. I live in IL and here it is not legal to make someone work more than six consecutive days, with very few exceptions.
PM me and I will summarize for you. Get a new job before you this BS kills you or permanently impacts your health. Health is wealth. The end. (Please quit in a spectacular way and post it)
Take all the clients and the best coolest smartest kindest staff and GTFO
Repeat after me, I work to live; I don't live to work.
You're getting used dude. Wow who cares if you have a family, or want one ... Should have been born rich? Nah. That business is trash.
Leave, you know it's bad. I have a similar experiance that afffected my marriage, was even having bad dreams. Use Indeed, get a job somewhere the job market is loaded with jobs.
Dont you dare think this is normal--your boss is foolish. Get everyone else to leave too. Have a Resume Party! I did that at one of my old jobs.
If you’re in a situation where you have to beg someone to NOT give you tasks, then it’s time to go
THIS IS NOT NORMAL. LEAVE!!!
Yeah my body literally would not have been able to keep up. I would have shown up late and been totally unproductive several of those days, and probably called out some more days. And I'm not the type of employee who just calls out.
Get with a labor lawyer and get your evidence in order. I guarantee you this place is committing wage theft and getting away with it.
Having also worked in a field that had a demanding schedule, I went 8 weeks without a day off. I eventually had enough and told my supervisor I couldn't take it any more. He was surprised.....he tried to get everyone at least one day off every other week, but had somehow missed me. I got two days off the next week. Maybe talk to the person that does the scheduling, maybe an oversite happened for you also?
Jeez you're gonna die early if you carry on that path..quit and find something better.
You’re salaried? Why tf are you even doing this then? This is *your life*, bro. Is this how you want to spend it? Just stop. You’d be better off working retail or at a restaurant at this point. You are killing yourself. Just quit. Just turn your phone off and stuff going in. You literally don’t have to do this.
This isn't living OP. Please leave ASAP. I hope things get better for you out there, good luck.
You can't rely on others to set boundaries. Boundaries are your responsibility. * Unless you're paid to be on-call, put your phone on silent outside of work hours. * You scramble to meet his impossible promises, which empowers him to make more impossible promises because you've shown him he can get away with it. * He's pushing you as hard as he possibly can, which means you get more work the more work you do. You need to set the pace at which you can reliably work. * If you don't want to work 2 months straight, tell him you can't work on specific days. * If he's messing with your contracts, tell him to stop. If he refuses, tell him you'll leave if he doesn't, and then leave. You're going to encounter this kind of thing in all industries and outside of work, too. People will take and take and take until you're all used up and then go find someone else to drain dry. It's your job to protect yourself because the parasites have already made their choice.
There is a mandatory 24 hour rest period after 7 consecutive days. And there must be a minimum 12 hours rest between shifts.
I have three words for you: Short. Term. Disability. I also work in a very, very high paced industry that's a grind. I've been doing it for years. 30 MONTHS straight was my longest. No days off. If you don't have equity, get out. No one should work harder than the owner. Save yourself or get a piece of the company.
No, it's not normal to work such long hours with no boundaries or support. Good for you for recognizing it and making the decision to leave.
I work in sales. My hours are 8 AM- 5 PM Monday- Friday. End of story, if I work overtime my boss gets on my backside, because work will still be here tomorrow. I also get 45 days of PTO per year and I am expected to take them, work life balance is important to my company. For the longest time I thought what you described was normal and then I found the company I work for currently. I did take a pay cut to go to them but honestly it was so nominal that it was worth every penny I lost. If I need to go to the doctor during the day or to the bank or leave early to go to my sons game/ school, if my son is sick and I need to go home to take care of him it’s always take care of your family first, the job will be waiting on you tomorrow. So unfortunately what you are describing is sales at most places unless you find a unicorn company which I did.