Does Constant Access Shatter the Home/Work Boundary? 321
StonyandCher has passed us a link to PCWorld.au, once again raising the tough topic of work/life separation. A department of the Australian government went ahead with a purchase of dozens of Blackberry communication devices, but is now delaying their deployment. The reason: "Staff expressed fears about BlackBerries contributing to a longer working day and felt it was going a step too far because mobile phones are adequate for out-of-office contact. Not everyone agreed, however, with some senior executives claiming a BlackBerry can contribute to work/life balance by facilitating telecommuting and more flexible schedules. " For the time being this issue is on hold for those staffers, but how does this issue fall for you? Is constant accessibility freeing or just another chain around your neck?
this is incumbent upon the employee (Score:5, Interesting)
I know employers can apply pressure, but employees should try to establish early and firmly what extended accessibility means. Pagers have been around for millenia, Blackberrys simply give better message.
Arrange and agree to a schedule for which you consider yourself "on call", publish those times, and make it clear you aren't "on call" when you aren't.
Personally, I see the encroachment more often by those who have some tension with their personal life whereby this constant connectivity to their job elevates somehow their status, and provides instant and real-time reason/excuse to be unavailable in their personal lives. In other words, lots of those who "get connected" like this do so willingly, and with a certain sense of self-importance.
My other observation has been that those who are not to be bothered by work when they're not expected to be available off-hours simply don't carry their Blackberry, or turn it off.
I know there's always the exception, but I think most employer-employee relationships can and do strike equilibrium with minimal fuss. If your employer is that horrid in their insistence and demands, find another employer. I did.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
http://forumpix.co.uk/i.php?I=1197646911 [forumpix.co.uk]
Everyone's an Employee, Everyone's a Manager (Score:3, Interesting)
This is clearly an intractable problem that cannot be solved any other way. Blame the technology!
Seriously, no piece of technology can be blamed for poor time management. Neither can one blame one's manager for allowing that person to manage your time poorly for you.
This is an issue of ownership. Own your job, own your time, and take responsibility for yourself. If everyone's doing what they should be doing, then this discussion is moot. If everyone's not doing what they should be doing, then how abou
Ditto what he said. (Score:5, Insightful)
You negotiate beforehand what happens when the pager goes off - either you get 'overtime', comp-time off, or your salary begins large enough to compensate you for the projected time spent on pager-duty. Not much different w/ a Crackberry...
If you get one issued to you, demand compensation for the added work that's sure to come with it - either through more flexible scheduling, more money, more comp/vacation time, or something substantial.
I have a decent setup where I'm at now - if I get a call, then the time spent gets deducted the next day or day after, or they pay me overtime based on 1.5x my salary broken down to an hourly rate (based on a typical 40hr week). Pretty simple after that.
Now, if you're adamant about delineated time-off vs. time-on, then simply state as much before you start.
But, like the parent said... most employers are perfectly okay with this, and it's only a minimum of haggle. Any employer who isn't needs to be dropped for one who is.
Re:Ditto what he said. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Ditto what he said. (Score:4, Interesting)
For example, as an IT worker myself, I think having that 24x7 accessibility to my work can be a benefit, but it's also the greatest source of my frustration. As a result, I've stopped carrying such devices for business use.
I've been much happier carrying only a cell phone - that I pay for - that I can turn off when I'm out of the office. I've made it a point to separate work and home. Since I started doing that a few years ago, I'm much less stressed and can focus more. Work stuff stays at work and my personal life can stay out of the office.
When it's mandated that I be available 24x7 for a period of time (such as an on-call rotation or a major project), I still weigh my choices and, if it's too demanding, I'll decline. Yes, even if it's career-limiting decision. Usually, it's not a problem and, in fact, some managers have gained respect for such a decision (even if they didn't think so at the time they asked).
Obviously, others will have differing points of view. However, it's important to keep a balance. That balance will differ from person to person.
