In my workplace, overtime is paid as time and a half base pay. For example, My base pay is $22 so when I’m working overtime I make $33. My usual work week consists of 36 hours on average which is only 4 hours away form hitting the overtime benchmark where my hourly pay increases. Due to being a student simultaneously, I strive to have a good work-life balance. For this reason, I almost always decline to come in on my non-scheduled days for overtime when asked because I value my outside of work time. My coworker Marie works the same hours and also has outside of work responsibilities, however she usually goes into work on her off-days when asked. This confused me because I know she is busy so I finally asked, “why do you always go in when they ask you even if you’re busy?” She responded with one word: “overtime.” This made a lot of sense to me. I know she supports herself financially, so there are likely many expenses where those few extra bucks could go a long way. Additionally, it is more time efficient as an employee to work overtime because you’re getting more money for doing the same job. While I could also use the overtime pay, I still continue to decline because I know having sufficient time off allows me to be present on the days I do work.