Sometimes it’s hard to know when to stick it out at a job and when to call it quits.

If you worked for a company you loved but then they changed the overtime policy, causing a lot of chaos and stress at work, would you stay at the job anyway, or would you start looking elsewhere?

This guy shares how things at his work got rough when the overtime policy changed, and now he’s seeking advice.

Let’s read the whole story.

Problem solved but want advice

So I’m a member of management. Not very high up and I’m paid hourly.

When I got hired I was told I was scheduled for 45 hours but another 5-10 wouldn’t be uncommon when we are busy (during the year I average 10 hours a week OT and my staff averages 5-7 depending on the person/position).

Not everyone is expected to work overtime.

Me and my team work second shift in a production/shipping and receiving environment.

The day crew is held to a strict 40 hour work week and the second shift is expected to work till everything is done (exceptions are made on a case by case basis).

My crew absolutely does not abuse this system as most of them don’t want to be there at 3 am so we are pretty good at getting things done in a timely manner.

I’d give us a B+/A-.

UH OH…

About two months ago we were told because of the uncertainty with the current state of the world, the company was not allowing any overtime. Period.

So for three weeks we were stopping mid production, cleaning up, and going home.

There would be trucks half unloaded, product have assembled, deliveries not finished for the next day.

Every aspect of the job wasn’t finished.

Pretty much the place is exactly what me and my crew walk into every day.

We even had an angry truck driver who was used to being able to drop his trailer at 1am show up to the lights off and no one home so he had to wait for the morning.

Things got rough!

The first day the day crew freaked out that there was work to be completed from the day before.

After three weeks we were inundated with backed up work and angry customers.

Week four, our district manager came in to see me personally and ask about the situation and why we were so behind.

I explained that all of our OT had been cut and if they wanted everything complete at the end of the day it would take another 5-10 people depending on the knowledge, speed, and skill of the people we hired.

He had to do something about it!

I also told him that the majority of my staff was now looking to leave (including myself), and two of my best people had already found other jobs.

All of us rely on the scheduled OT and factor it is as part of our pay, and we’ve created more issues than just being behind.

Needless to say we’re back to my team working overtime but now that I’m short two of my best people, we’re pulling 70-75 hour weeks to catch up.

I really enjoyed my job but am now thinking of continuing my job search.

Is quitting the answer?

I’m pretty frustrated with this place and while a few weeks have proven the necessity of what me and my team do, I now wonder what’s going to happen in another month when we catch up and then in another few months when it slows back down.

I’ve been here 5 years and this was the first time I’ve felt like this but the potential to lose what amounts to nearly a fifth of my pay because they decide later to try this experiment again makes me feel sick.

They also haven’t repealed their “No OT” policy, we just have dispensation to work as much as needed to catch up.

Part of me says jump ship now and part of me says accept that I’ll work a month with no OT and then work a crazy month to catch up for the rest of my time here. I dunno.

YIKES! That sounds rough!

Should he stick it out or look for another job?

Let’s find out what folks on Reddit think about this one.

This user knows that some people already knew things were getting bad!

This user knows the budget is tight!

This user suggests this guy  take his time with finding a new job.

This user suggests finding a new job immediately!

This user suggests looking for better opportunities!

That sounds like a stressful work environment.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.