Re: Do I HAVE to work overtime if asked?
I was once in that situation and made a fuss about it in front of the other workers.
It is important how you handle this.
Get a sheet of paper and write down your objections, health family outside commitments etc that prevent you from doing the OT.
It could be a difficult traffic situation, difficult home, a demanding spouse or senior family member etc.
Get it all down on paper and make your case quietly in the office with your boss in private.
Many companies have work/life balance programs and health promotion programs and also the legal restrictions which are in place on overtime and hours worked. Get the HR department or your union to help you in your case.
You may have to commit to a certain level of overtime in the short term but they should have a plan in place to rectify the cause of the overtime and an agreed deadline for its implementation.
Be civil at all tjmes, be firm at all times and offer a small amount of Ot at odd times so as to come acros as reasonable, a blanket refusal to do overtime at all will come across as unreasonable.
When doing the overtime work only at the standard rate or speed in order to avoid disciplinary action for slowness.
They will soon get the message and shift their attention to softer targets and easier people to force into overtime.
If you are too much trouble to manage they will get somone else to do the OT but bear in mind that it may be difficult to get overtime if cash becomes scarce and needed for something in the future.
You will have marked yourself down as someone who does the standard hours only but that is fine so long as you do a good job in those standard hours.