Weasel words: 'can contribute' (Score:3, Informative)
It's different for salaried staff who are on an existing contract. They can get the worst of both worlds:
On one hand, they get handed the crackberry and expected to respond to it on lunch, breaks and after hours.
on the other hand, it can be 2-4 years before the next round of contract talks which would deal with this change -- and, even then, the crackberry issue (if it's only one, small department affected) could just fall off the
Re:this is incumbent upon the employee (Score:5, Insightful)
I agree. It's the employee's fault. They're willing to put up with it. There was a time before cell phones when the same kind of thing was true. If you were a town doctor in the 1800s, you think you got to say "I'm only open 8-5, M-F"? People got sick when they got sick. Accountants didn't have to take their work home, but it was known that as a doctor you were on call all the time.
If you don't like it, push back, let your work know that when you aren't on call, you're not on call. This is just a boundaries issue. People don't want to set them (afraid of repercussions, don't know they have the option, like the "piece of mind" they get from being able to watch what's going on at work, whatever)... so they put up with this.
Blackberries are just a symptom/enabler. They make this problem easier to occur than during the '60s (when bringing your work home or to vacation meant hauling a bunch of papers and books and such).
People just need to learn to adapt to this change and handle it. Just like people are being forced to invent manners and limits for other things that weren't considered before (like cell phones). That's our transition that we're going through now.
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No, no. This is an employment issue. You could lose your job for "pushing back." Some people don't have that option.
Re:this is incumbent upon the employee (Score:4, Insightful)
If you don't want to be on call, don't take a job that expects you to be on call. If the job you took didn't including being on call and they want you to be, tell them no... that wasn't in the job description. You could negotiate for something ("You want me to start being on call, that's an expansion in my responsibilities, will my compensation go up as well?"). If you took a job where you were on call and don't like it too bad. That's the job you took and you signed up for it.
If everyone who had this problem actually stood up, they wouldn't fire people because there wouldn't be enough people left. You're not helpless.
Also, remember that some of these people don't have that responsibility. They just check their blackberry out of habit. They don't need to. It's all their choice. They aren't being forced into it, they are choosing it then complaining about it.
Work doesn't have to be fun. It's a means to an end: being able to take care of and feed yourself and your family. It's not your personal satisfaction center. That's nice if it is, but people used to understand that. A lot of this just sounds like whining to me.
Re:this is incumbent upon the employee (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, but if you are the only one...
Also, remember that some of these people don't have that responsibility. They just check their blackberry out of habit. They don't need to. It's all their choice. They aren't being forced into it, they are choosing it then complaining about it.
I am a tutor. I have taken shit from my boss, because she couldn't reach me Wednesday night to change my schedule for Thursday. Changing my hours at will was not in the job description, and I don't even make enough at the job to sustain me. I look for more or other work. I've been looking for 4 months, and guess what? If I find a job that will be a dick about my free time, I have to take it.
Work doesn't have to be fun. It's a means to an end: being able to take care of and feed yourself and your family. It's not your personal satisfaction center. That's nice if it is, but people used to understand that. A lot of this just sounds like whining to me.
Spoken like management. There was a time when jobs offered benefits, job security, and respect for their employees.
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I'm not management. I'm a 24 year old programmer. I'm not anyone's superior. A job is just a job. You think people loved working in coal mines? They did/do it because they have to. It puts food on the table. Some may like it, but they know it's hard work and has to be done. Good jobs offered benefits, security, and such. Mine does. But not all do. Pizza delivery people never got perks or job security.
You're in a people business, and in those kind of jobs being able to be reached for things like scheduling
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Obviously a McDonald's burger flipper couldn't say this stuff if it applied to them, they would be replaced too easily.
A McDonald's burger flipper probably gets paid an hourly rate, and I bet they expect more pay if they work more hours. It's ironic that in "better" jobs like those in IT, a culture has developed among a certain type of employer that "It's a salaried position" is an acceptable euphemism for "We own your soul, 24/7".
As others have noted, the correct solution to this problem is for all the good people to collectively turn around and tell the over-demanding employers where to go. A competitive employment ma
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This is wrong thinking IMHO. Why NOT be an hourly worker for IT? Do like I did, incorporate yourself (I did an "S" corp), and the do corp-to-corp contracting. It need not be a few months here a
Re:this is incumbent upon the employee (Score:4, Informative)
You can start half way. 1st thing...look into incorporating yourself, it doesn't cost much. A friend of mine did it mostly himself for a few $$, I paid a lawyer about $250 or so, gave him a company name, and in 2 weeks I was a company. I went the "S" corp route, many will advise the LLC, but, do some research see which fits best for you. I like the S since I only have to pay SE taxes (SS and medicare) on the portion of my money that I make that I pay myself as a 'reasonable' W2 salary. Saves money that way.
