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I think I'm being abused by my employer

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  1. #11

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    This is standard practice for audit firms. Ask your employer to string the trips together and you don't have to come back and forth to HK. Better yet, suck it up for a couple of years, get your CA and then get the hell out.


  2. #12

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    You want this job?

    As I see it, this job means you work up in China. Because of the situation with flights, you have to travel back down to HK and then back up to China on the next day during the weekend. You're not really working on those days, are you? You're just travelling or staying in the hotel. Sure, it sounds bum, but thats the criteria for the job. Don't want to do it? Find another company.

    You can always ask the company if they can give you 3 day weekends because of the situation, but you're in dreamland if you think thats going to happen.


    Within the eyes of the law, a rest day is a day away from work. It doesn't matter if its travelling back and forth, or if you go rock-climbing, you're just not at work. Given that after a flight, a pilot will need to commute home, that commuting time isn't your work hours.


  3. #13

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    I've been in the audit firm myself, on the lowest step then moved up until I qualified and quit We were travelling on Sundays (out) and Fridays (back) but there was always something left to do at home on Saturday... so travelling or not, the life of an ambitious new hire is the same everywhere.

    IMHO the employer will continue with their working customs until there is a market of young grads hungry for such work (and there usually is, in any country of the world). If employees turn to the Labour Dept, they may get a temporary change of conditions but employer still remains 100% in control of their career progression, right? Watch out for apprasials next promotion round That's the reality of how a private company operates in a free economy.

    PS I'd like to point out that 24/7 work is a feature of the auditor's busy season anywhere in the world. I doubt this pattern continues throughout the whole year. Employer is trying to make the best use of the staff during the corporate reporting deadlines - usually auditors sit at their desks all day long during quiet months for the rest of the year. If they are involved in a listing or a corporate transation, they may keep getting busy but at a premium of getting a really interesting work and a later bonus.

    PPS When I worked as a first year auditor in Russia, we would be sent for 3-5 weeks without breaks to the most remote locations in the North - simply because there was no reliable communications between our city and the location under review (weather conditions did not allow for air or land travel). Flying in and out of HK sounds like a piece of cake comparing to my own experience of flying in and out of the behind the Polar Circle

    Last edited by Khema; 10-05-2013 at 03:43 PM.
    dengxi and elle like this.

  4. #14

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    why do you come back to hong kong on the weekend?


  5. #15

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    HK gov:

    Definition of a rest day:

    A rest day is defined as a continuous period of not less than 24 hours during which an employee is entitled to abstain from working for his employer.



    Nothing about travelling.

    If i decided to find a 9-5 work but it involved commuting 2 hours each way, I will still need to report in at 9 and cannot claim back the 4 hours of commuting every day.


  6. #16

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    Regardless of the law, be realistic. If you don't like it, you're going to have to quit.


  7. #17

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    Has the OP tried asking if they can travel back to HK on Fri evening? He says they travel back on Sat evenings usually so it doesn't sound like travelling back on a Fri would involve finishing work too early. It's not an unreasonable request so worth a go. At the moment, it sounds like everyone is just sucking it up and hasn't even tried to negotiate a slightly more civilised arrangement.


  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by bibbju:
    Has the OP tried asking if they can travel back to HK on Fri evening? He says they travel back on Sat evenings usually so it doesn't sound like travelling back on a Fri would involve finishing work too early. It's not an unreasonable request so worth a go. At the moment, it sounds like everyone is just sucking it up and hasn't even tried to negotiate a slightly more civilised arrangement.
    OP already stated in his/her 1st post
    But the problem with China, is that flights are very limited to some cities/provinces with only 1 flight a day - which we cannot make it because we are still working, resulting us to travel back on Saturday.
    Traveling back from China on Friday evenings is a nightmare, permanent delays, even flights that should take off at 8pm will not take off until around 1 am. this is because the air traffic is controlled by the Military.

  9. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by wtbhotia:
    OP already stated in his/her 1st post

    Traveling back from China on Friday evenings is a nightmare, permanent delays, even flights that should take off at 8pm will not take off until around 1 am. this is because the air traffic is controlled by the Military.
    OP said in their first post: "We then travel back to Hong Kong on Saturday evening (work ending on Friday). " So, if the one flight per day leaves in the evening, surely a Fri evening return is a possible option? Even if Fri night is hellish for travelling, at least the OP gets a full day off on Sat.

  10. #20

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    But the problem with China, is that flights are very limited to some cities/provinces with only 1 flight a day - which we cannot make it because we are still working, resulting us to travel back on Saturday.

    So the flight on Friday is during OP's working hours.


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