Single guy accused of 'cheating' for working nights and weekends to get promotion.

In this post on Reddit a guy's coworkers have ganged up against him, saying that he's breaking a code by taking work home with him. It's a dog eat dog world out there, but is he doing too much to get the bone? Here's his story...

I put the “cheating” in quotes because I don’t think it’s cheating but my colleagues disagree. I’m in my 30s and everyone involved are between 30-50.

About 6 months ago, our unit VP announced his retirement by the end of the year so the company went into search mode. We recently found out our manager will be promoted into the VP position so now his position needs to be filled. Which brings us to my current situation.

I’m single with no kids, so I have no other responsibilities except to myself. I really want this position because it’s a visible position and a great stepping stone to my career (as seen by my manager’s promotion), and it’ll almost double my pay. Once we found out about our manager’s promotion, I started to take on extra projects and taking work home.

I leave work at my normal hours then work from home until 9 or 10 pm, even on the weekends. All of those extra hours have allowed me to take on harder projects that other people turned down, and to complete more than anyone else. My manager and the VP have noticed and complimented me on my hustle.

My colleagues also noticed my increased production. Last week a work friend asked me how I’m able to do all of those projects in 8 hrs and I told her about my nights and weekends.

Word got around and this week during our weekly conference call, my colleagues told me to cut it out. They accused me of cheating because I’m putting in the amount of hours they can’t so I’m skewing the production numbers.

I refused and don’t think it’s cheating at all and argued they can put in the same amount of hours. Some said they can’t because of family time and others refuse to work hours they won’t get paid for (we’re all on salary). We spent most of the meeting arguing about it.

Am I cheating? AITA?

Edit from OP:

My colleagues and I are all supervisors. I have a mentor who’s a VP in a different unit and he’s advising me on the promotion process and steps I need to take. He also told me what to expect if I get promoted, so I’m going into this fully informed. Basically my manager worked about 50-60 hrs a week because it was he’s always on call.

From the comments:

JGG5 writes:

YTA. You're screwing over your fellow workers by resetting the 'norm' so that management will start expecting everyone to match the production of someone who works 60-70 hours a week while still only paying you all for 40.

OwnedByACrazyCat writes:

Your not cheating but you are at risk of being expected to give up your free time outside of work once (or if) you get the promotion. NTA

jessiyjazzy123 writes:

Exactly. They are going to expect this kind of productivity to continue. So, get used to working until 10 every night and not enjoying weekends if you get the promotion. NTA

hard_tyrant_dinosaur writes:

To say nothing of the fact that being a top producer =/= being a good manager.

Even if the company restricts their search to in house, employee production numbers may not be their prime criteria for candidates. Things like proven leadership and communication skills, on the other hand...

chickenbiscuit17 writes:

At my job generally the top producers are actually kept in their producing jobs as opposed to being given opportunities for upper management. They normally go for the guys who have a more manageable load but handle it flawlessly for upper management.

dust_cover writes:

YTA and I wouldn’t promote you.

I refuse to promote people who begin to work really hard when they think there’s a promotion on the line. I’d rather give the job to someone who works hard (reasonably) all the time, then promote someone who will likely stop once they’ve gotten the job.

I’ve promoted people like you before and always regretted it. They can’t sustain the thing that made them stand out, and it’s a disingenuous representation of their work.

ItchyDoggg writes:

This is insane. Of course people work harder when they believe their hard work is likely to be rewarded! In an ideal world every employee would always feel like if they work harder it will be seen, appreciated and beyond that, rewarded.

dust_cover writes:

There’s a big difference between people who go from doing only what’s necessary, to suddenly killing themselves and making sure everyone can see it, and someone who always, as part of their day-to-day, goes above and beyond a little.

I’d rather promote the steady fire then the flash in the pan, that’s all I’m saying. And I’ve been burned before by that “flash”. Almost every time I didn’t listen to my instincts on this.

halfpastnone writes:

They aren't going to promote someone who only shows initiative when it suits them, and who is actively alienating the people they'd be in charge of lol. Office politics matter