Asked to work considerably longer hours to hit a deadline

[SorenLorensen]

As a self respecting contractor I would feel ashamed to not much in when things were needing doing.

Why?

[washed up contractor]

Hi All

As contractors, what are your thoughts on being asked to muck in and work weekends to meet a major critical milestone.

If it takes all hands on deck, and some contractors say they wont do it (and some permies), and the critical deadline is missed, how would you expect that to be handled?

Say, if you refused to work, and then the milestone was missed, what would you expect to happen?

Assume this milestone is a major big deal, and everyone has been working hard already to meet it.

Depends. I once worked away from home on a project. I got lumbered with an Accentura lead when he came on board and said people would have to work OT over the weekend. I said fornicate that I go home Friday and come back Monday but, I'll work later Tuesday to Thursday.

Another project the numpty lead asked every one to work longer weeks. I said I would work as many hours as I could if we were behind (I did not think we were and the regular progress reports showed the same). He was just covering his bum but got upperty because no one would committ to his request.

If they want you to work tuliploads more Id make sure I was getting extra money. Goodwill only goes so far and if they say there's no budget, well, sorry, you dont get the 'considerable' bit.

[SueEllen]

Thanks all - its not me, i'm the PM, willing and praying it over the line.

I'm just a bit shocked at some of the contractors attitudes in our place - We had to ramp up recently, so a lot of new contractors were hired to meet deadlines. More than i would like have turned down overtime because they 'have lives', much to the detriment of the programme.

We can't force people to work, but its hard when a handful of people don't seem to feel bothered by it.

As a self respecting contractor I would feel ashamed to not much in when things were needing doing.

Why?

The projects I've worked on with immoveable deadlines I've been told at the start of the project and been given VPN access, like the rest of the team, so I could work at home if necessary.

The ability to work at home means if I have an appointment in the day e.g. getting a boiler fixed I can still put in a reasonable number of hours. If I'm unable to work for a couple of days e.g. having an op under GA, then I can work at home afterwards particularly if I'm not allowed to mix with people.

Unfortunately the old fashion view of presuming people are available to work 24/7 doesn't work anymore regardless of the sex of the individual. People have caring responsibilities and other things they commit to often well in advanced, therefore as a PM you need to warn people advance if you need people to do extra work and give them an idea of when it's likely to be.

[Lance]

Thanks all - its not me, i'm the PM, willing and praying it over the line.

I'm just a bit shocked at some of the contractors attitudes in our place - We had to ramp up recently, so a lot of new contractors were hired to meet deadlines. More than i would like have turned down overtime because they 'have lives', much to the detriment of the programme.

We can't force people to work, but its hard when a handful of people don't seem to feel bothered by it.

As a self respecting contractor I would feel ashamed to not much in when things were needing doing.

If you take on contractors to meet a deadline then make sure they’ll do the extra hours before signing them up. How about a contract schedule that has the extra hours in?
Sounds like a **** up with th contract negotiations if you hired people to do a job that refuse to do the job.

[blossom]

Why?

The projects I've worked on with immoveable deadlines I've been told at the start of the project and been given VPN access, like the rest of the team, so I could work at home if necessary.

The ability to work at home means if I have an appointment in the day e.g. getting a boiler fixed I can still put in a reasonable number of hours. If I'm unable to work for a couple of days e.g. having an op under GA, then I can work at home afterwards particularly if I'm not allowed to mix with people.

Unfortunately the old fashion view of presuming people are available to work 24/7 doesn't work anymore regardless of the sex of the individual. People have caring responsibilities and other things they commit to often well in advanced, therefore as a PM you need to warn people advance if you need people to do extra work and give them an idea of when it's likely to be.

yes they can all work from home. Its not the physical location bum on a seat. Its the 'getting the work done' that matters.

[NotAllThere]

In my experience, deadlines are things that happen to other people.

[BR14]

In my experience, deadlines are things that happen to other people.

Or, perhaps 'your lack of planning and foresight, does NOT constitute an emergency for me' ?

Particularly good when stuck with arthur's androids (accenture, for our younger viewers)

[b0redom]

One of the major plusses of being a contractor is the ability to say no to this sort of stuff. I have a life outside of work. Try getting a plumber to work late or weekends for their normal rates.

There is, of course, the possibility that I wouldn't be renewed, but if it's the sort of client where this happens regularly, I don't want to work there anyway.

If it's convenient for me to work, and there's a real business need and/or the money's good enough, I'd probably do it.

[Snarf]

Generally Im happy to work a few hours extra every now and then but if it's excessive, or constant then we'd need to negotiate money.

Previous clients have been happy with this, normal day rate for up to 8 hours a day then bill by the hour.

Weekends I normally try for rate + 50% billed hourly.

Works well when I don't have much on to get some extra pennies in.

[l35kee]

As others have said. Every now and then is fine. But if it's an expectation I would want that reflected in an increased rate.