If I couldn’t make a living working my contracted 40hrs a week then it’s either time to get a new job or re-assess my lifestyle as far as i am concerned.

If I couldn’t complete my work duties within those 40hrs a week then either I am not suitable for that role or the company has messed up with it’s resourcing requirements.

If it were me that was the problem then short term I wouldn’t see any issue working a bit longer to get up to speed, but not so it became the norm.

If the company has not recruited enough people to carry out the work required, then that’s their problem, I am no mug. Life is too short as it is to work it all away.

I do my contracted hours. I might stay on an extra 15 oe 20 mins once every couple of weeks to get a job finished though.
I just manage my workload with my boss.

I work in a charity with payscales etc so no chance of a bonus or negotiating a pay rise. A promotion maybe.

I’m in a good position because I’m the only person in the organisation with my IT skills level. I’ve set up a few systems that I am the only person who can maintain. They’re all documented in case I leave or die or something, but day to day they are too complicated fer anyone else to deal with the back ends.

We have redundancies coming up and I’ve already had a heads up I don’t need to worry – my job is secure.

I work 3 days a week on a permanent, salaried contract. I’m currently doing another day and a half of a week of contracting with another charity as wifey and I are saving up for a year off travelling.

But after that I’ll go back to 3 days a week. I love working part time. I’ve arranged my life so I have very low outgoings (no debts or cars on finance etc) so I can take it easy – go lie in the park or ride my bike.
I stumbled into part time working in my late twenties (now early 30s) and it suits me nicely!

Sure, I’ll never have a three year old Audi A4 Sportline but I also have an easy-going stress free life.

I used to work long hours outside my contracted hours. When I was an analyst I was, theoretically, supposed to get overtime – but didn’t because it would have been too expensive. Got a bonus of around 5-10% of salary instead. I was probably owed more than 6 or 7 times that on hours alone without taking into account any enhancement for out of hours working. Once, I actually worked something like 45 days continuously to deliver a project, when I finally got a day off I had no idea what to do with myself I was so deep in my work head. I think I spent the morning sat on the sofa in my dressing gown staring at the wall and twitching!!

When I got promoted to senior management the contract was explicit that work outside of contracted hours could be expected. I worked v long hours again but did well out of it.

The problem is that if an organisation allows long hours culture, then those that can (ie no family commitments etc) and are prepared to, will get on quicker than someone with equal skills but does their hours. For me, particularly because the directors would tend to do their thinking in the evening, so being available to answer questions was beneficial. And, because it was high profile, any media **** storm tended to hit after 6pm. This means being able to ruin your life for the organisation was a good career move – despite all the corporate BS about family friendly workplaces.

In the end I got fed up and left, now I pretty much do as little as possible. 21/2 stone lighter, blood pressure normal, hugely happier. Yesterday I was surfing, today I’m doing some light project planning then yoga. But it was flogging myself when younger that got me to the position where I have the freedom now. Right decisions – who knows?

Never worked contracted hours in my life. I guess I must be lucky to enjoy doing what I do. We want to be the best at what we do, so we do what is required to achieve that. The clock is not that relevant.

teamhurtmore – that is fine as long as you are getting rewards directly related to success of the business ie you own it or it is very fair in the distribution of rewards.
…

edit – also you seem to be implying that anyone who has a contract of employment which includes hours cannot enjoy their job?

Well yes and no. But I accept that it’s not that common.

FWIW, I enjoyed living and working in France. Work less hours but more productive plus a civilised lunch. No lunch at the desk!

But pay is only one reason why I work. Having fun and personal learning and development are also important, if not more important.

Edit for the edit: not the intention of my first post!

… ps… doesn’t any employee need a contract by law? and doesn’t that contract have to contain something about hours even it is to waive rights under EU working times directives?

… fully agree that working for money is not the only reward. I was happy doing voluntary work – real sense of achievement

I am not sure you have to have a contract, but you may be correct.

Signed away the EU nonsense right from the start. No reason to have them tell me how long I can or cannot work.

