Quit job when boss gives work every weekend without extra pay

When I announced my decision to quit my job, many seniors in the company told me that with my ability, future promotions would be smooth, but unfortunately I had "Gen Z disease".

Gen Z disease, as the previous generation said, is "demanding treatment before contributing", "lazy, not working hard". Many seniors considered my action of quitting my job as "leaving the bowl and the tray". When I was young, I should have tried my best to contribute and show myself, not hastily calculating pros and cons, missing out on good opportunities.

But from the perspective of young people like me, accepting unfairness and inequality between employees and employers is a toxic thing. Every business owner always positions himself as a civilized and progressive person, and so do highly qualified and qualified employees, so we should not forget that compliance with labor laws is a basic manifestation of civilization in the working environment. These are regulations on maximum working hours and payment of wages and remuneration.

At my old company, the work week was 6 days, but in reality every Sunday I had to “pause” appointments or put my personal plans on hold after messages, emails or phone calls from my boss.

Although I work 8 hours a day, in reality, there is hardly any evening that I don't have to "cow". Dozens of work-related chat groups are constantly buzzing, even until 1am. We try to work day and night to finish the project, hoping to have a few more relaxing days, but as soon as it's done, the boss immediately moves on to another project and everyone rushes to meet deadlines, staying up all night to work.

When I complained about this unfairness, my colleagues said that it was nothing, they couldn't even rest on their annual leave, they were still harassed by the company with the excuse "this work is related to you, if you don't ask me, who else can you ask?". So even though they were busy with family matters or on vacation with their relatives, they still had to sit in a corner with their computers open, or pick up the phone and make one call after another...

“During the working day, your time belongs to the company. On your days off and holidays, your time also belongs to the company,” my colleagues concluded. But despite their discontent, they accepted it as an unchangeable reality.

But I and my generation are not like that, especially when bosses use the excuse of work requirements to ask people to work without days off, but do not calculate the compensation fairly. If overtime is calculated according to the law, my income should be at least double the normal level. But no, I only receive a "KPI bonus" of 10% plus.

I spoke frankly about my views in the company meeting, but those who were also dissatisfied with me behind the scenes kept quiet and did not say anything. The boss also said a few words and then changed the subject. Therefore, after 6 months of working, I decided to quit because I knew that the situation would not change.

I quit my job for two reasons. First, I do not accept the company taking up all of the employees' time. During peak times, when everyone is working hard, I am ready, but it is clear that the company intentionally abuses it, making people never have time to rest and recharge. We work to live, not live to work; there is more to life than just working.

Second, it is not that I “only know how to demand treatment” or “calculate and compare”, but I do not want to accept unfairness. Forcing employees to work on holidays but ignoring fair compensation is a form of bullying, showing inequality in the relationship between the company and the employee, and also showing that the leader does not value the efforts of the employees.

That injustice still exists because people, despite feeling resentful, still silently accept it.

I am now self-employed, earning one and a half times more than before but working hours have been reduced by almost half. I still want to apply to another company, but will choose a place that “plays fair” to join.