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"I'm an associate in a bank. My VP makes me work Saturdays"

It's Friday night, and - in theory, I am now entitled to a day off. I'm a senior associate at a bulge bracket bank in New York, and unless there are exceptions we are given Saturdays off by senior management under the 'Saturday rule.' It never works out like that.

My VP is crazy brutal. Every Friday for the past couple of months he emails me at 8pm on a Friday evening asking if I can do something for him tonight. Usually, that means working late. 

He then emails me throughout Saturday, even though I'm supposed to be off. Although he doesn't ask for the work to be done immediately, he sends me so much work that every Saturday becomes the exception. - There's far too much to be done on Sunday, and as the work starts piling up, I have to get started on it. The seniors know this when they send it through. And so, Saturday working has become commonplace.

Does anyone else experience this? How can it be avoided?

Arun Vaknis is a pseudonym

Photo by Thomas Lefebvre on Unsplash

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Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)

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AUTHORArun Vaknis Insider Comment
  • Al
    Alex Soon
    5 February 2022

    Talk about dancing with the devil.

  • Jo
    Jol
    4 February 2022

    Easy, you want to work a 9 to 5, go work at McDonald's.

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