But, in the meantime...look at job shops...you can start at some that will employ you as a contract employee...they get a big cut, but, it will easy you into the mkt....they find the jobs for you, etc. You can even start with places like this as a W2 employee of them, with full benefits...but, I'd not go that far, too close to being an employee.
Anyway, save up some $$....do a little research, and then, look for a contract employment co...and let them find your work for you till you get comfy with doing it yourself.
If you're a US citizen, look into places that do govt. work....those can be long term and you might can get on as a sub on a project.
Take a look here for good info LINK [cehandbook.com] . Click the link for the 'original site', and read that if the main stuff is still under construction....
Good luck...the only thing scary about it is...that it is different, and you do take on a bit more responsibility for yourself...but,think of it, most people in the early days of the US did much the same thing, just in a more primitive time.
Re:this is incumbent upon the employee (Score:4, Insightful)
Hah! Obviously you haven't studied history much. That period was actually very unusual in history.
It used to be that if you got hurt at work you'd lose your job. Likely become unemployed, or have to find another career or become a beggar if the injury wasn't temporary. Safety equipment was rare. We're talking about the heyday of railroads and 'big oil'.
Unions, safety regulations, and some smart employers(Like Mr. Ford) combined with a labor crunch changed that, at least for a while.
Then hiring US citizens became too expensive and stuff was outsourced to other countries where the old conditions prevailed because it was cheaper.
I look for more or other work. I've been looking for 4 months, and guess what? If I find a job that will be a dick about my free time, I have to take it.
If you want to change things, realize that you might have to move, get training to go into a different career field, change your income expectations, etc...
Basically, you need to realize that it takes intelligent effort to get what you want.
You do what it takes to keep a roof over your family's head, food in their mouths, shoes on their feet. After that, then you can work towards personal satisfaction. That's just how it is(or at least should be). That's what my grandparents did. That's what my parents did. That's what I do.
Re:this is incumbent upon the employee (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems the average slashbot has decided regression equals progress. I don't see how increasing employer culpability, and the environment of the worker was an undesirable, nor do I see how the opposite is in any way a good thing (unless you some sociopath only concerned with the bottom line, and not the stuff that matters).
Yes we've had workers rights for a small period of time, but I don't see that as a reason for its desired transience. Most cultures, too, have only seen the abolition of slavery, suffrage, and the germ theory of disease for a short period of time too, would be be so apathetic about losing them too?
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I'm not talking about what employers should or should not be doing. I'm talking about what YOU should be doing to support your family. It's an acknowledgement of reality, not a statement of how things should be. Should employers be required to have a safe working enviroment, and be held liable if they don't? Yes, they should. But 'should' doesn't necessarily cut it in the real world. It can be far too late by the time the court system finishes going through the evidence.
It's along my beliefs ab
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Technically, it is. Our employment figures are still rather high, after all. There are some losers, but not everybody lost.
Now, China is currently the big winner right now, the outsourcing of labor is h
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Look at China. Look at India. I wouldn't call those dents. And yes, it's great for the employer in the short term. In the long term it works out for everybody as the
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Yes, but if you are the only one...
IME, if your point is reasonable, you will not be the only one.
A while ago, my (formerly small and privately owned) employer was bought out by a much larger corporation. One of the first things they did was try to change everyone's contract to their national standard boilerplate. Unfortunately, that boilerplate included clauses that affect life outside work. They required permission to get any additional paid work, even things like playing semi-pro musical gigs at your local bar for beer money, or tutor
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At least MD's are traditionally excellently paid in exchange for being there to handle emergencies and other urgent situations.
They also, at least later in life, are able to reduce their workload in other ways to compensate - like having office hours be 10-4 for routine stuff.