Signed away the EU nonsense right from the start. No reason to have them tell me how long I can or cannot work.

😀

My brother does 80 hour weeks for about 18 grand a year, working for a michelin star resteraunt as a senior chef de partie.

Not sure Sherpas are really the ones being exploited in that context.

So way below minimum wage (assuming he’s over 21)? Sounds a great deal!

My brother does 80 hour weeks for about 18 grand a year, working for a michelin star resteraunt as a senior chef de partie.

He must either really enjoy it or he is daft…

So way below minimum wage (assuming he’s over 21)? Sounds a great deal!

Yup, he’d have to be earning 26 thousand (which I think only London weighted Senior Chef De Parties get) to be over the minimum wage. It seems par for the industry, he’s been working those hours at various michelin star places for 5 years now.

Which is partly why I had a little bit of a hissy about that Sherpa article, knowing how many people are exploited here at home. I guess choosing the job is partly his fault, but the hopsitality industry is awful in general. I did hotel work (kitchen and front of house) for 4 years whilst at university, there are no unions of any kind, everyones to tired to ever stand up for themselves and if you do you are fired on the spot. You don’t get breaks on 12 hour shifts, if you’re on a 16 hour shift they might let you have 20-60 mins. Violence is quite common, especially at the Michelin level – people will be punched if they make mistakes and then the rest of the kitchen will cover it up if the police get involved (as the other chefs don’t want to lose their jobs/work for a new head chef who they don’t like). Because of the top down stress you get from the head chef, you end up taking it out on the waiters and verbally abusing them/fighting with them when the head chef/line manager isn’t looking.

I don’t think in the line of work I do now, that I will ever tell a colleague to “**** off you fat cockwomble”.

He must either really enjoy it or he is daft…

Both. He was going to joing the Paras or Engineers, unfortunately his mum discouraged him. Can’t help but feel the Paras would have been better.

I’m nominally contracted for a 40 hour week but typically do more like 55-60 hours per week on average . I don’t get paid overtime but do have the option for a lot of flexibility about when and where I work if I wanted it. For the consultants in my team I try my best to make sure they can just work their contracted 40 hours if they want to, although I would expect them to put some extra hours in (sometimes paid, sometimes unpaid) when necessary (at go-live etc.). In return I’m very flexible with things like working from home and the like – plus they’re all well paid!

I’m not joking when I say that this is your typical head chef

I use to easily do a 50-60 hour week, without including travelling, nights away (often all week, and longer if long-haul). In by 7:30; aimed for 17:00 leaving – +1 hr commute each way.

Very well paid, and my rewards were pretty much connected to what we achieved – had a team of 50 across Europe.

Now work for about 1/4 of previous pay in the public sector. Every hour is logged and if I work more hours than my contract, I ‘flex’ them back.

Old enough now that I don’t about ‘career’.

I used to more here and there, but was moving forward and had a good reputation for getting stuff done well and quickly.

Now I’ve hit a dead end with my boss, he won’t let go of stuff that I’d happily take on. Won’t spend the training budget he’s got and can’t\wont pay over time or offer much flexibility (yet he comes and goes as he pleases). There’s no logical step forward or sideways for me here with him so with a young family I’d rather just spend time with them and just do my hours now.

If I did any extra I’d get nothing for it, so why would I? So when the time’s right (which isn’t right now) I’ll move on elsewhere and yeah I’d put in more effort and a bit! of extra time if I thought it’d help to move me forward again (Experience, training, and or financially).

We’ve got very big project on at the moment and nobody in the team really cares bar him and he keeps on telling everyone to “get motivated” and just expects it to happen, yet he actively tells people that their carriers are their problem, and nothing to do with him yet he has the budgets and tools to help people but just refuses or can’t see how it would help people’s motivation.

imo he’s a terrible manager he’s a do’er and would rather be doing and he hates managing but he can’t see it, or understand what imo it is that makes a good manager.

The other side of the company I work for is unionised and they have to be bribed on a daily basis to even do the hours they are contracted and paid for.

