Do I have a beef?

[Walter Biscardi]

[Aaron Cadieux] “Plain and simple. Is it fair for them to ask me to work on personal projects without offering to compensate me in addition to my salary?”

Plain and simple, No.

[Aaron Cadieux] “Is this unethical of them?”

Plain and simple. Yes.

Any professional work you do for them should be paid unless you agree to do a project for no pay. I have two employees that work with me under contract and if I were to ask them to do a personal project, I would pay them the same standard rate they get from my company.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

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[Todd Terry]

I am going to go out on a limb a bit and disagree with Walter somewhat (something I rarely do)…

Sounds like it’s a two-person mom and pop company, plus you. Bottom line, they can do with their company time what they want. They have no partners or shareholders to be beholden to… if they want company time used to cut their kid’s wedding video, so be it.

Unless your compensation agreement includes some kind of commission or profit sharing it is irrelevant whether or not the projects that you are working on are ones that “bring money in” or not. You might not like it (I wouldn’t either), but the bottom line is that is their choice, not yours.

The discussion you need to have with them is regarding duties and compensation. If they say they are going to pay you X amount of dollars in exchange for your employment there on salary which can include working odd hours and weekends, etc., and you agree to that, it should make no difference to you what you are shooting or cutting. It doesn’t matter if they pay you for an hour to shoot a car chase, or pay you for an hour to shoot paint dry… it’s the same thing.

You keep saying they FORCED you to do this and they FORCED you to do that. They are not forcing you to do anything. Two words I used to say to my better half frequently were “Clown Shoes.” She’s a graphic artist and previously had a nut-job of an employer who would put her on mindless and unpleasant tasks although they were well within her job description. When she would almost reach the breaking point and yell “They have no right right to this,” I would contend that yes, they do… and that if he wanted her to “Stand on the corner wearing big clown shoes and wave to people,” then that’s what she should do. Or choose not to work for him. Unfortunately in most cases the workplace is not a democracy.

As I said, the conversation you need to have is regarding duties, hours, and compensation. If you don’t like what you have there now in those parameters, tell them so… come up with a duties and compensation deal that you can live with. If not, seek employment elsewhere.

Do I think what they are doing is “fair”? Hmmm, not really, but I’ve seen much worse… Is it unethical? Again, not really… it’s their company and they can do with it what they want.

BUT… do I think it’s a good situation and a good job and working environment? No, sounds like it definitely isn’t. It’s up to you to either seek greener pastures, or turn the pasture you have into one that you can live with.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Chris Blair]

I agree with Walter. We occasionally do freebie stuff for non-profits in our community, but we ALWAYS have editors and shooters work on it during business hours. If it involves off-hours, we pay them. It might be in the form of a $100 gift card to a nice restaurant, or it might be cash…but either way…we don’t expect them to do work that is freebie in nature for the company unless it’s during company time…and if it’s not we compensate them somehow. We also ASK. We don’t ever force anyone to work a weekend or night on projects like this.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen this happen repeatedly at places I’ve worked in the past, including TV stations, advertising agencies and production companies. I don’t have a solution, other than to politely voice your issues with the owners. However, when dealing with people like that, it rarely has a good resolution. In their minds, they “own” you and you’re there to use as they see fit.

But…you can’t change something that you don’t address, so in a pre-arranged, closed meeting with your boss, I’d bring this issue up and tell them that you don’t think it’s fair that you be required to work on personal projects outside of regular office horus without compensation. Tell them you’re glad to work on them during business hours, but if it’s outside them, your personal time is important to you and this is outside the scope of what you were hired to do.

If you’re really a valuable member of their team, the outcome could be good. But if you’ve had some dustups in the past, I’d be prepared for a bad response from your boss…so I’d have my resume out if I were you.

Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com

[Walter Biscardi]

[Chris Blair] “If it involves off-hours, we pay them.”

That’s the part I had the problem with. During regular business hours, if you’re being paid to be there for 8 hours, they can have you cut anything they want. Once it goes beyond business hours, you need to be paid for your time, or compensated in some way.

On occasion I purchase gifts for my guys here if they are working some longer hours or put in extra effort because I really like keeping them happy. They’re great employees and I never want to take advantage of their services.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

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[Terence Curren]

[Chris Blair] “We occasionally do freebie stuff for non-profits in our community, but we ALWAYS have editors and shooters work on it during business hours. If it involves off-hours, we pay them.”

