You’ve worked hard. You deserve a break! If you’re tired and overworked, you have the right to decline overtime.

In a world where working more hours can be the only way to get ahead, it’s no wonder that many people feel pressured to take on even more hours than they have time for.

It’s only natural—if you’re trying to earn enough money to make ends meet, or if you want to advance your career or take care of your loved ones, then taking on extra work is just what you do.

Overtime work is generally only defined as working more than 40 hours in a week (or 14 hours on a weekend). However, some industries may have different rules as to how much time they expect employees to work.

If your company doesn’t define overtime as more than 40 hours in a week (or 14 hours on a weekend), then you can decline any requests for overtime.

If you’ve found yourself in one of these situations, then keep reading because we will talk about some tips on how you can politely refuse working overtime.

Are you required to work overtime?

It depends. It depends on the type of job you have and how much you’re paid. If you are employed as a salaried employee, then you are not required to work overtime. If you are paid by the hour, however, then your employer may require you to work overtime.

In this case, it’s important for you to know if your employer has any expectations for how long he or she expects you to work each day. This will help them calculate the number of hours that should be paid for as overtime when it isn’t part of your regular work schedule.

If your employer has no specific expectations regarding how long you should work each day and doesn’t pay extra for working beyond regular hours, then they may not require that time be compensated as overtime pay at all.

Should you be working overtime?

The answer to this question depends on a lot of different factors, including your career goals and the kind of job you’re currently in.

If you’re just starting out in your career and are looking to advance quickly, then it may be worthwhile to sacrifice some time with friends and family in order to get ahead faster. On the other hand, if you’re looking to have a great life with children and a loving partner, then it might not be worth sacrificing too much time away from them.

If all of your coworkers are part-time employees who work shorter hours than full-time workers do (and don’t use personal trainers), then there’s no need for them to work longer hours when they aren’t even required to.

In fact, it could be better for everyone involved if they stopped working so hard all of the time!

How should you politely refuse to work overtime?

You should always politely refuse to work overtime. Even if the person on top of the pyramid is unfair, you must be polite when asking to work fewer hours. If they are not respectful, then you can do what needs to be done.

If you have a boss who is acting in an unprofessional manner, then it is time to rise up against them and make them pay for their actions. If your boss acts like an asshat, then it is time for you to leave that company and find another job that is more suitable for your career goals.

In order to do this, you must be able to communicate with others effectively so that they understand why they need to follow through with what they promised in exchange for being hired by that company in the first place.

How should you respond if you got declined after politely asking to refuse to work overtime?

If you’ve politely asked your boss to refuse to work overtime and they’ve declined, that’s not the end of the world. In fact, it’s a good thing!

You’re not going to get paid for overtime work if your employer doesn’t want you to do it. That’s perfectly fine. You have the right to refuse and negotiate an alternative schedule with your employer.

So what if they say no? Don’t take it personally! It’s not personal—it’s business. You’re going to have to find other ways to make money if you don’t want to work long hours for free.

Make sure you know what your employer expects from their employees and then use those expectations as leverage when negotiating for a better salary or other benefits (like time off).

Is it worth it to work overtime?

The answer is: it depends.

It’s important to note that, with few exceptions, overtime isn’t paid. And the reason for that is that it’s not worth it.

Overtime is a time when you’re working more than your usual schedule and for a longer period of time than usual (typically more than 40 hours). You may be asked to work this extra time because of an emergency or because there’s an urgent project that needs to be taken care of right now.

In these cases, it can be worth your while to work overtime because it means you’ll have the opportunity to make up for lost time later on in your career—but only if you’re able to manage your workload well enough not to burn out completely.

If you do burn out completely, then no amount of overtime will help you recover from the damage done by overworking yourself.

Should you leave your job just because you hate working overtime?

It depends on the situation.

If you’re only working overtime to make up for the fact that you don’t get paid enough, then yes, I think it’s totally reasonable to leave a job if you hate it.

But if your job is really great, really challenging, really fun, really rewarding, and it also pays well, then I think you should consider staying there, even if you hate being told when to show up or what time to show up on any given day.

Why? Well, think about it this way: Would you rather have a job where someone tells you what time they want you there every single day? Or would you rather be able to choose when to show up at work? If those are the options, then by all means take the latter one!

Conclusion

The best way to politely refuse working overtime is to make sure that you have a well-written resume. A good resume will demonstrate that you are a hard worker and a pro at what you do.

It will show that you are reliable and trustworthy, and it will highlight your accomplishments. A well-written resume will help you get the job that you want, and it will help you keep it once you do!

If you need help with preparing an application-ready resume, you can have our team of expert resume writers help you out!