Is it appropriate to leave office after working hours, even if being forced to stay to finish tasks?

Question

So I have been working in this company for an year now and the only problem I am facing since then is that I am forced to stay in office even my working hours are completed.

We are not paid overtime here. 10 A.M to 7.30 P.M is our working time, means 9 hours 30 minutes. We have already discussed that this timing is too much for a Software Engineer but they didn't take any action.

Currently, I am the only resource they have for projects so I am forced to stay and complete the tasks. They burden me with tasks and when it is time to leave they ask me to stay as tasks are not being completed. It is okay for me to survive this once, twice or thrice a month but this happens on regular basis. I always feel fed up as I have some other hobbies, interests or tasks to complete as a Freelancer too.

How should I tackle such boss? Isn't it my right to ask them that I can't stay more as I have other activities to do?

Answer 1

We are not paid overtime here. 10 A.M to 7.30 P.M is our working time, means 9 hours 30 minutes. [...]

Several red flags I see, however to answer your actual question...

If your working hours are already indicated, ending at 7:30pm, then by all means you are in full rights to leave after the end time or after you fulfill those 9.5 hours.

Now about the red flags. Doing overtime without payment is surely not beneficial to you, and being "forced" to stay doesn't seem to be like the best work environment. To worsen things, you indicate you have already brought this to the manager's attention, and no action has been taken...

... Given all these things, it seems that it would be wise of you to update your CV and start seeking a job elsewhere (somewhere that at least has payed overtime, for your sake), as you will only end up burnout and continue to be exploited.

Answer 2

Ah the good 'ol days of forced labour and slavery...

ARE GONE!

...in western countries legally anyways

Your options are:
(chose any combination you like)

• find another job and quit
• Simply leave when your contractual time is over
  1)they can't physically prevent you from leaving
  (that pesky unlawful imprisonment thing)
  -they might terminate your contract out of spite though
  2) legally you have the law on your side(again,depending on country)
• Tell them the deadline is too short
• let them know you have other, private obligations (helps if you have a family, small children etc.)
• Involve a union or employment lawyer
• Flat out tell them you're willing to do overtime if a delivery is up but you won't stay every day way over your contractual hours
• Whistleblow or leave an anonymous tip at the controlling governmental body

About that time thing, keep in mind that your breaks are quite often not included in your time (depending on contract / law in locale)

So 9 hours at work including a lunchbreak and two smaller breaks count pretty much as an 8 hour workday...

Read your contract to be certain.

...Oh and if you're held against your will, involve authorities immediately.

-> call the POLICE

Answer 3

Okay... Standard warning here. Update your resume and float it.

Once you start to get interviews, pushback HARD

Don't mention that you've been on interviews or have offers (if any).

But, when you do, you can go in and negotiate from a position of strength. At that time, make your desires known. You don't want to deliver an ultimatum, but you want to state clearly that.

1. You are not satisfied with the hours
2. You are not satisfied with the pay
3. You expect them to address this immediately, and give them a timeframe.

If they don't at that point address it, they never will, and you will know it's time to move on.

If they do, then you can stay at your job with the new pay and/or hours.

Answer 4

Figure out how long it's personally optimal to stay.

I had a job at a company that, while not quite as bad as yours, was pretty terrible. Our boss printed out charts every monday with the hours everyone had worked the week before. If you were the person who worked the least, you'd get chewed out. Sure, you put in hours of unpaid overtime, but you didn't put in as many hours as the others. So you'd get reamed a bit - to encourage you to not be the person who put in the least.

I worked there for ~18 months, and I wouldn't change anything looking back. I improved my SQL skills substantially, going from "I can generally write simple Select statements" to "Bordering on full-fledged DBA". I got exposure to some better programming styles as well as experience being a PM for a project I was in charge of.

You are probably going to want to move on to another job - you'll probably get burnt out staying where you are for too long. But keep an eye on when it'll be optimal for you to leave. If you're developing valuable skills/abilities, it might be worth it to suck things up for a little while, until the amount you're learning/improving is outweighed by the stress of the job. If you're not getting much value out of the job right now? You should probably move on as soon as you can.

Answer 5

This is just building off other answers (by the way, Welcome!).

Personally, I would say: If your other obligations are family or scheduled items or necessary for your physical or mental health; do not stay at work. Ensure long before the day is over that these prior engagements are known to your supervisor and coworker in advance.

If this is "once, twice, or thrice," and does nothing other than inconvenience you, then let them know. I suspect you are in a country where making demands or reaching out to HR are not options, so play it cool. Make known your schedule in advance, so you have at least the opportunity to say you were planning on not staying after 7:30 and it was made clear earlier.