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Since 19 I have carried a pager, cell phone, laptop, or some combination of the three with me where ever I go. Its in my car at all times or within 5 mins of where I am. (Except my private motorcycle times when the weather is warm)
My wife knew what she was getting into when she married me, so it hasnt been an issue of contention there. Aside from 1 CEO who abused my availabil
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I think (or hope) you're vastly underestimating the average
Anyway, when I worked at small mom and pop ISPs where I was the only sysadmin (or one of two or three), I
Respectfully Disagree (Score:2)
But, in the real world, situations vary.
Pagers have been around for millenia, Blackberrys simply give better message.
With pagers, someone had to make the conscious decision to bother someone at the other end of a pager. With Blackberry devices, someone in Japan might send an email - when it is convenient for them - to someone in New York when it is not convenient. If the recipient hasn't configured the device's privacy schedule, then they will be
Re:Respectfully Disagree (Score:5, Insightful)
- Calls from this number are emergency, always ring.
- Between 5pm and 9am, and all day weekends, defer this group to voicemail
- When in 'meeting' mode send everyone to voicemail except for my boss, who gets a vibrate alert but not a ring.
On andy device (Can you do those with Blackberry privacy profiles?). Perhaps also with some form of short range 'hinting' available for certain types of places, for example cinemas can suggest to your phone that they enter a discreet mode (Nothing except for your 'emergency' numbers for example), or for hospitals to suggest to phones that they enter a limited usage mode (Intensive care wards, A&E, theatres etc force phones to airplane mode)
Re:meaning of the word millenia (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe, possibly. Or maybe you aren't familiar with, or are unable to recognize hyperbole.
;-)
Yes, it's a problem (Score:5, Informative)
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Just turn it off (Score:2, Insightful)
Just going out on a limb here, but couldn't they switch it off when they don't want to be working?
Re:Just turn it off (Score:4, Insightful)
Blame the machine. (Score:2)
Yes. (Score:5, Insightful)
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It's your choice. (Score:2)
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Every evening I receive e-mails, and actually I do answer a lot of them. It's part of my work. I don't complain, I'm the boss. BUt I'd much rather have my customers send me e-mail that I can reply when I have time (end of the evening, before going off to bed, che
I've heard people say... (Score:5, Insightful)
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Indeed, there's got to be a time where you are able to "I was out and unavailable for company mail". Forget sorry and couldn't - my time is mine.
I actually do some work voluntarily from home, but it's time I've arranged and not just random "hope you're available" time. And it remains my ambition in life to never own a blackberry.
Cheers,
Ian
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- I'm afraid of responsibility
- I don't think I'd have enough strength to be able to control myself with that and not let work take over my personal life, or stand up for myself when work starts asking me to be on call all the time
- I wouldn't want my position to involve being expected to be on call all the time
I see no problem with #3, but I think for most people that statement probably means #2.Re:I've heard people say... (Score:5, Interesting)
What I find funny about the Blackberry thing is that, in a couple places that I've worked, they were being used pretty much exclusively for middle-management. The lowly helpdesk techs supposedly weren't important enough to get one, in spite of the fact that it would be really useful for them to receive e-mail when they were away from their desks "in the field". Then a bunch of managers who were at their desks all day anyway had them. But then, oddly, the executive team didn't have Blackberries.
I once asked one of the VPs about it, and he basically said, "We let the managers get them because it makes them feel important and they aren't that expensive. But I sure as hell don't want to be on-call 24 hours a day." I felt like I learned something right there. The trappings of power are usually most appreciated by those who don't really have any. Those guys who spend a lot of time trying to show you who's boss are specifically those who aren't "the boss". The people who are really in charge don't necessarily feel the need to prove it to you.
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1. There were people who were not imporant enough to be reachable all the time, so they didn't have a mobile phone.
2. Then there were the more important people, who thought it was a good idea to be reachable all the time, they had one.
3. And those really important ones didn't have a mobile phone, because they were important enough to decide by themselves when they are rea
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In other words: you might have an abusive employer but it might not ever show.
