To add insult to injury, jobs that often pay less than a living wage are also the jobs where you are expected to work additional hours as a salaried employee. I once had a job where I was making $8/hr (which required a college degree, by the way). However, I usually worked 50-60 hours each week, and was never paid overtime.

“I have over thirty years experience in human resources as a business owner, consultant, and an employee. As an employee, I often worked well beyond the hours for which I was officially paid. In some cases, I worked in a position that was misclassified as “exempt.” Unfortunately, many people in business are classified as exempt from overtime, but should be getting paid for overtime.”

“He can’t spend quality time with his kids — he doesn’t get home until close to their bedtime, so he can’t share an evening meal with them and keep up with what’s going on in their lives. If he were paid for working overtime, he’d have more money to do things with his kids, he could afford to have his daughter in band, and he might not have to find another place to live because his rent is too expensive.”

I wanted to do well in my new job, be seen as a positive and flexible coworker, and learn new skills like managing volunteers and public speaking, so I was enthusiastic at first about working overtime and taking on so much.