Today sucked.

I got a call mid morning from my wife. She told me they were having a rough day.

A teenage friend of my 2 sons had committed suicide.

I was heartbroken.

I wanted to leave work and be there for my sons. They were at a prayer vigil, and really struggling.

I called them, and said a few prayers. For some reason, I decided that the "responsible" thing to do was to stay at work.

We were in the middle of an asphalt job, and I had started at 6:30 AM. It looked like the day would be long, and go until about 8:00 PM.

I told the general superintendent what was up. Eventually, I told him I would appreciate it if he could let me leave at a normal quitting time. He said he would cover for me.

20 min later I get a call from the boss. He was chewing me out for "Leaving early". He knew the details, but told me that this is "not a 9-5 job", and threatened me with firing. I told him I had work to do, and hung up on him.

I'm salaried. I've never put in less than 50 hours in a week. Sometimes as much as 70. "Salary" used to mean you had some managerial status to contribute to the company. Unfortunately, "salary" has become a euphemism for "we don't want to pay your berkeleying overtime".

Jerk.

berkeley him. Focus on what's important.

Yeah, that guy can suck it. Sounds like a really rough time for your kids.

That should have been the general superintendent's ass chewing, not yours.

Condolences for your family's loss.

In reply to Datsun1500:

Yep.

Time to start freakin job hunting again.

I'm in the "berkeley him" camp as well. Anyone who gives a guy a face full over leaving "early" when 1, not early, and 2, suicide... is a berkeleying cock.

Times are never hard enough to surrender humanity for cocks to make a buck. Condolences to your son(s).

Sorry to hear about your family's loss.

I think you did the right thing, family is more important than your work. Be there for your children, it's a dark time for them.

Unless you left the company completely in a lurch - like, being the only guy on the job and then walking off, and it didn't sound to me like that's what you did - I see no reason for a phone call that wasn't "hey, sorry to hear about the situation, let me know if you want to take tomorrow off also".

Some people forget that work is give and take, not just gimmegimmegimme.

If the boss.is that sorta.dude, berkeley em. You can get another job. Can't get another family.

mndsm wrote: If the boss.is that sorta.dude, berkeley em. You can get another job. Can't get another family.

I agree, but I am not too sure about another job.

I live in the state with the 2nd highest unemployment in the nation, in one of the highest unemployment counties. Jobs are extremely scarce here, and I have no connections elsewhere.

My optimism on that particular issue has been beaten out of me.

My thoughts and prayers go out to you, your family and the boys family. That's a tough time.

My condolences to you and your family. You for your dick boss and family for having to deal with sudden loss.

The_Jed wrote: That should have been the general superintendent's ass chewing, not yours. Condolences for your family's loss.

It shouldn't have been anybody's ass chewing. Sheesh.

My condolences to your sons, Paul.

SVreX wrote:

mndsm wrote: If the boss.is that sorta.dude, berkeley em. You can get another job. Can't get another family.

I agree, but I am not too sure about another job. I live in the state with the 2nd highest unemployment in the nation, in one of the highest unemployment counties. Jobs are extremely scarce here, and I have no connections elsewhere. My optimism on that particular issue has been beaten out of me.

Dunno seems like you have connections nearly everywhere in the GRM community.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

I've often wondered why we americans work so damn hard. 50-70 hour weeks on salary aren't just uncommon employers expect it and many employees will give you a hard time about "cutting out early" if you dare work less than 10+ hour days. Its nuts.

SVreX wrote: I agree, but I am not too sure about another job. I live in the state with the 2nd highest unemployment in the nation, in one of the highest unemployment counties. Jobs are extremely scarce here, and I have no connections elsewhere. My optimism on that particular issue has been beaten out of me.

My own boss told me to leave when he found out that I lost my nephew to Suicide. He can be a bit of a dick in a lot of ways, but to him family always comes first.

Unfortunately, your situation hit the nail on the head in understanding your boss. With so many people out of work where you are, he can act like the biggest dick in the world and get away with it knowing he can replace you with almost no effort at all.

Hang in there, better times are coming, but I think it is time to start sniffing around for a better job

SVreX wrote: In reply to Datsun1500: Yep. Time to start freakin job hunting again.

I'm sorry to hear of your family's loss. And for how your boss has been treating you. At least if you're looking for a job while employed, you can take your time and wait for the right opportunity to come along.

Thoughts and prayers with you and your family.

The_Jed wrote: That should have been the general superintendent's ass chewing, not yours. Condolences for your family's loss.

This. Your boss was a dick. Not only from a bad management perspective, but especially knowing the details of the situation.

I'm very sorry to hear about your sons loss. I'm also sorry to hear about your boss being an even bigger jerk than you already thought he was. Are those opportunities for other work you talked about in October still available?

Not that I want a friend/challenge teammate to move away but: Flyin Miata beckons!

Paul- You are a good MAN! Recalling working with you on the Haiti relief project, and seeing how you are there when people need help, it would be out of character for you to have done anything else. I am certain that things will work out for you.

Georgia has laws regarding overtime even for salaried employees.

How big is your company? A certified letter from an attorney to HR can have that boss taken care of quickly and quietly, and if there's any retaliation against you the EEOC will be all over it with the documented timeline and documented overtime.

nocones wrote: I've often wondered why we americans work so damn hard. 50-70 hour weeks on salary aren't just uncommon employers expect it and many employees will give you a hard time about "cutting out early" if you dare work less than 10+ hour days. Its nuts.

I've worked for 4 different big companies, or big companies owned by HUGE corporations, and I've never experienced this in 10 years of post college employment. 1 in insurance and 3 in manufacturing.

The only people I know of personally, that work on salary and ALWAYS work more than 50+ hours per week our restaurant managers.

Z31, its usually small businesses that operate like this, because they make the business personal. A corporation cares if the work gets done. A small business owner directly feels slighted if an employee isn't making him money because "he pays them".

The flipside is the economy is bad enough there that the employees willingly allow the owner to break the law in order to have a job. Fear is a great tool for controlling people.

That is a sucky day and a really sucky boss. You did what was right.

Paul, sorry to hear of your son's friend. And I agree, the boss was being a jerk. I'd have done the same thing, both leaving 'early' and also not tolerating his ass chewing.

I work for a fairly large corporation: It is hard to get overtime unless there is a large show in. The other departments get even less OT than we do.

The last small company I worked for (15 years ago) expected at least 10+ hours of OT a week.. but at least we were hourly.