I work in the tax department at a real estate company. To say we are always busy is an understatement. My boss is great, but it's tiresome when he states publicly the hours he works.
I learned my lesson last year: I was assigned a project that required 55-60+ hour weeks for several months. I know what it means to be an "exempt employee", but my definition of exempt does not include 50+ hours a month of unpaid overtime.
So far this tax season, I'm averaging 50 hours a week. We've added two more accountants to the team, one of whom asked me, "I thought we were getting raises at the end of March." So it's not just me. It wouldn't surprise me if he's looking for a new job. He's a single dad in his 30s and doing a great job.
I'm realistic about the situation. I like where I work, and the people I work with. I'm not going anywhere, as I turn 70 in 3 weeks. I'll just be very selective about anything more than 50 hours a week.
Apologies for the yawner of a post.
If I’m paid by the hour, I expect to be paid for every hour. Spent most of my adult life in the military and worked 60 hour weeks as normal for most of it. That was fine by me. I sometimes worked 80+ hours a week - and that was part of the job. Or maybe part of the profession, because the military is not just a job. Not the work I did.
BTW, after retiring I did do taxes for a few years. I finally made a point of saying I only was willing to work 20 hours a week part time. When I worked by 4th 50 hour week in a row, I quit. They struggled to find a replacement but I made it VERY clear before the tax season that I was only going to work part-time. They agreed, then didn’t keep their end of the bargain.
Part of me enjoyed doing taxes but not 50+ hours week after week. Doing it RIGHT isn’t easy. Knowing what questions to ask and finding every legal tax break is tough. The client deserves the very best and it gets hard when you’ve gone 10+ hours of nonstop work.