I’d hate to have a job (or employer) I disliked so much that I couldn’t wait to get out of the door at 5pm. That said, I wouldn’t want one where I was judged on hours worked alone. I did get fired after a couple of weeks at one job – boss would be tutting and tapping his watch if you were in a minute or two after 8.30am, but expected people to give up a couple of evenings a month for “team meetings” (and the first couple planned after I joined I already had other plans for).

As for progression – certainly in IT if you only ever want to work your contracted hours, have no interest in the subject and no desire to learn anything new then you’re probably doomed to a life of 1st line helpdesk work. If you’re happy with that, then great – plenty of people seem happy to spend their entire career behind a till in a supermarket.

Signed away the EU nonsense right from the start. No reason to have them tell me how long I can or cannot work.

That might work for the minority, but it isn’t something to give up lightly.
My recent move to the USA has demonstrated that quite clearly. There is no legal minimum paid leave here. When you start with a company, even at pretty senior levels, you start on 2 weeks leave per year. I have never seen a place where people, on the whole, place so little value on their personal and family time. I place more value on my time than nearly anything else, especially as a dad.

I didn’t have much in the way of a career, just had a job albeit a reasonably well paid one

Did get to pick my daughter up from school and sit with her over the park on the way home enjoying our ice lollies watching the birds and squirrels.
Long weekends away, the three of us in an old touring caravan we kept on a farm or self catering cottages.

Wouldn’t change a thing, you can keep success whatever that is. Just make sure you don’t regret it, can never have that time again

As for progression – certainly in IT if you only ever want to work your contracted hours, have no interest in the subject and no desire to learn anything new then you’re probably doomed to a life of 1st line helpdesk work. If you’re happy with that, then great – plenty of people seem happy to spend their entire career behind a till in a supermarket.

Why do people keep assuming working your contacted hours = no interest in job

I stick to my hours (frequently work late, but take time on lieu) and have advanced just fine because I’m good at my job

I’d hate to have a job (or employer) I disliked so much that I couldn’t wait to get out of the door at 5pm.

Seeing as people keep assuming for some reason, those of us that work our hours then go home don’t like our jobs.

I will counter the above statement with a similar ridiculous assumption…..

“I would hate it if my life outside work was so dull and meaningless, that I stayed at work
even when I wasn’t being paid, just to avoid going home”

On the other hand if you only ever work your contracted hours, but have an interest in the subject and a desire to learn lots of new stuff then the sky is the limit (though personally I’ve discovered I actually enjoy 1st line support so long as it is actually going out meeting people rather than stuck at the end of a phone line – the ability and desire to interact with real people may suggest I shouldn’t really be working in IT 😈 ).

imo he’s a terrible manager he’s a do’er and would rather be doing and he hates managing but he can’t see it, or understand what imo it is that makes a good manager.

Why don’t you find away to help? History is littered with well rewarded/regarded Lieutenants – you don’t have to be the boss to be extremely successful, and in fact the ability to make people more successful than they could be by themselves when properly recognised is a very high level of skill indeed.

I guess it’s personal choice, I work around 50 hours a week but am contracted to work 38.75 so do about 25% extra. On the plus side I’ve had 2 salary rises in the last 15 months and I now earn more than I did in London, with about a 10th the commuting costs and leave the house an hour later and get home an hour earlier. Also got a bonus = 20% of my salary last year. I can even ride to work if only my knee wasn’t foo barred.

If people want to work long hours then fair enough, do so. Personally though I’d rather just do what I need to pay the bills and fund my bike habit and then have more free time. Means missing out on promotions and wage rises but there are more important things.

You get one chance at life and when it’s gone it’s gone. If you want to spend it stuck in an office then that’s your choice I guess. Not what I’d choose though.

simon_g – Member

I’d hate to have a job (or employer) I disliked so much that I couldn’t wait to get out of the door at 5pm.

I like my job and my employer. I prefer my personal life though. That’s why I get paid for one and not the other.

If you want to spend it stuck in an office then that’s your choice I guess. Not what I’d choose though.

Equally, I don’t want to spend the working part of it doing shit jobs.