Is Bitcoin any more volatile than a "normal" currency in regards to value on the time scale of when work is done and work is paid?

Usually when I hear the dollar is down its cents on the dollar over weeks but what I hear about Bitcoin sounds more like a stock market, with sudden crashes and rallies

Depends where you live. The pound crashed 6% last week in a matter of minutes, and is down 8% this month and 17% this year. The Swiss franc jumped 40% against the euro in a matter of minutes in 2015. The ruble crashed 45% over 6 months in 2014. Icelandic kronor crashed 35% vs the dollar in 2008. Venezuela is in hyperinflation right now.

But changes to international exchange rates don't (immediately) impact your cost of living. If you're paid in bitcoins, and the price goes down, that means you're effectively making less money (in local currency) to pay for food, housing, transportation, etc.

It depends where you live and what currencies you use.

I live in Finland, which uses the Euro currency, but I get paid in British pounds sterling. The recent rate crash directly impacts me - when I get paid at the end of the month I literally receive less salary.

(Exactly the same as the poster above, getting paid in Bitcoin if the rates fall.)

If all of your transactions are made in one currency (which is the case for most people) most of those situations have little impact. Very few goods are priced in Bitcoin, so the price fluctuations are much more meaningful.

I have experienced a lot of volatility with the bitcoins I bought. Namely, they're all worth 100x what I paid for them, while fiat currency continues to lose value every day as central banks print money non-stop.