Articles

Helping Mom
by Dr. Lynne Curry

Question:
My mom comes from the generation that had a work ethic and as a result, her bosses keep taking advantage of her. She is 51 and works for a multi-state company that is downsizing. Because of her age, she thinks she won’t be able to get a job after being laid off so she’s trying to hang on to her current job as long as possible.

The morale in her company is low and everyone else turns in sub-par work. As a result, mom’s bosses are always asking her to rewrite her co-workers’ reports and to help everyone else out with their work when they get behind. Then, mom’s expected to come in on Saturday to catch up on her own work.

She realizes her boss thinks that because she is on salary he can have her work as much as he likes and never pay any overtime. She is afraid to say anything because she thinks if she rocks the boat, he’ll just lay her off. So she keeps going into the office on Saturday, knowing that everyone else is out camping or enjoying their weekends. I want to help my mom because she doesn’t know how to protect herself and I need to know what to tell her.

Answer:
We work for lots of different reasons. Although money matters a great deal, so does the psychological paycheck we cash weekly. From the way you describe your mom, she takes home a psychological paycheck each day knowing she not only produces good work but she doesn’t let other individuals’ decisions govern hers. Lesser individuals tell themselves "no one else works hard so I won’t either." Employees who value their psychological paycheck work hard even when others don’t. As her daughter, you can best help her by not making her feel ashamed of her decision to do what needs to be done.

Right now, your mom supplies herself the best job protection possible. By repairing other employees’ work and taking her job seriously, she makes herself indispensable. After all, your mom has ample reason to fear what happens to older applicants interviewing for jobs. Despite the laws designed to protect older employees from age discrimination, some shortsighted interviewers unfairly ignore older applicants’ years of experience and qualifications.

If you outline the situation accurately, however, your mom also needs protection from a supervisor who unfairly takes advantage of her willingness to help others and her department. She can partially protect herself by learning her rights. Suggest she call the Department of Labor and ask whether her job makes her exempt from overtime. Many employers pay salaries to employees who actually qualify as non-exempt and eligible for overtime. Even if your mom fears rocking the boat, she can at least document her hours, protecting her ability to file an overtime claim if laid off.

If your mom instead learns she doesn’t qualify for overtime, she can slowly edge back her workload workweek by workweek. Suggest to your mom that when her supervisor gives her others’ reports to finish this Thursday she say, "I normally help everyone out and then finish up my own work on the weekends but won’t be able to this weekend. Perhaps I could show these other employees how to fix their own reports so I can get my work completed on time." This type of statement puts the ball back in the supervisor’s court. If he’s as unfair as you think he may tell your mom, "I need you to do it all." Equally as likely, however, he may say "sure," helping your mom learn she can occasionally say no.

She can further protect herself by learning that she doesn’t need to stay in her present job. Many older employees with years working for a company so fear age discrimination and the rejection that comes with interviewing for jobs that they trap themselves in their present jobs. Help your mom brush up her resume and interviewing skills and encourage her to look through the classifieds. Although jobs may be hard to find, dozens of employers want to hire great employees, particularly those self-motivated enough to work hard in troubled times.