# Boss questioning my commitment!



## morpheus (12 Dec 2006)

Hi guys,

need your advice, happily working away for my company but a couple of us were recently (2 months ago) moved back to HQ due to off site long term project winding down.

at first this was ok but lately ive become a dogs body working on bits and pieces of other peoples projects.

late the week before last it came to light that a colleague was going to be on holidays during a major operation involving some new components that had recently been added (over weekend just gone) of an application he had been developing (we are IT software developers) and I would be brought in with a fellow worker to support the client while he was away. 

It was hoped that eventually the colleague on holidays would be moved away from this project and that myself and workmate would gain experience and recieve a hand off to support and bug fix the application.

Last week we were instructed to report to client site on friday for the day. In conversation my colleague said that I would have to work late but I insisted that boss had said just normal friday hours and I had to get home before 8pm for a family engagement (1.5 hrs travel time from client to home).

Then on thursday my boss asked me to work all day saturday too, I insisted that I had prior arrangements and that it was too short notice. I said that I would be on call and my boss persuaded my colleague to do a half day with me on call for a half day to support him.

Friday went ok but my boss was miffed that I couldnt work late on friday night with only a days notice. Saturday went with only 2 phone calls. 

Saturday night im in the pub and boss phones me insisting that I am needed all day on sunday, I basically said no that I had stuff to do. He again wasnt happy but I stood my ground.

I had a career meeting today which was schedulede anyway which was about my future prospects and possible training courses etc but which turned into my boss basically telling me that after sacraficing 6 months of my life working my backside off for the company in Belfast (And commuting everyday that I could between balbriggan and belfast)that he doubted my level of commitment to the company.

I like the job and the colleagues but im not one who goes running at the drop of a hat, this isnt a once off with my company, this happens all the time, they like proverbial yes-men/women who do everything for them at the drop of a hat, im involved in extracurricular activities including Army Reserve, Coaching adult womens soccer, playing mens soccer and trying to get a home ready for me and my partner to move into and he implied that I should rethink my commitments.

Up until now (2 years with my company) no IT manager has ever questioned me like this, ive had excellent performance appraisals and reviews submitted by various project managers and have been selected for the most challenging projects.

I am seriously pi$$ed off and wondering what I should do now, so Ive decided to post my grievances and to seek your advice.

Regards
Morpheus.


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## yop (12 Dec 2006)

That is a tough one lad, I also worked for a company in Belfast who wanted us to jump when they said, like yourself I stood up to them and left 3 weeks later.

Would you not get a job close to home, there has to be an easier life than this travelling and hassle.


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## annR (12 Dec 2006)

Specify for your boss in writing what is acceptable to you in terms of working weekends etc. and ask him to take it or leave it.


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## homeowner (12 Dec 2006)

morpheus said:


> I had a career meeting today which was schedulede anyway which was about my future prospects and possible training courses etc but which turned into my boss basically telling me that after sacraficing 6 months of my life working my backside off for the company in Belfast (And commuting everyday that I could between balbriggan and belfast)that he doubted my level of commitment to the company.



If you really feel strongly about this, my advice would be to tell you boss that you dont agree with this assessment from your review and that you are making a formal complaint to HR about it.  You are entitled to have your say and not to be bullied by a manager.  If at all possible, make a list of every weekend you worked over the past year and evenings you stayed late (it shoudl be on your timesheets in work if your comapny has a timesheet system, and most IT companies do), and present this as your case when you go to HR to prove that you have been pulling your weight.  Unless  working overtime is a condition of your contract, make the case that you always acocomodate work when you are given notice and that you dont consider being called up on a saturday night to work on sunday proper notice. Some companies require both the mgr and the worker to sign their reviews, have you done this?  

However, if you go this far you are probably kissing goodbye any prospects you have in the company, unless HR agree with you and people dont like your manager and are glad for some ammunition against him.

If I were in your shoes, i would probably do this, then look for another job.


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## morpheus (12 Dec 2006)

Interesting points above, thanks for food for thought, just on an aside, my company are dublin based, I travelled in order to work for a client of ours based in belfast. that finished up and i moved to that clients dublin office to finish the work and finally back to HQ also in north side dublin.


