Working on Weekends [closed]

Question

How often do you work on weekends? I am not talking about working voluntarily for fun.

My manager walks up to me on a Friday afternoon and tells me I have to work over the weekend to complete XYZ task. The task was not communicated properly that week (I mean the requirements and all that).

How to react to such a situation?

Answer 1

Unfortunately, some companies (formally or informally) expect their employees to do regular, even unpaid, overtime. If you are at one of these, it sucks, because you may not be able to deny it up front (without the risk of getting fired).

You may still strive to alleviate the problem by demanding in a diplomatic manner to get notice in due time, not in the last minute.

And of course, you may decide to start looking for a better place... don't forget to ask about their relationship to (paid or unpaid) overtime already on the job interview though :-)

Note that regular overtime is almost always a sign of bad management: either they can't estimate the required time to complete tasks and projects well, or they believe programmers work better under pressure, or they simply want to "utilize their resources efficiently" (that resource being you).

Answer 2

Tell him you have other plans for your personal time.

Answer 3

I've done it a few times, however I see working on the weekend as an absolute exception.

It's definitely not a way to say "Well, I haven't gotten the work done until Friday, so I'll have to add another day or two". There might be situations, where there is no other solution (because there is a fixed deadline and somebody screwed up) but in almost all other cases there is another way.

Working on weekends doesn't make you more productive - on the contrary, you get frustrated and most likely work worse within the week to come, so after all the time is really not well spent.

Anyone requesting me to work on a weekend will have to make a very good point for me to say yes.

Answer 4

I've only ever worked one weekend, and I got paid overtime rates (even though I'm on salary).

I really wouldn't expect it to be the norm. If you can opt out, are given plenty of notice, and get paid for it; then I wouldn't worry too much. Being told on Friday that you have to work on Saturday sounds downright irresponsible though.

Answer 5

If it is rare to be asked to come in on weekends, then my recommendation is to smile and do it.

If it is common to be asked to come in on weekends, then it is likely that the manager is fouling things up.

Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action.

Source
The first few times, I'd do it without comment, but when it becomes more and more common, start pushing back for more people, or less tasks, as working more than 40 hours per week is only useful in short bursts and destructive in the long term.

Oh, oh, and I almost forgot. Ahh, I'm also gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Sunday, too...

Source
One movie that mocks much of IT culture is Office Space. And your post immediately reminded me of Lumbergh. In the US, almost everyone in IT has seen it, and one company I worked for claimed it was departmental policy that everyone was required to watch it (it was the IT dept of a consulting company - so the rest of the company were Bob & Bobs). Don't let them take your red stapler!

Answer 6

In my current job, I haven't worked a weekend in the 6 months I've been there, even though I am on-call to support a 24/7 environment. Also for the first time ever, I'm working somewhere with a formal flexi-time system. I'm expected to work my 40 hour weeks on average, and if I go into debt by more than 8 hours or get more than 24 hours into credit, I can expect my manager to query why - They don't want me doing excessive overtime, as it tells them that either I'm taking on too much or I'm not using my time effectively.

In previous jobs, where I had no formal on-call requirement, I was frequently asked to work weekends or long hours. This was usually due to unrealistic expectations and lack of resources. Once, I was even told by a manager "If you're not putting in 40% overtime, you're not pulling your weight". That was the day I started a work to rule, and while that manager was working there I never worked more or less that 40 hours each week.

Normally though, I'm happy to work long hours to meet a deadline, as long as it is recognised that for every hours of overtime I do, it is going to cost at least an hour of under-time in the future.

Under-time can take many forms. The best form is flexi-time, work a 60 hour week to meet a deadline, get a couple of days off the following week off to recover. Another is informal, work a month of 60 hour weeks, spend the next month drained and working at half effectiveness. The worst is having someone put under so much pressure that they have a breakdown and get signed off on sick-pay for a couple of months.

I've seen all of these and experienced several.

Sure, working the odd weekend can show willing, but if it happens too often you need to discuss with your manager why and what can be done to compensate you for your time. A good manager will know that for knowledge work, just paying you overtime is not going to do anyone any good in the long term.

It's a trite phrase, but it's about work-life balance. There's a reason that 8 hours sleep, 8 hours work, 8 hours play has become the norm. Deviate too far from it at your peril.

Answer 7

If it is regular for every weekends, then it is better you talk straight to your boss.When there is work to complete, and delay is caused by something from your side, like leave, then it is a good practice to work on weekends and finish the job. Simple, they have no moral rights to ask you to work on weekends.If you cant work say you have other commitments.Don't you know how to tell a lie?

Answer 8

Ask him how much is the overtime rate and you will need to spend the weekend to consider.

Anyway seriously, if you want to do it for whatever reason, it is your choice. You are not obligated to say yes.

Answer 9

It really depends on the work place culture. Most of the places that I have worked in are quite flexible in their working hours, and they also expect that you would also be flexible in getting the job done as well. For me, that is OK as it allows me to fit my daily schedule in.

However, if the weekend work persist regularly it is definitely a sign of poor planning by the PMs. Either help out with the effort estimation or clean up you CV and start looking around...

Answer 10

I've worked lots of weekends, though not in the previous job. On the one before, though, it happened a lot. There was the occasional thank-you, and the occasional day off to make up for it. You know its REALLY WORTH working a weekend when the managers all turn up as well, and if they bring cake then you know they are at least trying to make up for the inconvenience.

I've also asked people work weekends, or to do some evenings. I have never liked doing this and there has always been a good reason. And after. I've always tried to ensure they get time off to make up for it. (This usually takes the form of... fill out an annual leave form for Friday... you are getting a long weekend, and I'll accidentally forget to submit the leave form, on Monday I'll tear it up.) This way the company is in the clear if anything happens to the employee on the day off.

If you promise time off, make sure you deliver it. And only ask for over-and-above if there is a good reason (like a customer is pissed off and going to take you to court).

Answer 11

I've worked a few weekends, and always got time off in lieu (effectively, a day of vacation for every day of weekend time worked). I wouldn't do it any other way - at least not for a normal salaried job anyway.

That said, I think this is extremely market/culture-relative. It's very hard to draw global, universal expectations out of this question.

Answer 12

Almost never.

I guess this depends a lot on what exactly you do and at what company you work and where (different parts of the world have different cultures with regard to this). On some projects I have worked in the weekend a few times, when the deadline came closer and things just had to be finished. I've never been asked to do this just because some manager thinks it would be neat to have some feature finished, without some real pressure from a client deadline.

It my part of the world it is usual that consultancy companies charge more for their consultants when the client requests that they work after hours. 150% of the normal fee for working on Saturday and 200% for Sunday, for example. As an employee you usually get extra salary for this. I'm a freelance consultant now so I get the extra fee directly.

Answer 13

It happens to me almost all time. last minute requirement and you can see a dark weekend. I have been working contineously from last 29 days.... Thankfully I am unmarried but what about girl friend, we are fighting daily :-(

Answer 14

The response you're looking for is "no". Saying no is one of the most important skills.

Answer 15

For me Friday Sundown to Saturday Sundown is mine. I will not work on the Jewish Sabbath (Yes I am an orthodox Jew). And when I say I won't work that extends to picking up a telephone or using a computer. Its friday afternoon as I write this and in about 20 minutes the computer will be shut off until tomorrow night, no exceptions.

If he wants to fire me because of that, well then I will find a new job.

(The truth is that I live in Israel so its not a huge deal).

Answer 16

Extremely rarely. And if my manager says officially I will get overtime pay.