It depends on when it is used. (Score:5, Insightful)
Two-sided (Score:3, Interesting)
On the one hand, I enjoy the flexibility of having my laptop come home with me, so that if something happens and I can't get to my office, I can still work. On the other hand, I get obsessive with problems I can't solve, so there's the pitfall of going home, logging in, and continuing to work. It's up to the individual to control their use. Now, if your supervisor begins pressuring you to work more... that's a whole different ballgame, but still, you have to push back when work bleeds into your home life to the point that it interferes too much.
Yes, but I waste more time on the clock (Score:5, Insightful)
It's easier for me to justify randomly screwing around on the internet or working on personal coding/whatever at work because I wind up checking email and working over weekends to get things done. I think it's fair. They steal some of my free time, I waste some of their paid time.
Re:Yes, but I waste more time on the clock (Score:5, Insightful)
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So what? If I do my work, why should they care? If my job allows me*, I should be able to do this kind of thing. I'd jump on a problem if it came up. That's expected.
* What I mean by "allows me" is that the job is setup in a way that this isn't a problem. As an accountant who has a big assignment that will take me a week, or a programmer who already has the scope and just need to do the coding, this should be fine. If you a help desk representative, a lawyer or accountant who needs to meet clients, or some
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If someone calls me outside office hours it's fine by me. If I'm not doing anything like sitting in the toilet or having quality time with my wife I'll answer and charge one hour salary for that 5 minute phone call.
Re:Yes, but I waste more time on the clock (Score:4, Interesting)
A man gets a Bill from his lawyer.
That is an excellent solution to the problem, but I doubt many people would have the guts to go through with it.
Re:Yes, but I waste more time on the clock (Score:4, Insightful)
saves the travel (Score:5, Insightful)
Im constantly monitoring not necessarily available (Score:5, Interesting)
I have several email addresses routed to it, which each have different notification tones. If I receive a Nagios alert to my "Oh Crap" email address, the notification is loud and insistent. If I receive personal mail, it's subtle. Business mail is also fairly quiet and subtle but different to personal mail.
Outside of "working hours", I can choose to ignore it easily enough. Only if our monitoring system picks up something alert-worthy do I have to actually bother actioning something immediately.
When I was first offered the blackberry, I made it clear to the MD that this would not intrude upon my personal life unnecessarily. If I *choose* to read my business emails outside of working hours, then all fine. I balance that with *choosing* to read my personal mail during work hours
P.
Meh (Score:3, Interesting)
Then again, you make me do work stuff at home, I'm gonna do more home stuff at work. Yay internet.
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That's been our policy for years. No new releases/updates/pushes on Fridays. Period.
the answer is.... (Score:2)
Qui bono (Score:5, Insightful)
More flexible for whom? Where I work, that seems to be a one way flexibility. Senior executives are making (SWAG alert) 3x - 10x what I am making. They have made the choice to have a large stake in how the company performs. While I have a stake, of course, it's just not as large or worth my personal/family life. It seems like despite being more accessible, people's work hours never get shorter. And that's what it's about in the end, isn't it? Getting more done in less time? But in rality, it just seems that it's about getting more done in more time. No good. I am glad I have no blackberry.
depends on your responsibilities (Score:3, Insightful)
To me the blackberry is a blessing, because it helps me find out about things sooner. If I didn't find out about some things on the blackberry, then I'd only find out about them when I next get to the office, except more time would have elapsed and the urgency would be higher. So for me a little bit of intrusiveness (urgent email when I'm on my way home) is more than offset by reducing the stress of getting to work and finding shit happened last night and I wasn't aware).
However I do establish limits on the intrusiveness of the blackberry. Mine never buzzes for email and is switched off entirely from about mid-evening to around breakfast the next day. During that off period people can contact me on my cellphone if they really need me.
If there isn't that time critical element to a persons responsibilities then I can imagine it being not worth it.
My approach to communication... (Score:2)
Blackberries I don't find appealing, because they have too many triggers to allow people to get to you right then - from email to paging to phone. It's really the email that's the worst, Blackberry users seem to stop whatever they are doing right that second to read and answer an email.
People need to be willing to let the mail queue at least a little bit... it would be nice to have a device have some kind of setting to only allow a notic
I'm available when available, (Score:4, Insightful)
Seriously people, if you don't want to be bothered at home, make it clear. My company had no problem with that. Turn off the company phone/blackberry/whatever or at least stand your ground. Granted I don't work in IT so I don't know what common policies are like=, but I am on call, during certain hours. If they call outside of those hours, they will get a polite no (they have never tried).
