Boss Refuses To Pay This Journalist Overtime, Regrets It When They Start Working Only Paid Hours
There’s a heavy workload and there’s exploitation. And the management at a newspaper Reddit user Longjumping_Bad9555 had worked at pushed that line as far as they could.
In a post on the popular ‘Malicious Compliance’ subreddit, they recalled working on an hourly contract and not getting paid overtime when they very much should have.
However, as the name of the subreddit in which Longjumping_Bad9555 shared their story suggests, that was only the beginning of it. The setup. Eventually, the journalist found a way to get the boss to change his mind and switch them to a salary.
The plan took courage and put the Redditor on the line and could’ve easily gotten them fired, but they executed it flawlessly. Continue scrolling to read how everything unfolded.
This journalist was being screwed over by their boss and underpaid
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
So they started doing just as much as the contract required, and when a big story dropped, it made all the difference
Image credits: energepic.com (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Longjumping_Bad9555
The original poster (OP) gave more info on the whole ordeal in the comments
People loved the way they handled the situation, with some even sharing similar experiences of their own
As a former newspaper employee myself (managing editor/reporter for a small syndicate of 4 newspapers) this speaks to my soul. People talk about newspapers dying, but revenue for local news is actually up. The reason local papers keep closing is greed and mismanagement, not lack of revenue. (Regional and national level papers are still starving for money, but I think we're close to achieving equilibrium there, with enough closing that the smaller pool of money available will be sufficient to let a few survive).
I worked for a company not long ago- accepted a salaried management position. 60+ hours averting a week. Worked my a*s off. They finally found someone -my "equal" as the company confirmed - who was being paid hourly. Now, I was still being paid 6$ less an hour however I was done working for free while my "equal" hourly. I didn't even ask for a raise but oh boy just to be paid hourly caused a stir. I'm. I longer there, took a pay cut, work 40 a week, no Ot as 1099 now and could not be happier. Lol.
I worked at an extremely busy publisher where we often worked 60 to 70 hours a week. We did get overtime but it was grueling. A couple of the ladies from the art department would alternate turns sneaking into the dark room to cry. The owner would complain about how much he was paying out in overtime and why couldn't our editorial department get our work done in a 9-5 timeframe like everyone else? If we complained about exhaustion from being understaffed, we were told that we should realize that what we do is not a 9-5 job. I called them out on that and never got a straight answer.
As a former newspaper employee myself (managing editor/reporter for a small syndicate of 4 newspapers) this speaks to my soul. People talk about newspapers dying, but revenue for local news is actually up. The reason local papers keep closing is greed and mismanagement, not lack of revenue. (Regional and national level papers are still starving for money, but I think we're close to achieving equilibrium there, with enough closing that the smaller pool of money available will be sufficient to let a few survive).
I worked for a company not long ago- accepted a salaried management position. 60+ hours averting a week. Worked my a*s off. They finally found someone -my "equal" as the company confirmed - who was being paid hourly. Now, I was still being paid 6$ less an hour however I was done working for free while my "equal" hourly. I didn't even ask for a raise but oh boy just to be paid hourly caused a stir. I'm. I longer there, took a pay cut, work 40 a week, no Ot as 1099 now and could not be happier. Lol.
I worked at an extremely busy publisher where we often worked 60 to 70 hours a week. We did get overtime but it was grueling. A couple of the ladies from the art department would alternate turns sneaking into the dark room to cry. The owner would complain about how much he was paying out in overtime and why couldn't our editorial department get our work done in a 9-5 timeframe like everyone else? If we complained about exhaustion from being understaffed, we were told that we should realize that what we do is not a 9-5 job. I called them out on that and never got a straight answer.
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