That is what isn’t quite clear here. Does his “salary” cover whatever hours the boss chooses to work him. The big difference between salaried and hourly employees is that there isn’t a 1 to 1 relationship between work and pay for the salary guy.

Can they have home work on their pet projects? Yes. Do they need to pay him for that time? Yes. Is his salary that pay? Depends upon their deal. Beauty in this country is he doesn’t have to keep working for them if he doesn’t like the deal.

Bottom line, either renegotiate or move on.

Terence Curren
http://www.alphadogs.tv
http://www.digitalservicestation.com
Burbank,Ca

[Todd Terry]

Yes, I agree… if it is OFF hours, employees should be compensated. We’re all salary here, but we try to either pay time-and-a-half (or double time) of what someone’s hourly rate would be for OT… or give them time off during the regular work week. I let them pick which they would prefer.

Employers do fairly “own” you during regular business hours… but I’ve seen bosses take that to very unpleasant extremes. I try to be as nice about it as I can, we strive for a working environment that is pleasant, fun, and creative as possible.

It doesn’t happen every week or even every month, but we’ve been known to say “Is anyone working on anything super deadline critical today? No? Alright, saddle up, we’re going to the movies.” Or to a leisurely lunch. Or even something a little borderline-silly like playing miniature golf. For creative people there is something very liberating about being able to hit a pink golf ball through a fiberglass giraffe’s legs in the middle of the day… and get paid for it (plus, I absolutely rule at mini golf and take no prisoners).

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Mark Suszko]

Bill the boss for anything not done while under compensated, salaried time.

This kind of situation is why we have unions and things like OSHA; if management always did the right and honest thing, we wouldn’t need them. (And that’s enough politics right there, so I’ll stop.)

Invoice them for the stuff they had you do “off the books”. Nowhere is what they asked you to do legal. This is how undocumenteds are overworked by unscrupulous employers. When the discussion ensues, offer to tear up the bill if they will agree on some standards for any such “voluntary” work in the future.

I get the impression that things are very casual there due to the intimate size of the operation, but there are some areas of a business that need formalized rules and procedures regardless of size, and this is one of those areas. You need a consistent policy to keep everyone on the same page.

Maybe you’ll get lucky and they’ll just pay the invoice without comment, knwoing they were in the wrong and you called them on it.

And yes, start updating the reel and resume. Such goings-on are a big hint that this is not a place you want to stay, or will be able to stay, long-term. They are not running it like a real business. If they try to intimidate you, don’t escalate, don’t get heated, just walk out, go home. It is your only leverage. What are they going to do after all; replace you with someone who will do the work for less than free? (Isn’t that the definition of Craig’s List? 🙂 )

There’s a saying in the bible: “The worker is worth his wage, so pay him”. Doing too much stuff for free just ensures that’s how much you’ll always get paid. Giving your time as a gift only has meaning and value when that is your own choice. You’re not ingratiating yourself with anyone by being their doormat, there’s a difference between charity, friendship, and servitude.

Seems like we’re working on a trifecta for this topic this week already. A bad economy tends to bring this kind of thing out in people, I guess. Hard not to cave in to abuse when you have mouths at home to feed, so I can’t disrespect a person who makes that choice, there but for the grace of God go I, but long term it never pays off. Hang on long enough to find other work, then make the jump, and best of luck to you.

[Aaron Cadieux]

Thanks to all of you for your posts. I take a completely different view to doing ANY personal projects at any time (office hours or not) at this agency. It’s been understood between my employers and I that I am long overdue for a raise. With this recent move to the new location, I was told I would see the raise shortly. It’s very difficult putting time and effort into projects that don’t bring in the dough. No dough = no raise. Them asking me to do personal projects on company time is like a nurse’s boss telling her “today you’re assignment is to go take care of my mother at my house instead of your patients on the floor”.

[David Roth weiss]

Aaron,

Can you honestly say that your Big Operations Productions was generating more consistent income than your present gig?

And, have you been paying any attention to the world financial crisis?

It seems to me that you should be counting your lucky stars that you have a fulltime job, and if it pays benefits, count those lucky stars twice.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

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[Bill Dewald]

[Aaron Cadieux] “It’s been understood between my employers and I that I am long overdue for a raise.”

This isn’t a good sign. Put yourself in their (windmill-hating) shoes. I’d imagine that you’re obviously unhappy with the work that they’re giving you.

How will you convince them to make an additional investment in you? Why should they?