<prompt> Human: I landed a job in the manufacturing industry with good pay compared to other jobs that my peers were landing for the major I was in. I was working full time during my last semester of college. They gave me an offer letter as hourly non-exempt. I assumed this had something to do with my student-status. I had a good benefits package so it did not bother me.nbsp;I clocked in my hours as I worked them, around my school schedule. So that meant some 10 hour days, and some 6 hour days to keep me at 40 per week. A couple months into my job my manager pulled me in and said he couldnt let me do this because its costing them overtime. OK, no sweat, I graduate in 2 months, after which Ill be doing 8 hour days anyway, so I start clocking my hours in 8 hour increments to keep them happy.nbsp;Fast forward 12 months. Im graduated. Im established. People know me, they like me. I fit in well. I perform. Everything is good except for one thing: My work-life balance is shit. I am under pressure to take my work home with me because the entire group is exempt except for me. To make things worse, I am on a support rotation that involves getting called after midnight if the fab has some problem that our group deals with.nbsp;I was talking to another employee in different group who seemed very happy with his arrangement with the company the same as mine, because his non-exempt status protected his work-life balance. He very diligently bills them for any remote support the company requires of him. When he goes home he completely disconnects. Im getting jealous listening to him talk about his situation.nbsp;So I email HR and explain my situation, that Im on a support rotation and have been getting calls at odd hours of the night as required by my group, and wanted to know the official policy on logging hours for such calls. They did not respond. Within 2 hours my manager had pulled me into his office and said he cant let me take overtime. I told him I was not OK pretending to be exempt any more because for the work-life balance, the pay is shit did not use those words. I said essentially, you know my learning curve, you know my work-ethic, and I know the expectations. I told him I would be playing it by the rules for as long as I am non-exempt, which means that they would see a performance decrease as I re-built my home life. I gave him the option to make me exempt, but I told him that there is a substantial gap in market value for the responsibilities I perform, and the compensation I am receiving, and I expect a significant increase in pay to continue.nbsp;Basically the issue is I know how the group works, theres no way they will settle to have this lazy guy in the group holding his ground because hes disgruntled about being taken advantage of. I obviously want to keep my job, and am OK with continuing the status quo if I get a fair offer.nbsp;The situation is kind of complicated because lay-offs are scheduled in April, but I am feeling very marketable right now. I just want them to know that Im willing to play ball if they want to.nbsp;Do you guys think there are anythings I have not considered that I should be looking into right now? I know part of what they are doing was illegal, but Im not really convinced holding legal action over their head is going to help me at all. What are my options if I get an offer I dont agree with? This is my first real job. I went from restaurants to Engineering.nbsp;Edit: for those recommending to begin the job search. OK. But how to handle when they ask why I am considering leaving my current organization and if they may contact them to inquire about me?  <response>: I would start looking for another job now. You are handling this the right way, but you do not want to be working for a company that plays games or tries to leverage you into not being properly compensated. 