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## DirtyH2O (12 Dec 2006)

I would examine what exactly your boss was expecting from you. Are they disappointed that you were unable to accommodate them on short notice for exceptional circumstances or are they setting a precedent for this type of situation arising.
I would also look at how they managed to schedule this deployment on the same weekend that the person responsible was on holidays and only noticed it at the last minute. Worrying.
Some companies can become very careless in their planning when they feel they can rely on their employees to make up time through working late nights and weekends. This "just in time" permanent crisis mode of operation is not a sustainable approach  and often leads lower productivity and reduced morale. It is not usually properly appreciated either, I always think of the horse Boxer from Animal Farm.

I am not saying that your company falls into this category but I would warn you to look out for this tendency. 
I would not create a major HR issue as if you plan to stay and this last minute availability is expected you will be damaging your standing and if you are not prepared to meet those type of expectations then you would be better to find a new role and finish on the best terms possible.

Small IT firms are notorious for this type of behaviour.


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## johndoe64 (12 Dec 2006)

DirtyH2O said:


> II would also look at how they managed to schedule this deployment on the same weekend that the person responsible was on holidays and only noticed it at the last minute. Worrying.


 
I would totally agree here, it looks to me like your boss took his eye of the ball on this one and was up to his neck in it, so basically it was all hands on deck to help sort it out.

If the person that had been in charge of the project had been onsite would their have been a need for it to run over into Sunday? Considering they had only work scheduled for Friday and Sat..........


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## morpheus (12 Dec 2006)

initially it was only scheduled for friday day.

this then overran to friday day and late into the evening (which both i and my colleague were unavailable for)

this then over over ran into saturday which we accomodated by me being on call until midday and my colleague being on site until midday.

the call for sunday came to me at 1030pm sat nite. my colleague was on west coast (to the knowledge of my boss too) yet when i refused my boss requested he make the drive back to dublin, which he of course sanely refused.

let me enlighten you to a piece of my contract 




> Normal work hours are 9 to 5.30 mon til fri, with 1 hour lunch break. You could be required to work exta hours *without any extra pay *if asked by the Company or when the performance of your works requires you to do so.



so you see, we dont even get compensated never mind thanked!!!


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## Blinder (12 Dec 2006)

As a software developer, my only advice is to dust off your CV and starting looking for a new job.

Not all companies expect you to give up your life to do your job. 
And there is nothing worse than working for a manger that doesn't appreicate you.

There's no harm is looking to see what else is out there.


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## Seagull (13 Dec 2006)

Was your manager expected to be on site over this period?


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## pat127 (13 Dec 2006)

"Normal work hours are 9 to 5.30 mon til fri, with 1 hour lunch break. You could be required to work exta hours *without any extra pay *if asked by the Company or when the performance of your works requires you to do so."

Doesn't give a lot of room for manouevre does it! OTOH the boss might be contravening the terms of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 which lays down the average max hours per week you are obliged to work, entitlements to rest periods etc etc. Do you really want to go down this road however, particularly when your colleagues seemed prepared to work whatever hours are required? If you don't mind me saying so, having been in the IT business for more years than I care to remember, this kind of chaos tends to be the norm. I haven't seen any improvement in the scheduling and planning processes which should help to limit all this emergency stuff. There is also the point that IT people often seem prepared to work the hours out of some combination of interest in the job and an investment in their careers.

I think that the general advice you've received to look elsewhere for a more compatible job environment is the best course of action.


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## Purple (13 Dec 2006)

I cannot understand the mindset of a manager or company that expects its employees to work like this for no extra pay. I would expect to pay €250 plus hours at time and a half for anyone to work over a weekend.
I seems that the company is badly run and your manager is seeking to cover up his incompetence by bullying his team. Get another job.


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## Stiofan (13 Dec 2006)

Take him on Morpheus. You have as much right to complain about his approach to work as he does about you. The fact that he's ringing people on Saturday nights to work Sundays suggests he ain't got the organisational skills to be a good manager and the fact that he questioned your attitude despite your previous efforts also suggests a lack of professional courtesy.

If you like your job you shouldn't feel you need to leave because of one person and his attitude.


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## michaelm (13 Dec 2006)

morpheus said:


> . .this isnt a once off with my company, this happens all the time, they like proverbial yes-men/women who do everything for them at the drop of a hat, im involved in extracurricular activities including Army Reserve, Coaching adult womens soccer, playing mens soccer and trying to get a home ready for me and my partner to move into and he implied that I should rethink my commitments.


