RE: 40-hour weeks (was Re: FWD: Lack...)

Subject: RE: 40-hour weeks (was Re: FWD: Lack...)
From: "Joanne Elizabeth Murphy" <joanne -dot- e -dot- m -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2007 11:46:22 +0100

With only 168 hours in the week, and a typical 56 hours of that spent
sleeping (if we work by the text book), working a 40 hour week only leaves
you 72 hours in which to do what you want to be doing (away from work).
After that you'll have to factor in meals, toilet breaks, hygiene, time
spent sitting aimlessly trying to think of something - anything - worth
doing that you can be bothered with, and interruptions. In short: you don't
really get a lot of productive time to yourself when you work a 40 hour
week. As nice it it may be to be earning large sums of money in exchange for
long hours and recognition of your commitment to work, you do need time to
spend and enjoy that money.

With all the studies making the news at the moment about the millions of
people world wide working their fingers to the bone, surpassing the accepted
standards of work (in terms of hours) at the expense of their physical and
psychological health: is it not better to regulate your hours now rather
than burn out and have to take months away to recover?

Fair enough if you love your job and your employer is the embodiment of
honesty and respect, or if you simply need to work over hours to meet a
looming deadline, but the very idea of working beyond 45 hours a week -
especially the 55 hour week apparently demanded by one VP!? - on a regular
basis sounds very much to me like he shouldn't have let go of the other 75%
of writing staff at that company. If you're not contracted for it then I'd
say it's optional and not a requirement; I'd even venture to suggest that
its unlawful (but I'm working by UK laws governing working hours). If they
fire you for working your contracted hours and fulfilling your role, or give
you any kind of hassle for doing what you're paid to do...well, I'd fight
back.

There are only three reasons why I'd ever stay at work for more than three
hours longer than my contracted 37 hour week:

1) I ballsed something up and need to fix it (hopefully without anyone
realising my mistake);
2) I have to make up for time lost by not working hours I'm contracted for
at some point and HR insists I need to make that time up;
3) I didn't notice the time OR someone is picking me up from work and making
a really bum job of it.

In much the same way as my employer expects me to compensate them with work,
and hopes I'll give that bit extra, I expect my employer to understand our
contractual agreement and reward me for going beyond the call of duty. Work
makes me happy, and I enjoy my job to the point that I am willing to
contribute my own money towards fulfilling the educational requirements of
my work and brush up in my own time - I'll even write for them in my own
time if the inspiration hits me in the right way - but if it came down to
them demanding I work OT because they failed to properly allocate resources?
Well, there are plenty of other more rewarding jobs out there.
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