Executive toys perhaps? (Score:2, Interesting)
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Do the executives wnat them for the reasons stated, or do they want them as a status symbol when they're on the golf course?
That's half of it. The other half does appear to be the ability to keep their tentacles around their employees, keeping them available at all times.
Camel's nose problem (Score:2)
The problem in my group isn't so much that my boss wants everyone to be accessible 24/7, its that my co-workers try to out-do each other in the customer service area. Coincidentally, the people who keep the most lusers happy usually get the best raises because they have the lowest number of complaints. I guess that some people would rather have a juicy raise than a good night's
Telling work when you're available... (Score:5, Insightful)
It must be nice to be able to set the terms on which you'll work for the company. You must have a lot of leverage there. A lot of us are not so lucky.
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Look, do you want money? Time? early retirement?
Decide and focus on it. I like my time off. I could make 25% more money tomorrow if I wanted to. But my work week will shoot to 60+ hours a week, plus traveling. Right now I work 4 10s and have three day weekends every weekend. Funny thing is I get as much, if not more work done working this schedule. With everybody working 40 they want to get work done and go home. I almost never see a person come up to a cube to 'Just Chat'. Sure, they'll
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Not for me (Score:2)
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Note of extreme-nerdery: it has the same birthday as i do!
OFF (Score:2)
From a VPN point of view (Score:2, Insightful)
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IMHO a Blackberry is 'worse' than text messaging on a phone because it's often easier to send an email than a text message. Also, everyone knows that a text message arrives immediately. Some people may not realise that an email will get through to the Black
Bizzare telecommuting tale.. (Score:5, Insightful)
This ended when a director level person walked through our area one day and didn't see enough butts in seats for their liking. Now they wonder why they have so much trouble getting people to answer the cel phones and work those long/extra hours from home.
Shatter it? Of course it does, and to my benefit! (Score:2)
1. If I come in late, I've already been responding to my emails and early morning calls on the bus 30 minutes prior. Tick tock - I'm getting paid for my time regardless where I am. +1 karma bonus
2. If a client calls
Re:Shatter it? Of course it does, and to my benefi (Score:2)
Re:Shatter it? Of course it does, and to my benefi (Score:2)
Differing Viewpoints (Score:3, Insightful)
Did anyone notice the stark contrast between the view of the Executives and the workabees?
The Executives believe that the Blackberries can facilitate telecommuting and a balance between life and work. The grunts fear this is just a way to ensure longer workdays.
Why do you think that might be?
Could it be that relative to the workers, the execs don't really have that much work to balance with their life?
I think there is at least one other very important aspect here relative to telecommuting. Telecommuting really only works when there are a few key ingredients:
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Trust. The manager needs to trust the worker.
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A way to measure work. I find the managers the most comfortable with telecommuting, flex-time, etc., were those in situations where counting widgets was easy. If there is no clear way to measure output, this becomes a bit more of a challenge.
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Good management, including proper escalation. My current management has clearly expressed that they expect routine escalation since we're understaffed. We're all comfortable about it since it then becomes the manager's job to prioritize. A bad manager simply attempts to appease everyone and twist the arms of employees to get them to do everything despite burnout.
If you are in a situation where the environment isn't already very comfortable with flex-time, telecommuting, etc., picking up a device which may lead others to expect immediate responses to email at all hours of the day may be a rather horrible idea.As someone who isn't in an on-call type profession (Score:2)
Would prefer blackberries still (Score:2)
But then again, my feng shui is broken anyway, my office is my living room, and I have 6 computers on all the time - well since I am a treehugger they hybernate/powersave themselves as much as possible.
I still prefer IM as I can simply ignore them, and my asterisk server goes into "we are closed this time" mode for business calls after 7pm,
Dangerous to Health (Score:2)
In my opinion, it has been dangerous to my health. Previously, when a server would have an issue (major or minor) I wouldn't really address it until users started complaining. Sometimes I'd get an email notification, sometimes I wouldn't -- regardless, repair wouldn't begin until 9 AM the next day.
