Wednesday July 11 The third day

My new boss told me on my first day that we don't get paid for hours we work past 40.

Which I thought, "Duh. That's because we're exempt from being paid for overtime because we are so highly compensated."

That's a joke. But I wrote it with a straight face.

He said it in the context of explaining the group's hours to me. Some people come in at 7, some at 8, some a little later. "But we don't get paid for any hours we work more than 40," he said.

At the time, I took it as a joyful thing: that he was letting me know, without saying in so many words, that I would not be expected to work more than an 8-hour day.

Which would be very, very nice, as I have not worked under that expectation since 1989. Which, incidentally, is the last time I was paid the salary I am making now, only when I was making the salary back then, I did not have the education or experience to do the job for which I have been hired. Also, I had insurance for which I paid none of the premium and charged a $5 copay for office visits and drugs. Now, Primo and I together have a $5,000 deductible before anything kicks in. So really, I am making [my salary - $5,000] or at least potentially [my salary - $5,000].

So yeah. Lousy pay, lousy benefits. What can you do?

At least you can not have to work late.

But now I am worried that he told me that as a warning - that even though I will be expected to put in the late hours, I shouldn't expect any OT.