I think it's important to manage peoples expectations and if it were me I'd put the manager straight (politely but firmly) about what I'm prepared to do and that I wouldn't be coerced or bullied.  I wouldn't have anyone ringing me after hours either, if it's a work phone then turn it off outside hours and use a pay-as-you-go or something.  If it's your phone then reject work related calls after hours (I'll assume that you're not supporting machines that monitor premature babies hearts here).  Nor should you give a specific reason why you can't work late or Saturday etc. 'I have other commitments, there's nothing more to discuss'. Have 'work to live' mentality rather than the reverse.

 That said, if this type of management is endemic within the company then your best bet might be to resolve to move to a better company as you're unlikely to be able to change things there.  2 years on the CV will look solid, leave on the best possible terms, and don't talk down your present company or manager when asked by potential employers why you are leaving etc.


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## DirtyH2O (13 Dec 2006)

Overtime is not usually paid by IT firms. This was offset by the huge potential rewards from share options that were prevalant in the 1990s but obviously that was a long time ago and not likely to be repeated.
People who worked in that environment seem to have not changed with the times and still expect regular staff to work like junior executives who are striving to become partners in large law or investment firms such as Goldman Sachs i.e. places where annual bonuses average $400,000, not people earning average wages with salary rises likely to be 10% at max.

I don't think a confrontation with a manager still stuck in the past will reap much reward and it would be better to find a more modern workplace. The behaviour of this tyrannosaurus is unlikely to change until they realise no one is prepared to put up with it. This realisation typically only happens after excessively high staff turnover occurs.


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## Stiofan (13 Dec 2006)

I have to say i'm a bit surprised at the "just move on" attitude of alot of people to this situation. Maybe Morpheus likes where he works and doesn't want to move on. That sort of attitude is fine when you have somewhere else to go to but the day will come when moving just ain't an option. So for the time being maybe we should all get used to sticking up for ourselves in the workplace.


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## Seagull (13 Dec 2006)

IT companies tend not to pay overtime, but a lot will give time in lieu. Spend the weekend in the office, take two days off sometime.


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## DirtyH2O (13 Dec 2006)

Time in lieu is typically available in an unoffical subjective manner i.e. it will not be explictly guaranteed in an employment contract nor will it be widely disclosed in the company. I've found it is often disguised in timesheets as "excess hours" or else a "work from home" day. I've availed of it on many occasions myself but it is up to an individual manager whether or not to give it to their team which makes it a privilege rather than a right.
I am not advocating that they leave but it is worth considering what your personal objectives are - career advancement, greater experience and skills development, salary etc.
If your present employer is meeting your needs or at least is as good as the next employer then it's pointless to leave but when the market is good you would be foolish to stagnate in a job you dislike as the opportunity to move will not be available in a slump.

Also most employees reach a career ceiling by 40 and with an additional 25 -30 years remaining in the average work career (assuming retirement age is raised to 70 in the coming decades) it's a long time to ponder decisions made or not made.


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## shipibo (13 Dec 2006)

I agree with Stiofan, you like the work environment, you have showed your work flexibility by working in Belfast (I assume you got some increment/allowances for this ), and because you won,t be bullied into working at the drop of a hat , the advice is YOU should leave ....

Stand up for yourself, you are in the right, if they try to force you out, you would have a strong case against the company.

The " No Overtime" precendent was set because people allowed it, if the situation changed with Bonusues, Share Options , highlight this and demand a fair and equitable resolution, but Irish people seems happier to complain than act.


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## morpheus (15 Dec 2006)

We move forward a couple of days and I now find myself working on a month long SQL contract.

Initially I was very happy to be moving back out of the offices to get TRex off my back, but that was yesterday and now today I find that this new project involves me on my own trying to write some massive SQL queries to perform data transformation.

I feel quite initimidated by the project having not done something so complex before in SQL (im a c# .net developer at heart, read/write/update databases all day too but not this stuff!!) and also feel under extra pressure as my company have reliably informed the client that we can meet their target of 4 weeks from spec to testing. 

This is typical of them, client asks can you do it, company says yes and then hands the cement boots to a developer while providing a nice gentle push off the deep end.

Maybe i need to start looking for a new job, this is what im considering as I sit here trying not to look completely bewildered by the project.


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## Seagull (15 Dec 2006)

Try suggesting to management that if they set ludicrous deadlines that will guarantee excessive hours of overtime, you will expect to see them logging the same kind of hours. Would it be fair to guess that most of the people working for this company are young and single? It sounds like they want employees who don't have an outside life or commitments that might interfere with their ability to work silly hours at short notice.


