Comment A good boss can really help (Score 1) 735
I'm on call right now, actually. If I have a bad night, that requires me to be awake from 2am to 6am I will send an email saying I'll either be in for half day, working from home, or not at all. My boss will not ask any questions other than requesting a follow up email about the outage when I can.
If I work an over night at the data center that runs past 2am, we're given an automatic comp day. This is all "under the table". The bosses bosses boss has no real idea. Hell, even if he did he probably would have no problem with it. Having a boss who is willing at acknowledge the time you put in and grant you some liberty with that can really make up for the fact you don't get paid extra.