A News Writer Refused to Work Unpaid Overtime on a Friday Evening—And Left an Urgent Breaking Story Unfinished on His Desk
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Imagine working as a news reporter. You’d have to work when the news happens, which means that some weeks you’d probably work a lot more hours than others, and your schedule would be somewhat unpredictible.
In this story, one person is in this situation, and after a week where he worked 100 hours, he talked to his manager about getting paid overtime. That’s right, he worked 60 hours of overtime for free.
Never again.
Keep reading to find out how he eventually proves his point about news writing not being a 40 hour job.
Left murder scene because my manager complained about overtime
In a past work life I worked at a small newspaper where corporate insisted on paying me hourly, despite the job not being capable of being done in 40 hours.
That and anyone who knows the news industry knows that news happens more than just 9-5.
It was implied that you just work when needed and don’t miss deadlines. I did that for years.
OP’s manager was completely unreasonable.
One week I ended up working over 100 hours. Lots of huge breaking news stories and I was the only person working at that newspaper.
I asked for 20 hours overtime pay (having worked 60 hours of overtime that week) and my regional manager refused because it hadn’t been priorly authorized.
So I told him from then on I work exactly 40 hours. And I didn’t care what news happened after. I’d cover it my next work day.
About 6 months go by. No major news missed. But a few things were later than they should be.
It was a crazy week.
Then another hell week hits. Several major car crashes, a school bomb threat and Friday about 4 pm a murder.
I head out to the murder scene. Get photos, talk to an officer and am told an update is coming at 630 pm.
So I write up a very short piece with the info I had by 430, and at 5 pm I go home for the weekend.
Readers, and bosses reached out several times over the weekend.
OP stood his ground.
Readers I told we’d have an update on Monday, and that no one was scheduled to work the weekend.
Bosses I ignored until Monday.
He tried to yell.
Management had to relent.
I pointed out it would have been unpaid overtime and it wasn’t approved.
By Wednesday they offered me a raise, and put me on salary.
I accepted. But left the job a few months later.
Wow. The news certainly doesn’t stick to a 9-5 schedule. Anything but!
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Good for OP for proving why it’s important to reasonably compensate your news writers. Although, salary and a raise may still be less than it would’ve been to have overtime approved.
Let’s see how Reddit responded.
This person wasn’t surprised by the ending.
Another person points out what salary really means.
A former journalist weighs in.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about customer who won’t take no for an answer when it comes to outdated price-matching policies.
Another person who worked in news refused to be put on salary.
Salary is not the win it may seem like it is. It’s a flat pay rate instead of being compensated extra for working extra. Even with a raise, it may mean getting paid much less than you really deserve. The hourly rate is more important.
OP did the right thing by refusing to work overtime for free. He should’ve refused much earlier.
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