Employee-ism

So, I am currently an employee.  I decided to take a position as an employee because I thought it would  be more stable than continuing as a contract-by-contract consultant.

I thought it would be less stressful now that I have a baby.

I'm finding that all of that is wrong.  This is the most stressful job I've ever had.

The company keeps assigning me work that I keep telling them I can't do.  Sorry- I'm not a Project Manager.  They don't seem to get it and when I don't do the job to their satisfaction, I get a lecture about how I didn't do a good job- like it's a shock that I don't excel at something that I said I don't do well.

What also upsets me about this job is that the boss is constantly badgering me to work outside of my set hours.  I like to work the morning shifts.  I find that most highly motivated people do work the morning shifts because they want to get in and get it done.  They also don't take a lunch, I've noticed.

But I digress.  I had a rather memorable conversation about what my work hours are with several members of the leadership team.  It was very clear.  It was made very clear because I just finished working on a project that I had to put in overtime.  I was supposed to be paid for my overtime hours.  But the company is now refusing to pay for those hours because they said that I didn't work overtime the whole project, so I don't get paid for my overtime.  It amounts to nearly $10,000, not to mention the time away from my infant daughter.  The very next day after our conversation about me not getting paid for time outside of my normal hours, the boss sends an email asking for a meeting a couple of hours after my shift ended.

Now, this request has several problems.

1. I have a daughter that has a nanny.  If I "decide" to work outside of those coverage hours, I either get to bounce my baby daughter on my knee while I talk about this stupid project, OR
2. I get to pay for late notice and overtime for the nanny....that's if she even would cover it at all, AND
3. The boss has already made it quite clear that I won't get paid for my over time, so why would I want to just donate my time?

What is the matter with bosses?  In ten years, even in two years, no one will remember this stupid project, much less care who got to attend an after hours meeting to talk about how we all feel about the outcome.  In ten years, however, my daughter will remember, or at least be affected by my decisions about my time with her during her life.

Let's see how hard this decision is for me...