Boss Blames Me for Working 60 Hours a Week and Expecting Perfect Results
I work in the construction industry, but I’m in an administrative role. When I was hired, I agreed to work 60 hours a week because that was part of the deal during the recruiting process. I thought I could manage, but now it’s becoming a nightmare.
We’re forced to sync our hours with the construction site workers, even when there’s little to no administrative work to do. Despite that, my boss expects me to sit there for the full 60 hours and still deliver perfect results. And here’s the kicker: he says that since I accepted these hours, I’m entirely responsible if the work isn’t flawless. His logic is, “Some people can handle it, so if you make mistakes, it’s on you.”
Now, we feel guilty about it all. It’s as if we’ve internalized the blame for any shortcomings, even when the problem isn’t just the workload—it’s the hours themselves. Even when there’s nothing to do, the expectation is still perfection.
Has anyone else in an administrative job in a similar industry dealt with this? I feel stuck between the pressure to meet these hours and the impossible standards. Any advice on how to handle this with/without putting myself at risk of backlash from management?
I thought that if an organisation needs all those hours to work, this means that this is a dysfunctional organisation and if so, then the organisation have done a risk analysis and they do accept any distrusting work.
Overtime hours are not compensated.
Thank you.