Imagine working at a job where you had the option of working overtime. Would you work as much overtime as possible, prioritize free time instead, or somewhere inbetween?

In this story, one warehouse employee has the option of working overtime, and he almost always turns it down. Now, he’s wondering if that’s going to make him look bad to his employer.

Let’s read all about it.

AITA for always refusing optional overtime at my job?

I need some perspective here.

I work at a warehouse, it’s not a glamorous job or anything, but it pays my bills and it works for me right now.

I work 10 hour shifts, 4 days a week, overnight I might add.

I’m not trying to complain, I signed up for this, but the job is tiring and physical.

He sounds like a hard worker with a good work ethic.

Like any person at a job, I give it my all, I work hard, do what I’m asked, make my goals, all that stuff.

I’ve only been there a year, but I feel like I’ve earned my keep, I’ve gotten compliments from my higher ups and they trust me. Especially considering that I’ve seen people barely last the 90 days or get fired or quit.

But the one thing is, there have been times, especially during the more busy parts of the year, they throw out the option of people coming in for overtime and usually I say no.

I’ve come in a few times and stayed an extra hour or so here and there, but most of the time I opt out of it.

He prefers free time over overtime.

My reason is, my time is precious to me.

I understand they need the extra hands at times, but to me, I put my time in each week, those days off are for me to recharge my batteries, see my family, spend time with my girlfriend, and just enjoy that little time I have off.

We do get mandated quite a bit, the past few weeks we got mandated for an extra day, the end of last year, we got mandated an extra day for like 3 months straight. So it’s not like I don’t end up giving them some extra time.

He wants to keep a healthy work life balance.

I guess I just don’t want to be seen as someone who isn’t a team player.

Because it’s not about that, like I said, I do what is asked of me, I work hard, etc, etc.

I just don’t want to be that kind of person who spends more time at their job than they do living their life. Which I see there, people working 5, 6, even 7 days straight, and I just don’t want to end up like that.

I just need some perspective here.

I don’t think he’s doing anything wrong. Let the people who need the extra money work the optional overtime.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

Avoiding burnout is important.

This person avoids working overtime too.

This is true.

But this person makes a good point about why it might be a good idea to work overtime.

Here’s another perspective on overtime.

Nobody should feel forced to work optional overtime.

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