Using Overtime at Work to Reach Your Goals

If you went way back in time, people groups were primarily agrarian. They lived off of the land.  The effort put into working the soil, growing crops, and taking care of animals was directly tied to your ability to survive. Think of all the things we take for granted today, those were not around: 

• Internet
• Computers
• Electricity
• Refrigeration
• Gas powered vehicles
• Trains

If you are hungry, you go to the grocery store or a restaurant. Those are fairly new elements of society. In prior generations, you wouldn’t buy bread, you harvested grain and made your own. You would top that with butter that you churned yourself and jam from wild berries. 

As technology advanced and societies evolved, work is more associated with making money to buy food rather than being directly involved in raising food. If you were a farmer raising you own food, you worked as long as you needed to in order to accomplish this task. If you didn’t work, you didn’t eat.

A Brief History of Work

The Industrial Revolution brought significant changes and factory work became prominent. People working in factories around 1867 were pulling 12 to 14-hour shifts, often six days a week; or 72-84 hours a week. That same year, Illinois was one of the first states to pass a law calling for a standardized 8-hour work week. 

The first occurrence of this becoming the norm was for government workers in 1869. It was until 1926, when the Ford Motor Company established a five-day, 40-hour workweek for its workers. Owner Henry Ford declared, “It is high time to rid ourselves of the notion that leisure for workmen is either lost time or a class privilege.” 

In 1938, congress finally passed the Fair Labor Standards Act, making the 8-hour work day and 40-hour work week the law of the land. 

Employers are allowed to ask you to work more than 40 hours and you may find some advantages in doing so. If you work more than 8 hours, in most jurisdictions, you are working overtime which is usually 1.5 times what your regular rate is. For example, if your hourly rate were $20 per hour, if you worked 45 hours in a week you would have 5 hours of overtime that would be paid at $30 per hour. 

• $20 per hour x 40 hours = $800 per week (before taxes) 
• 5 hours of overtime x $30 per hour = $150 “extra” (before taxes) 
• By working 12% more hours you are making almost 20% of your weekly pay

Putting In Extra Time at Work

When I first started working for a local restoration company in Ventura, California, I was on the mold removal team. If you’ve ever seen green or black stuff growing on a wall in your house, my team would be the ones that suited up, set a containment area, and removed the bad stuff. Our workday was 730am to 330pm, I was going to night school and had a daughter on the way. I noticed some of my team members in another division would get after-hours calls to respond to water damage in local homes and businesses. When I found out they were getting paid a bonus to go plus their overtime I asked to be put on that list immediately. 

Life is about opportunity, not convenience. If I was willing to be on-call for one week every 6 weeks, I often could make close to two weeks (or more) pay. This was money that I was able to use to pay cash for my associate's degree in criminal justice and tackle the debt from having a baby. Another cool thing you will learn, even if you have health insurance, there are still things you have to pay for when you have a medical procedure or create a human.
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Finding the Right Work Team

Finding a quality team to work with makes the reality of work more enjoyable. Four questions to help you determine if you're on the right team:

• Will they give you a chance? We will talk about the reality that you may not have direct experience but will they see your relevant experience and give you an opportunity to learn in their organization? 
• Will they provide you with the tools that you need? You are expected to show up and to learn, they are expected to give you the tools and training you need to succeed. There is a mutual responsibility. 
• Will they give you an opportunity to grow? Most workers want to make more money, more money usually comes with more responsibility. If you work hard and learn the core skills there should be opportunities to grow beyond your current role. 
• Will they provide more than a paycheck? As you continue to work you will understand that there is more to it than just your regular paycheck, additional benefits like time off, medical insurance, retirement, and other unique offerings set an employer apart. 

Money is important, but like many things in life it is a tool. The more you learn about how the tool of money works and how to apply it to your situation, the better you are able to use it to build the life that you want. ​

A New Book for Young Workers

This content was adapted from the new book from The DYOJO and Jon Isaacson titled, Challenge Accepted: An Open Letter To Young People Entering The Workforce. Watch the video to learn more about Challenge Accepted.