Welcome to the Breakout Business English podcast, where I help you to communicate better at work in English.
Hi everyone.
My name is Chris and I have personally worked with over 1000 international professionals, just like you, to improve the way that they communicate at work in English.
Thank you so much for listening.
And today's topic is overtime, overtime.
So conversations about overtime almost always become conversations about work-life balance.
Your work-life balance is the division between the amount of time that you spend working and the amount of time that you spend on the rest of your life.
We can talk about your work-life balance as being good or bad.
If you have a good work-life balance, then you likely have lots of things that you do outside of work.
Maybe you play sports or have hobbies or spend a lot of time with your family and friends.
Maybe you don't do too much overtime.
If you have a bad work-life balance, then maybe it feels like you're always in the office.
You're always doing overtime.
I recently worked with a young lawyer who worked from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.
I would consider that a pretty bad work-life balance.
But from what I understand, this is a common way to establish yourself in that industry and in that profession, especially in the part of the world in which this gentleman lived.
Hopefully, it's something that he doesn't need to continue doing for very long.
I know that in a lot of careers, people are asked to work a lot of unpaid overtime.
In other fields however, employers are far better at offering compensation for any extra work that you do.
In my previous career, where I worked in IT at three different British universities over around six years, overtime was often available.
However, we were always paid for it.
I used to always say yes whenever I was offered overtime, and then worry about my work-life balance later.
I just knew that I definitely wanted the extra income.
And I think that also overtime and people's relationship with overtime varies geographically.
I know that there are parts of the world where doing unpaid overtime is more expected than in other parts of the world.
So again interested to know where you live and how overtime is treated in your industry and indeed more broadly where you live.
So today we're going to hear some natural and native sounding examples of people talking about Overtime.
We'll discuss some great vocabulary that we can use to communicate about this idea.
And we'll hear some common grammar structures that you can use when at work.
With that said, let's start by listening to how a manager might offer overtime to their team.
If you can stay behind for a couple of hours this evening, then I can pay you time and a half.
I really need someone to come in this weekend.
If you can help me out then I'll make sure that you get paid double time.
I really need someone to come in this weekend.
If you can help me out then I'll make sure that you get paid double time.
Jane is on vacation this week and I'll need someone to cover for her.
Jane is on vacation this week and I'll need someone to cover for her.
Is anyone interested in the overtime?
I can't pay you, but you'll get time off in lieu.
There were two really important pieces of vocabulary in those examples that I want to talk about.
And those were time and a half and double time.
Time and a half and double time.
In the first example, we heard, I can pay you time and a half.
I can pay you time and a half.
And in the second example, we heard, I'll make sure that you get paid double time.
I'll make sure that you get paid double time.
Both of these phrases refer to the additional pay that you might be promised for working overtime.
So if I promise to pay you time and a half and your normal pay is 20 per hour, for instance, how much would you expect to receive?
Well, time and a half suggests that you get paid for your time, and then 50% again.
Half again.
So, an additional 50%, that's $30 an hour.
50% of 20 is 10, add them together, we get $30 an hour.
However, if your boss really wants to keep you happy or maybe your boss has some overtime that no one wants and they need to incentivize people to do it then they might offer you double time.
That's an additional 100% of your normal compensation.
So, your $20 would become $40 per hour.
I'm not sure that I've ever been offered triple time before, but maybe one day I'll be that lucky.
I should say as well, in the example we heard, I'll make sure that you get paid double time.
However, it's very common to just say, I'll give you double time or you'll get double time.
So, for instance, if you can help me out, then I'll make sure that you get double time.
What's implied here is pay, wages and salary.
It's the money that you earn.
Let's stick with the theme of compensation for a moment longer and take a look at the one true piece of French vocabulary in today's podcast, closest to the original French.
And that is time off in lieu.
Time off in lieu.
In the third example, we heard, I can't pay you, but you'll get time off in lieu.
I can't pay you, but you'll get time off in lieu.
That's lieu, L-I-E-U.
This is definitely something that I've covered in a previous episode of the podcast, so I won't dwell on it for too long.
We won't spend much time on it.
However, let's start with that French word, lieu, L-I-E-U.
Have you heard this one before?
What does it mean?
Maybe you've heard it in another context.
For instance, if you go to collect a higher car and they don't have the one that you want maybe you reserved one and well, they didn't keep the reservation maybe they'll offer you something else in lieu.
In lieu of the car that you wanted, they might have a good alternative for you.
In lieu means instead of.
So in the context of our theme today, this means instead of pay, instead of money.
We often hear this in a professional context as toil, T-O-I-L, as in, my boss said he'd give me toil if I stayed late.
