[Closed] how many hours do you work a week?

LHS - Its you that ignores data that you don't like. I suggest you have a read of the stuff I have quoted and every other survey that shows the UK working longer hours.

this is a bit more definitive I believe - note Germany is much lower annual hours if similar weekly -

[img] [/img]

The UK data is only for "official " working hours, in most countries the actual time spent working is recorded. As many posters here have eluded to they are officially on 40 hour weeks but actually working 60+ hours.

That is just not allowed in Germany.

That is just not allowed in Germany.

Tell that to any of my ex-colleagues working in the German offices, or the French.

That was in one of the world's largest law firms, BTW.

It is illegal in germany to work more than 48 hrs. No WTD opt out

This thread is scary, almost makes me not want to finish my masters go out into the world of "real" work.

It's making feel like i am work shy. I have the attitude that you shouldn't have to live at work doing more than a 40hr week. Family and relationships come first in terms of life balance, but that's easy to do if you have a strict 9-5 job. To me, having disposable income isn't worth jeopardising your health or happiness, i'd rather not make use of my degree and get a 8-4 labouring job for bad pay than do 7am-9pm days for that new carbon hardtail or nice car. but then if i want a well paid job, i have to compete with people who are willing to give up their lives, meaning i'll be overlooked, fired or not even hired.

I'm a full time student, i work part time too.

Work and uni contact time is normally about 25hours a week. On a quiet week i will normally do about 5-10 hours "homework", so a slack week will be 30 hours minimum, but that's like one week in six. A week with many deadlines, i can do anything up to 35 hours home work, so a 65hr week when i have a heavy work load.

So my working week is anywhere between 30-65 hours, but i would say typically a 45 hour week. but i can obviously take breaks and days off riding whether i want, just have to make it up.

From experience I can say that the Germans and French work as many hours as the UK do in the Merketing Services industry. The Dutch aren't far behind. They all do get much more holiday though, aswell as better family benefits.
The Scandinavians have it best, my other half is Danish and I've resisted suggestions of moving there as Denmark is a bit dull but it is becoming more appealing as we are starting to think about a family.

TandemJeremy - Member
It is illegal in germany to work more than 48 hrs. No WTD opt out

Taking the mick out of the work-shy rather than the hard-working.

This is the issue I faced when I said no to overtime. The accusation of being work shy.

Despite sticking to contracted hours I was among the most productive of my team, and managed to get the most ridiculous levels of work done in a short amount of time. I didn't get stressed, I got on and did it. I did my job.

Because I left the office at 5:30 while everybody else remained sat at their desks, and because I never looked tired, and because I'd had evenings and weekends to unwind and destress with my friends and loved ones, I was resented by those who'd been conditioned into thinking the only way to successfully compete in the modern marketplace was to dedicate every working hour to their profession.

I was seen as work shy. I really wasn't. Management knew I wasn't, which is why I survived waves of redundancies. Those at the top who had Ferraris to pay for [i]loved[/i] me. But nobody around me could see that the link between hours worked and actual productivity is a lot weaker than it seems. We should be judged by our work, but we're not. We're judged, and we judge others, by how large the bags under our eyes are. Because the world more often rewards signs of merit than merit itself.

It's so often just a cultural thing in certain industries and companies. Overtime is what you do, because it just is and that's that. Don't like it? You know where the door is.

I can't speak for other countries, but here we too often seem to have this idea that you're either a grafter who gives it your all, or you're just a scrounger. I believe in hard work. I believe in doing a good job. I just don't believe in happily waving goodbye to the rights we're lucky enough to have had gifted to us by the hard won struggles of generations preceding us.

Great Britain [i]was[/i] once a nation of inequality and exploitation, of oppression and imperial domination. It might have ruled the waves and half the globe, but it didn't do it by being a nice, fair nation of the sort any of us would likely want to be a part of. If 'keeping up' with the rest of the world means going back down the pit for 14 hours a day and dying at 35 after living a peasant's life so as to prop up the earnings of the aristocratic elite, as I would have done at the height of Britain's supposed Greatness, then I'll happily watch other countries race ahead. Anybody lucky enough to be posting on Singletrackworld in the daytime should probably think about just where they'd have been arbitrarily born into in that society.

I'm all for working hard, but you can only do your best. Masses of overtime, in my experience, expects you to give better than your best, and that's impossible. When pushed beyond your limit you can only fall down. Just as my old colleagues did, and no doubt will be doing, long into this very evening.

Usually wake up 7am and I'm working before I get out of bed, checking email etc. In the office for 9am but normally will have spent 1 hour already doing email.

Office from 9am - 7pm, lunch at desk

Some evenings I'll do a couple of hours as well

Some days I'll set my alarm for 3am and work through to 7pm

So not sure how many hours a week that is, does it actually matter?

Also working with some Germans and they put the hours in too but I don't care enough to argue about it and don't see what it matters?

Brilliant post jackthedog

cheersdrive - I have faimily that work in mainland europe and I have read the figures. we work significantly longer hours that most other European nations - and have less holidays and less employment rights. this is trh reality.

