Hey everyone. I'm 22, about 8 months post-graduation, and I'm working as a legal assistant. In the interview, my now boss stated that this position would have “overtime some times” as well as saying that he's “had people try to come in at 8 in order to get off at 4, but likes people to stay until 5”. Sounded fine to me as 9-5 was expected, and I know that this field is notorious for long hours (of course, this varies depending on your boss/firm). Turns out I work 2-3 hours of overtime daily. But that doesn't do it justice- I literally have to wait on my boss' permission to leave. Every day. Doesn't matter what day, time, occasion. Long story short, I'm unable to make any post-work plans M-F, including going to the gym, grocery shopping, or seeing friends. I literally never know when I'll get off. My parents have suggested speaking to my boss about this (the reasonable, obvious solution), but that doesnt seem like it'll be very much help. My coworker who's been there much longer has experienced this her entire time there, and last Friday, when she notified my boss that she'd need to leave at 5 that day, she was very nervous to make this ask. She didn't get let off until 5:45 that day. Anyways, I'm depressed and worried. I have no benefits, very little PTO, and my boss told me last week that the federal holidays he promised in the job offer are not actually taken off. Turns out we only take off a day for Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Years.
I'm worried that I'm going to burn out. Also, I fucking hate the reality of waiting for his permission to leave every. single. day. On top of that, he talks down to us in a way that seems like he has little to no emotional intelligence/empathy/decency. I want to be able to enjoy myself, have an idea of when I get off work each day, and not have to worry about being able to do normal human things. I am very depressed and discouraged about this. Hate the idea that this was presented as a 9-5 when really, I have to wait on him to let me off every day. Any advice or opinion would be great.