Some people may view that as bad administration (and it is, to a degree), but there was a
I like on-line access (Score:2, Insightful)
Just how many channels do we need? (Score:2, Interesting)
I find it rather hilarious how many mechanisms we have for communication these days.
But what is very interesting is the inconsistency of it all.
I use the following means to communicate to my peers at work:
Due to cost reduction efforts, many workers no longer have work cell phones nor pagers. But some do. Furthermore, many of us permit others to call us on our personal mobile phones bu
Union, Yes! (Score:5, Informative)
Here's how it's done in a union shop. [animationguild.org] This is an Animation Guild contract.
Time worked on the employee's sixth (6th) workday of the workweek shall be paid at one and one-half (1 1/2) times the hourly rate provided herein for such employee's classification. Time worked on the employee's seventh (7th) workday of the workweek shall be paid at two (2) times the hourly rate provided herein for such employee's classification.
Minimum call for the sixth (6th) and seventh (7th) days shall be four (4) hours. In the event the actual time worked by such employee exceeds the four (4) hour minimum, s/he shall be paid for all time actually worked in 1/10th -hour increments.
All time worked in excess of fourteen (14) consecutive hours (including meal periods) from the time of reporting to work shall be Golden Hours and shall be paid at two (2) times the applicable hourly rate provided herein for such employee's classification.
Now that's the way it's supposed to work. There may be crunches when hours are long, but pay goes up, which discourages employers from overdoing it.
Note the "minimum call" provision. Calling someone at home to do work outside of normal hours triggers that, and costs the employer at least 4 hours pay. Again, emergencies are provided for, but they're billable, so employers don't overdo it.
I don't even like being tethered with 'IM' (Score:2)
I refuse to do IM. I feel too tethered with that. I like the store/forward idea of email. get an email, reply to it, you are done. IM is too chatty and requires you to BE there at the time. tethering. I hate it. too many people just accept, it though - and that's scary.
I have a cell phone for emergency use, that I leave in the car. I also don't like having a phone with me. I don't want to live where so m
depends on the individual (for me, it's great) (Score:2)
If you think managers do this for your flexibility (Score:2)
It's not about Access, it's about Choice (Score:2)
It's not about access, it's about choice. If you have the freedom to say "no", to turn it off, to refuse to carry it, you're going to be fine with it. If you don't, you're not.
It's likely one of those areas like harrassment or discrimination, where people have different points of view not because they think in a fundamentally different way but because their personal experience is different. Such personal variation masks a lo
Only if you let it. (Score:2)
I think some people get too wrapped up in their work and absolutely need to know how to cut out and enjoy the rest of their lives. But eve
What's the problem? (Score:2)
If I can process PERSONAL email and phone calls while I'm at the office, I can be an agent for my employer outside of my normal work hours.
As long as boundries and expectations are healthy, and clear - I don't see the problem with this.
Working Attitude (Score:2)
Usually it doesn't. Frequently I can send a
A couple things (Score:4, Insightful)
Second, on a more personal note, when I'm out of the office, I'm not working. Period. I'm not being paid hourly, and I don't feel the need to give away freebies. I don't have to go on-call at my current job, and unless I get scheduled for a downtime window, my work will still be there the next morning when I get back to the office. A few years ago, I realized that work is not everything. The paycheck is important, but there's much more to life than doing work. I have a lot of hobbies which I like doing infinitely more than working, and they occupy my time and interest just fine, thanks. I like visiting friends and traveling to new places, and I don't want to be interrupted while I'm doing either. If my boss and/or company require the level of fealty that a lot of companies seem to require these days, I'm working at the wrong place.
Back when I was going on-call, I would do my on-call duties when it was my turn, and when it wasn't, I was not very nice about calls I received. I never slept well when I was on-call. I had my Christmas morning of opening gifts with my family interrupted by the on-call phone ringing one year. I used to carry a blackberry, and never read emails on it. The volume of what I got was so high, it quickly (like over the course of the first day or two I had it) turned into the boy-who-cried-wolf device; 99.9%+ of the mails didn't need a response, and the rest could have simply been replaced by an SMS or a phone call of "hey, we need help".