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## morpheus (18 Dec 2006)

Yes that would be a fair assumption, most of the people who are at the standard developers level (same as myself) would be single, one or two "commited" people in relationships (im in a 5 year one) or married and half of the developers are from former soviet bloc countries.

Most developers who are married or in long relationships are senior developers who are also expected to work long hours but are on 50 - 60k p.a. at my best guesstimate.

I dont know, maybe a career change is on the cards, become an apprentice mechanic or stone mason or something. 

Surely there are decent paying I.T. 9 - 5 jobs out there with a good renumeration package for overtime? I mean in retrospect if he had said, come in sunday and we'll give a good money for it, or look we will compensate you for being on call on saturday and for the couple extra hours friday night, then it would become unreasonable (barring the v short notice) for me to refuse.


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## homeowner (18 Dec 2006)

morpheus said:


> Most developers who are married or in long relationships are senior developers who are also expected to work long hours but are on 50 - 60k p.a. at my best guesstimate.


 50-60K is at the lower end for senior developers from what i see.  Juniors shouldnt be expected to do the same over time as a senior imo as it is implicit that a senior will have more responsibility. I think your company is taking the piss.  



morpheus said:


> Surely there are decent paying I.T. 9 - 5 jobs out there with a good renumeration package for overtime? I mean in retrospect if he had said, come in sunday and we'll give a good money for it, or look we will compensate you for being on call on saturday and for the couple extra hours friday night, then it would become unreasonable (barring the v short notice) for me to refuse.



Alot of companies will give you a day in lieu or pay you for being on call or at the very least have a bonus structure to award people who went the extra mile during the year but it shouldnt be expected that you do it. 

As for a decent paying 9-5 job in IT, I'm afraid not, unless you work in a bank or civil service where IT is not the companies main business.  Software houses tend to have their people work long hours coming up to deadlines but compensate in some way.

Contact some recruiters and look around to see if there is a more suitable IT job out there for you.


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## shipibo (21 Dec 2006)

http://www.rescon.ie


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## morpheus (21 Dec 2006)

Simple answer, I love it.


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## MissThing (28 Dec 2006)

I'm not in IT so I can't comment on how reasonable it is to support systems at the drop of a hat etc. However, one thing I wanted to comment on is that its very short sighted for your boss to reflect on your annual review with this one (recent) incident in mind. Its an annual review and shouldn't focus on your response to this weekend emergency work.

If your mobile phone is supplied by your employers then answer it during office hours only, if someone phones on a private or overseas number don't answer it out of hours. What you do with your private mobile if your own business but you're not obligated to answer your private phone.

Finally, you've been asked to work on project that you're not equipped to do so (no experience of) within a tight deadline, this is just plain crazy. You should ask them to send you on a course or else you can't commit to deliver. 

Your boss sounds like a nut, hang in there 'till something else pops up, get trained on SQL and then leave.

Good luck
Miss Thing


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## Marie (28 Dec 2006)

Morpheus reading between the lines I think your company are in serious trouble and rather than being able to 'step back', appraise and manage the situation to steer to calmer waters they are drowning in crisis mode and unintentionally passing this on to yourselves.

From your remarks about the colleague with whom you were 'twinned' for that overtime weekend work you are not alone in asserting that work is not your entire life.

Whilst moving on is certainly one option my feeling is that you value and wish to remain where you have invested so much time and energy and have established relationships.  Changing employment is costly in energy, time and sometimes initially entails a dip in income or an increase in commute-time.

Would it be productive to approach this matter in the manner in which your management ideally should (but cannot)?  This would kill two birds with one stone in obtaining better management and conditions for yourselves and injecting a dose of sense into the organisation.  Get together in a semi-formal meeting with colleagues affected - as you are - by the current chaos in your firm.  Elect a Chair and set an agenda of 3 main items.  With your contracts to hand write out a simple two or three paragraph statement signed by you all suggesting pre-planned rostering, 'unsocial hours payments', annual review system  etc...........just the main beef without going into individual cases or getting into complaint-mode.

Accomplish what your management are not  currently capable of doing..........._manage the situation!  _If they accept your perspective and ideas and change accordingly everyone wins!  If they get defensive or don't value it this confirms its time to go - but you will be leaving from the perspective of maturity and engagement with the issues rather than driven out by unacceptable levels of chaos.  All the best with it!


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