How does a 60+ hour work week look like?

[Provost Harrison]

In Soviet Russia, waiver sign YOU!





I don't think I'm doing this right.

Correct answer

[Provost Harrison]

I'm in a bit of a slack period at the moment, I've done no more than 35 hours a week recently...although this week will look back as I have worked 7 hours today, have an 11:25 hour flight ahead of me and then will be straight into work tomorrow...so it will look like I have been working solidly for 2 days...even though I have been waited on hand and foot and have been sleeping

[Al B. Sure!]

Productivity will likely decline once you get beyond 60 hours or so a week depending on the job. It could be slight decreases or actual burn-out depending on the person, the job, and the number of hours worked. Often, it's not really in the employer's best interest to have people working 80+ hours. That's how mistakes happen.

[onodera]

I don't think they do. What are the laws in Russia regarding that?

4 weeks of vacation, 14 days of sick leave (though not always fully paid, there's some rather low arbitrary limit past which increasing your salary doesn't increase the pay) are the bare minimum enforced by the state.
The bank I work for adds 6 extra days of vacation for irregular hours (and up to three extra days off for long-term employment that do not get transferred to the next year if unused, like vacation days are) and our 14 sick days are fully paid. We also get paid extra for overtime during weekends and national holidays (200% of your salary divided by 12 divided by working days in the current month divided by 8 per hour), though right now HR is waging a war against us the IT for racking up huge overtime bonuses (up to 50% of their salary for some of the employees). Greedy *******s. Any other overtime is covered by those 6 extra days. And, if you are fired and have unused vacation days, you are compensated for them (100% of your salary divided by 365 per day).

[Dinner]

I know for a fact that an awful lot of time was wasted by people at CSFB sticking around till late so as to be seen working as late as the boss etc. As KH says, it's not salary that's the most financially rewarding, but the bonuses - and those are often awarded on an extremely arbitrary basis by your bosses.

I flirted with the investment bank industry for a few years when I lived in London and decided it just wasn't for me. Sure I'm worse off for that decision financially - but far better off, er, 'spiritually'...

KH may think it is "lazy" but I decided long ago my free time was far more valuable to me then spending my life trying to get more money. If I can spend 1/3rd the time and get 85%-90% of the money then that sounds like the logical sweet spot for me. Sure, if something special pops up which requires me to work the odd weekend or over time I will do it because it is part of the job but by and large I work 40 and go home because I'm salary and my bonuses aren't big enough (as a percentage of total compensation) to make me worry about it. I guess I work to live and don't live to work.

Oh the upside when the government removes the hiring freeze I'm pretty sure I have an easy in to one of the state regulatory offices where I can make almost identical money but have far better benefits (in terms of life time pension and life time gold plated medical & dental coverage) plus you literally only work 40 because the union rules say you can only work 40. That sounds like the right place for me and in my spare time I might do some consulting on the side to earn some extra cash or not if I don't feel like it.

[Provost Harrison]

Well it sounds like you are miles ahead of the US in this respect...with their terrible statutory holiday allowances.

[Dinner]

So some sort of waiver system is in order, perchance?

There is. It's called being an exempt employee which basically means you sign a contract which specifies a yearly salary no matter how many hours you work. Most places will offer comp time though so if you work 50 hours one week then the next (or when ever the schedule allows) you'll only work 30 hours so it ends up balancing out some what.

[Devil's Advocate]

I object to salaried workers being expected to do crazy hours on a regular basis. When needed, I will do some extra, but 10+ hours a day for no extra money is just taking the piss.

[KrazyHorse]

So some sort of waiver system is in order, perchance?

No, why?

I don't think everybody SHOULD use a computer at work, but I don't think that employers should be required to collect a waiver from their employees in order to get them to use one...

[KrazyHorse]

I object to salaried workers being expected to do crazy hours on a regular basis. When needed, I will do some extra, but 10+ hours a day for no extra money is just taking the piss.

Feel free to find another job then.

[Dauphin]

No, why?

I don't think everybody SHOULD use a computer at work, but I don't think that employers should be required to collect a waiver from their employees in order to get them to use one...

Bad analogy, unless you think using a computer is a worker's protection measure? That or you are misunderstanding for whatever reason.

[Hauldren Collider]

Why does the worker need to be protected from working long hours? Hard work never killed anyone. We have OSHA for workplace safety.

[Dauphin]

[Al B. Sure!]

Why does the worker need to be protected from working long hours? Hard work never killed anyone. We have OSHA for workplace safety.

Oh there are definitely jobs where working a lot of hours definitely puts lives at risk. Like I said, there's a point where people tend to get sloppy and make mistakes because of fatigue.

[Hauldren Collider]

Oh there are definitely jobs where working a lot of hours definitely puts lives at risk. Like I said, there's a point where people tend to get sloppy and make mistakes because of fatigue.

I'm not talking about industrial jobs. Nobody is going to die because someone's flying a desk for 80 hours a week.