I am sure some companies attempt to circumvent it especially American ones - however worker protection is much stronger in Germany , they work shorter hours and are more productive per hour as a result.

I feel really sorry for you people that work long hours and defend it as a good thing. Will you really be glad you worked all those hours when you are older?
turkeys voting for christmas comes to mind

Will you really be glad you worked all those hours when you are older?

Yes

When you have taken years of your life expectancy and have missed out on so much? Like watching your kids grow up. like lazy days with your partner?

I work to live, I don't live to work

Will you really be glad you worked all those hours when you are older?

When I retire at 50 and won't have to depend on any government hand-outs or worry whether i can afford to do the things I love. Yes.

Not allowed to do more than 37 a week with out taking it back as flexi which suits me, time to see my wife, kids and ride my bike. Like to think I am productive in those hours and much longer and my mind would wander.
Dad worked 70 - 80 week in high stress job and father in law the same they both died this year at 61 and 66, if I am unfortunate to not make it to or past that age I would like to think I had not spent the majority of my life at work behind a desk.

I'm amazed at the hours some people are putting in here. I have never worked in any office where people have worked these kind of hours, and I have worked in many different companies.

Its partly the reason why I have never ultimately pursued the career ladder to earn say over £50k I really dont see the point in spending my life in work, and besides whatever work you do beyond 9-5, no company ever thanks you for it. I think its scary that people are prepared to spend so much time in a place they dont want to be for no benefit to them...

Also I'm sure there has been lots of research done that shows productivity drops off massively the more hours you do, and it doesnt benefit the individual or company.

Ah well - I prefer to live my life when I am younger. From simple things like riding my bike to spending years travelling the world.

Is that really worth your family growing up without you? The reduction in your life expectancy?

Your still working now, I have no intention of working past the age of 40 other than receiving passive income from investments.

We'll see how we get on but all on track at the moment. Still got 6 years to go though.

'Living' is not answering every post on a pointless internet forum 😉

When I retire at 50 I think my life expectancy will be far greater than those who retire at 65.

All those things you describe TJ, you can have whilst working hard during the week. They're not mutually exclusive!

Its interesting to see others opinions on this and attitudes to working. I see a general concensus on two issues:

1. There is no point doing overtime just for the sake of it.
2. Contractual hours do not neccessarily tie up with hours work (and for most people this is not always a problem).

In my case I am contracted 42.5 hours a week. I start aroud 8 and finish around 5. I say around as I do what is needed to do the job. Right now I'm doing my contractual hours as I'm not that busy, about 6 months ago I was doing between 80 and 100 hours a week. Thats the job but realistically its also not sustainable.

In terms of OT I have a rule. I work midweek OT at no cost. If I have to work W/end that is paid (Double time).

I also have another rule which I make at every interview. And that is that I will work whatever it takes to get the job done. It is however a two way thing, when times are quiet or I can fit in I have the morning off to ..take Dave to the vets, go to the dentist, meet a repair mechanic for the washing machine etc.

This has always served me well.

The only people I have a problem with are those that refuse to help and give that little bit extra when work demands. People who clockwatch and are off at 5 every day whether the job is done or not. Yes it may be your contractual right but its a piss poor attitude and you are letting the team down.

And lastly ...yes it is about performance and results and not the hours worked.

LHS - they are completely mutually exclusive. Don't kid yourself. You cannot work 70 hr weeks and have as much time to do stuff as you can working half that.

LHS - they are completely mutually exclusive. Don't kid yourself. You cannot work 70 hr weeks and have as much time to do stuff as you can working half that.

I think that's called a difference of opinion.

Should be 35 hours. 9-5 with an hour break in between.

on a 4 day week now, so 28 hours, 9-5, lunch from 12-1.

I could go and find an extra day working somewhere, but tbh, stuff that, a 28hour week is magic! I'm half tempted to ask to stay on it when we do go back up to a 5 day, I've zero dependents, so not as if i can't survive on less.

I also work contracted hours only, no free OT from me. That's just insanity.

I forgot to mention that I've also worked alot with the Japanese and they are a very good example of why working long hours is not efficient.
They work 12-15 hours a day all through the week, when they fisnish work they eat and drink with there collegues, go home to sleep for a few hours and then get up and do it all again. At the weekend they spend a saturday doing domestic duties then on Sunday prepare for work again. It's not a life. The crazy thing is that they do it out of some duty to be at the office and to work for the 'company', it has nothing to do with actual work done as they are generally very ineffiecient and most of the day is wasted procrastinating and making decisions by commitee.

It would be interesting if people had put their salary against the hours they work, I'd want to be earning £40k + per year to work more than a standard week ie max 40hrs

Post of the week by jackthedog!

A lot of the excessive hour people will have a low hourly rate.

I do not measure my success by money - I measure it by the fun I have. some of the most fun cost little money

jackthedog +1

The only people I have a problem with are those that refuse to help and give that little bit extra when work demands. People who clockwatch and are off at 5 every day whether the job is done or not. Yes it may be your contractual right but its a piss poor attitude and your letting doen the team.