My boss said he'd give me toil if I stayed late.
I don't know about you, but I've always been more inclined to work for time off in lieu, rather than extra money.
If my boss said to me, Chris, would you like to get paid for this overtime or would you like toil?
I would always choose time off in lieu.
Anything to extend my vacation time to be as long as possible.
Okay, let's talk about Jimi Hendrix, one of the most famous musicians of all time and an artist who definitely had some fantastic songs.
However, the song I want to talk about today is called All Along the Watchtower.
All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix.
I remember hearing this song for the first time when I was a teenager.
In fact, I think I learned it on guitar as a teenager.
However, one thing that I didn't find out until later is that he didn't write it himself.
In fact, as you may know, All Along the Watchtower is a song by Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan.
So my question for you here is what do we call it when one artist plays or records a song that was originally performed by someone else?
Maybe you've heard the song Hallelujah, made famous by Jeff Buckley but originally performed by Leonard Cohen.
Or one song that was really popular a few years ago was Valerie by Amy Winehouse.
Amy Winehouse probably recorded the most famous version, but I remember hearing that song when it was released by the Zootons many years earlier.
These songs are called cover songs, cover versions, or more commonly, just covers.
So, let's take a look at this word as it appeared in our third example.
Jane is on vacation this week and I'll need someone to cover for her.
Jane is on vacation this week and I'll need someone to cover for her.
So, what does cover mean in this context?
That's cover, C-O-V-E-R.
Well, just as with our musical example, it means that someone is replaced.
Someone else does what they usually do.
When we talk about covering at work, we mean that someone needs to be replaced temporarily.
This might be for a few minutes, as in, can you cover for me while I make a coffee?
I'm getting really tired.
Or maybe for longer.
I need to find some cover for John while he's out on paternity leave.
That first example was a verb.
Can you cover for me?
But the second example was a noun.
I need to find some cover.
I think that when we're talking about work, we usually use this word in the verb form.
But you will also hear the noun form from time to time.
And if you've got some time off in lieu and you're looking for something productive to do with it, then maybe we can work together.
My full-time job is helping international professionals who use English at work to improve their communication skills.
So if you need English to do your job but you don't speak it natively, then I would love to meet you.
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Let's listen now to some examples of staff talking about overtime, either with colleagues or their managers discussing the idea of overtime, maybe accepting overtime or their thoughts on it.
I would love to do some overtime tonight, but unfortunately I have a prior commitment.
I would love to do some overtime tonight, but unfortunately I have a prior commitment.
I'm usually more than happy to do overtime, given enough notice, but tonight I really need to get away on time.
I'm usually more than happy to do overtime, given enough notice, but tonight I really need to get away on time.
Let's talk about commitments.
In the first example we heard I have a prior commitment.
I have a prior commitment.
The noun commitment is almost always a formal word.
And we use it to talk about things that we have to do.
Or maybe things that you've scheduled and that you've likely told other people that you will do.
If you are a busy person in your free time maybe you play a lot of sports, go to a lot of concerts or just have a lot of meetings with friends then you can say that you have a lot of commitments outside of work.
When we tell someone that we have a prior commitment, we mean that we are unable to do something at the time they've asked us to because we've already promised to do something else at that time instead.
We don't want to double book ourselves, which means to book two things at the same time, to schedule two engagements or events at the same time.
So, as well as using this phrase to talk about plans that you have outside of work, we can also use it at work, when we need to avoid double booking ourselves.
For instance, I'm sorry I won't be able to come to the meeting as I have a prior commitment.
I'm sorry I won't be able to come to the meeting as I have a prior commitment.
And as I mentioned, this is quite formal.
So it's relatively unusual to hear in spoken English.
However, it's relatively common to find in things like emails and maybe letters.
Of course, if you can't come to a meeting because you have a prior commitment, do you remember the piece of vocabulary from an earlier podcast that we can use to say that we won't be in a meeting, especially if people are expecting us?
We can send our apologies.
So, for instance, I'm sorry I won't be able to come to the meeting as I have a prior commitment.
Please send my apologies.
Please send my apologies.
Don't forget that if you would like to discuss any of the ideas, vocabulary or grammar, etc.
In today's episode, then you can book a session to work with me on your English skills.
That's the title of the podcast breakoutbusinessenglishcom, or clicking on the link in the show notes.
And use the code PODCAST30 at checkout to get a 30% discount on your booking.
I've worked with well over 1000 non-native English-speaking professionals, from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders, to help them to achieve their goals, and I look forward to meeting you.
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That is it for today.
Thank you so much as always for listening and for your time.
I know how valuable it is.
And I'll talk to you again next time on the Breakout Business English Podcast.
