Background: I'm an engineer in a sizeable factory and have been with my present company for just under a year. I hired in as a production supervisor, and was switched to a different department about 6 months in, after getting caught up in some conflicts between my former boss & his boss (the guy that hired me). I now work for a different dept. head who reports to a plant manager who is at the same level as my original hiring manager; they both report to a vp of manufacturing. Wednesday morning, a former counterpart from my original department informed me that he would be training me on his analytical lab duties, as he was leaving the company and they needed me to cover these tasks until he is replaced (today was his last day). This is 2-3 hrs of work per day with occasional weekends. My current management has made it clear to me that they don't expect me to come in on weekends for this task, but sure enough, my former boss asked me today if I could do exactly that. I said I could (his boss--my original hiring manager's request), but that he should ask his boss what's in it for me (half joking). I don't mind coming in to do the work, but I don't have any real interest in giving up my weekends for free (I'm salary exempt). My current boss has expressed the fact that he will be understanding about the time this will take, but I don't realistically see comp time as an option anytime in the foreseeable future. I'd like to see my extra time rewarded with a lump sum bonus at a reasonable rate (say $250 per weekend day in, or so). Their budget should certainly allow for it as they are down one in head count now. The guy who I'm replacing in this task said that he asked for extra money when he took it on & was refused (part of the reason he's leaving). Before he took it on as an additional duty, it was a full time job. Some of the lab work could be considered mission critical (color & composition analysis of material batches), although the plants could function without it; they'd just be flying blind, so to speak. Some of the work is for outside customers, which generates a small revenue stream (few thousand a month). I'm currently the only person in the company trained to do the work. I assume if I say nothing further, that no financial reward for the extra work will be forthcoming.
Specific questions: 1. Is this worth making an issue out of? (It's not going to affect my FIRE date significantly. For me this is more a matter of principle and not wanting to be taken advantage of). I'm hopeful they will have the guy replaced in a month or two, although there is no guarantee, so we're talking about $1-$2k maybe.
2. If so, with whom should I address it and how? My original hiring manager thanked me in an email today in response to my first lab report on which the vp of mfg is copied for "jumping in until we can replace (my predecessor)". I was thinking about just doing a "reply all" along the lines of "You're welcome. I trust you will find a way to thank me with some fraction of (my predecessor's) salary until he is replaced." and just seeing how he responds.