New toy factor creates precedence (Score:4, Insightful)
I think for many, the problem is that when you first get it, you create a precedence. 2 years ago I got my first crackberry. It was purely for off-hours support only when I was on call.
First couple weeks I'm thinking, oh hey fun, I can send work emails while bored on the crapper on a Thursday evening. People see the emails, and think I'm "working" all the time. Of course the email could've waited until Friday morning. But after you do that a few times, people are expecting responses.
Learned my lesson, got a smartphone for off-hours stuff at my current employer, but I refuse to answer emails unless I'm scheduled on call for production support. If its important enough, and I'm not on call, they'll actually just call me. Which, of course, I let go to voicemail and only do anything if its a real emergencyIt's dependent upon the individual (Score:4, Insightful)
Admittedly, it could be a problem if management is pushing you to be on call without being 'on call', but there are ways around that too, depending on how devious you want to be (though I'm guessing you can only use the old 'my battery died' excuse a few times before they'll start to cotton on ;) ).
The Sergeants Run the Army (Score:4, Interesting)
I am the original techie (architect/engineer/developer/programmer/administrator/etc) in the company. Over 20+ years, the business has grown and gone public, and my systems have become the mission-critical part of the business. There really are some problems for which I am the only person in the world who knows the systems well enough to solve them. And, some of those problems are extremely expensive (per-minute) until they are solved. They pay me well enough that I don't mind a few extra hours occasionally, and a lot of extra hours very occasionally.
A typical "emergency" ends up being most of a night to put the systems back online and stable, followed by a few days of follow up to fix the underlying issue, communicate what happened, and to coordinate who is going to do what to make the fix permanent. We had a bad month last September -- I ended up working 100+ hours/week for several weeks straight. That doesn't happen very often.
To balance, I feel free to take some under-time, whenever I need it, or I judge it to be appropriate. My usual office schedule is probably about 35 hours a week, and much of that time is spent "walking around" (mentoring, tutoring, and a lot of listening).
A few times over the years, a "senior management" type has fussed at me about my hours or schedules. None of those people work here any more. It's amazing how that happens. Some people think they can just issue orders. Others understand that they need to cooperate with the people who can actually make things happen. It doesn't take long to see the difference.
The wise lieutenant understands that the senior sergeants actually run the army, do what they recommend, and don't piss them off. The life expectancy of a foolish lieutenant on the battleground is just a few days.
Re:Not sure about Blackberries... (Score:5, Interesting)
If you were to die tomorrow, this would affect your family for the rest of their lives. You are irreplaceable. Your company would fill your position within days and except for your immediate co-workers, nobody would even care.
Re:Not sure about Blackberries... (Score:5, Interesting)
Not always the case. I got very tired of the working conditions at $VERY_LARGE_COMPANY and was vaguely entertaining the notion of leaving. Another company that was familiar with my work contacted me out of the blue and asked me for a resume. A week later I had a job offer in hand and gave notice.
$VERY_LARGE_COMPANY panicked. They had three different managers call me and try to convince me to stay, offered me a raise, more stock, better working conditions, etc. I told them that they should have done that before I got so fed up that I decided to quit, but that I would be more than happy to answer emails if they needed help with anything after I left.
I talked to a couple of my former coworkers recently. Turns out that a few months after I left, they gave up on finding a replacement, disbanded my old team and moved further development for the product I had been working on (which is used by millions of people and has at least one book written about it) to Bangalore, where it is languishing. And it's not like it was a crufty mess, either -- it was clean, very thoroughly documented and there were several developers who were very familiar with it. Unfortunately, they were also very junior, and apparently judged unfit to be in charge of it.
The moral of the story? Don't assume that just because you work at $VERY_LARGE_COMPANY that you're just a faceless drone and they'd be able to replace you at the drop of a hat. And conversely, if you're a manager at $VERY_LARGE_COMPANY, make sure you give your employees appropriate treatment before they're ready to walk out the door.
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Another area where IT workers get shafted.
Did you also no IT workers are exempt from Federal overtime rules if they make more then about 28 bucks an hour?
The IT worker need a country wide guild just so they can have enough lobby power to stop getting screwed. No this