Ok, so I started a new job 2 months ago after being laid off for almost a year. I've been looking for a job and interviewing the entire time I was laid off, then finally received a job offer at a company 32 miles away from home and accepted a significant pay cut, which is better than no income at all. I am a single mother with a child that's in middle school and the sole provider. The work at this job is steady and my coworker, which by the way is also new and started a month before I did. We are required to work late due to the nature of the business. Our work hours are 8:30 to 5:30 and we never leave at 5:30. We work an additional 2 hours after 5:30 which of.course is overtime. The job doesn't pay much so the overtime helps. My 60 day review is coming up at the beginning of October, however today my manager calls me into the conference room because she says she has to speak with me. She says she has to counsel me on my work. She says when I leave, my work isn't completed and I don't prioritize the work. Then she says I am suppose to punch out and take an hour lunch yet I am not the only one who dosen't punch out and works through lunch. Then she says I have to work pass 5:30 to make sure all work is done which I already do. She then hands me a piece of paper with what I mentioned in writing and asks me to sign it. She rushes me through the whole thing and says she needs to leave but wants me to sign the paper. I ask questions about yet she doesn't give me a straight answer. I couldn't believe what was happening. All that time there was never a complaint about my work and it only took a few days to trains me and doing the work all on my own. I don't think I was written up or was I? Is this one step before getting fired? I don't know what to make of this. I asked my manager if she was writing me up and she says no. She was counseling me on my work, etc. I've never experienced this before so I really don't know what her real intentions are other than to fire me at a later date. I do my work and my coworker doesn't do as much work as I. They've been training her to do a lot of other things yet she and another co worker don't get along but I am the one who gets counseled? I am still confused as to what just happened right before I left work. I am at a loss. What should I do to keep from losing this job? Speak to HR? Follow up with an answer to the counseling paperwork/meeting? Any suggestions?

As a salary employee I’ve always been able to complete my job responsibilities within a 40 hour work week while many of my co-workers would work another 15-20 hours per week in addition to the 40 hours. When you break it down they end up earning less money for all the extra hours worked not to mention less work/life balance.

I just got a new job and I'm in training. I love what I will be doing but some of my new co-workers are scaring me when they tell me about all the over time they have been putting in. (They were short people in this department but now have me and 5 other people) When hired, I was asked, do you mind over time? I said sometimes....but they are telling me 15+ hours a week. I am concerned. I can't do that much over time each week. I took the job because I was told it was Monday to Friday with a flex schedule (start work from 7-10 and work your 8 hours) How does everyone else feel about this? Whats your experience with OT? Also....this department will be put on a "matrix pay schedule" meaning you get paid by what you produce. I was not told about this either. Comments please? any one with experience in this area? Thanks