Re: The Worst Thing About Contracting

[Lynda Straus <Lynda_Straus -at- THEMONEYSTORE -dot- COM>]

Kevin,

In the U.S., many (although not all, by any means) technical writers who
are employees are exempt.  That is, no overtime, no comp time.  If the
job requires 40 hours a week, fine.  If it requires 50 or 65 hours
during crunches/imminent deadlines, well, that's what the job is.  It's
your responsibility to get it done.  If it *always* requires this much
of your time, it's up to you and your manager to look at what's expected
of you - maybe this should be split into two jobs, or some tasks
off-loaded to someone else.

As far as leaving the job at work, well, we all need a life, and it's
unhealthy to always carry the job around.  But, I generally spend at
least some of my 'off' time thinking about my job, and often talk to
other writers about what I'm doing, especially if I'm struggling with
'how to do' issues (I'm the lone writer in my division, so I lack the
synergy of working in a team).

Bottom line.  I could not imagine working just 37.5 hours a week,
totally leaving my work at work, expecting to be paid when I'm there
longer, etc.  It'd be nice, but in my experience with different
companies, it ain't gonna happen.

Lynda Straus
lynda_straus -at- themoneystore -dot- com

        snip> But, I work 37.5 hours, most weeks, and leave my work at
> the office. Maybe twice a year, things have gone bad with
> a development or marketing project, and I've had to put in
> a few long days to get the docs out on time. Maybe I'll
> charge overtime for that, or maybe I'll just bank the good
> will, for when I want to sleep late or do chores during office
> hours, see the doctor/dentist, etc. end snip<
>


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