I don't mind staying on a bit later so long as I have nothing else planned. However, If I'm going riding or meeting friends then I'll leave. I'm not reorganising my life because a manager has messed up by not allocating enough resources to a project or hasn't allowed for unexpected issues. Is that letting the team down?

What about people who have to leave to pick up their kids, are they letting the team down?

"What about people who have to leave to pick up their kids, are they letting the team down?"

What about people who have a life?

35 hours a week here in uni-land

In at 8 home for 5.30
1hour for lunch
2 days flexi a month
25 days Holiday

Not a bad life really

I don't mind staying on a bit later so long as I have nothing else planned. However, If I'm going riding or meeting friends then I'll leave.

Sorry but in my book that is letting down the team. Sometimes something just happens that needs to be sorted. Not everything can be planned in advance.

Picking the kids up, well not much you can do there but I would expect them to try to make alternative arrangement if possible, or do what they can remotely from home.

The exception to this is if it happens on a regular basis. I have often cancelled biking nights at the last minute. I would be somewhat annoyed if this was a regular occurence however.

So you would let your friends and family down rather than let your work down?

It depends on the relative importance on either event. Obviously if something can wait then it will wait.

Sometimes you cannot achieve something and you let the client know.

However it is important to ensure the client get what they need when they need it. I don't see a regular biking night as being more important than sorting out critical issues when they occur.

[i]I believe in hard work. I believe in doing a good job.[/i]
Good on you. Don't ever work in the public sector then, it'd drive you crazy 😉 There would be no need for staying in the office late if more people just believed in doing what they are supposed to do.

Frodo
However it is important to ensure the client get what they need when they need it. I don't see a regular biking night as being more important than sorting out critical issues when they occur.

Critical issues -its life and death then?

Or is it just about having to work extra hours to make up for poor management and organisation that means pledges cannot be kept without it.

Incidentally, what are everyone's excuses for spending so much time on this thread today? Both the 'whatever it takes' team and the 'my contracted hours and no more' team seem to have a lot of spare time during what I'm assuming are work hours 😉

I've been stuck for weeks waiting for some data to be sent from a client and I'm getting really sick of general research. My time on STW has been steadily increasing for a while now. It's worrying cause it's getting addictive.

@TJ - in IT, 'critical' usually means, drop what you're doing/get out of bed and fix it pronto.

So it's not life or death, per se - but you have a responsibility towards your employers that their business operates smoothly.

And yes, I have got out of bed at 3am to drive into the office to fix something. And yes, I have cancelled going out with friends at the last minute to fix something too.

I am paid for my responsibilities, not the work which I churn out.

Poor management doesn't come into it.

Is that written into the contracts for IT work or is it just something that 'everyone expects'? If it's something everyone just expects then it is a management failure since it should be written into the contract and there should be on call rotas. Surely you can't be on call 24/7/365?

xiphon - thats fine - I have no issue at all with that. Sometimes stuff needs to be dealt with like that. More so in my trade

Howevert that is not what Frodo appeared to be doing / saying.

I think the problem many people get into is viewing hours at work as being some measure of work/results achieved. Long hours as a badge of honour kind of thing. Have to agree with pretty much everything jackthedog has said. I made certain choices about how much work I want to do. A phone call and email I made recently had huge value to a cleint, but took me 2 minutes - did I work hard that day? Yes, but just not for very long. Hence I see my kids a lot, ride my bike when I choose, travel a bit, albeit having compromised earnings to a certain extent.

xiphon - Thats fair enough, and yes part of the job in IT, but I really hope that you get rewarded very well for doing that, other wise why bother?

work extra hours to make up for poor management and organisation

Ahhh that old chestnut, of course that's always the problem!!

Some industries just need a different type of dedication regarding working hours. If you don't like it then don't work in it. If money and financial security is not your priority then fine, everyone is different.

BruceWee - Member
Is that written into the contracts for IT work or is it just something that 'everyone expects'?

It's written in most contracts that I've had (IT) that you may be expected to work a reasonable amount extra as required. As I stated before, I work my hours but am happy enough to do the extra when really required, not otherwise.

I think the problem many people get into is viewing hours at work as being some measure of work/results achieved

+1 I tell my guys off if they work longer than they should unless there's a good reason as stated above. I want quality, not quantity and I believe treating people fairly. If they're finding that they regularly struggle to get things done in the normal working day then we look at why and work out solutions - in IT, that's often restricting how much development work we can deliver (since it's typically not essential or at least, not so time critical)

LHS
Some industries just need a different type of dedication regarding working hours.

Why? Why are you immune from the ill effects of working long hours. why can your industry not be organised effectively so that the employees can actually work effectively and a reasonable number of hours.

Of course long days to hit a deadline can be needed although it will often be poor management that leaves you short of time but without compensatory rest you will become less efficient - ie you are wasting those extra hours