[Closed] Working your contracted hours... And feeling guilty!

I used to work for a big American multinational. The Americans attitude to working hours is absolutely bonkers. The standard working day was long enough anyway 8-5.

But the hours people ended up working was insane. Not all of us, mind. In true American Corporate fashion there was a core of salaried full-time staff, the rest of us were contract/freelance. As we were paid by the hour, they couldn't wait to get us out of the door at the end of the day. However, the salaried staff used to stay for hours. Nobody used to leave before 7. As this was just the culture. Everyone did it. Every single day. And it was remarked upon if they didn't.

In these extra hours, did they produce any more work than the rest of us freelancers? Nope! It was completely pointless. Just there purely for appearances. They'd be surfing the web and chatting. Nobody actually did anything. But they wouldn't be seen to be the first to leave. Mental! 🙄

Guys, guys, guys i've said twice now that i'm not a manager, i just work here and witness what happens - i have no say in anything.
And what i meant by my incentives comment was i don't think you should need money bonuses to work hard (sorry, i'll get my coat) I do like the idea of having days off if you do a good job.
Our line of work is manufacturing, we deal heavily in component obsolescence for military, aerospace, motor vehicles and space.

And what i meant by my incentives comment was i don't think you should need money bonuses to work hard (sorry, i'll get my coat)

No you shouldn't.... but in the real world you do.

I'm afraid i don't believe you need incentives to do your job

You don't necessarily need financial incentives, no.

Your workforce has to believe that they are working for the common good, that there is something in it for them beyond a salary. This could be professional pride, job satisfaction, camaraderie, but your work has to be rewarded emotionally as well as financially. People usually want to work hard at something when they have a personal stake in it. If you give people responsibility they usually rise to the challenge. If you don't, they feel disenfranchised and demoralised.

I don't see a problem with it if both sides are flexible. Sometimes you are busy so need to work on a bit, sometimes it's quiet so you can relax or go home early. It's impossible to manage staff and time so that everyone has exactly the right amount of work all the time without constantly hiring and firing or having massively flexible deadlines.

I worked somewhere where it was required that everyone did 2 hours extra every day. That was just poor form, IME. They paid well and looked after the staff but it was a bit of a p take.

These days I'm freelance so I'm much happier to do what it takes to get the job done and take time off when I like/can. Some weeks are crazy hours but it's not so bad when it's all for my own benefit.

I've never really thought about this and it's been interesting seeing the different views/practices.

I have had jobs where I've worked way more hours than I was contracted to do - but these have tended to be smaller companies where I enjoyed the work, liked the people I worked with, got respect from the senior people who appreciated that we were trying to make a difference to the company and were flexible.

Much larger companies tend to be less flexible but it's often driven by your immediate managerment - which ends up being passed down. If you have a ladder climbing senior boss then they expect everyone to be the same.

I remember a university work placement I did where one boss stopped the students having flexi-time after one guy abused it. The result was we all worked just our contracted hours (supported by immediate bosses), deadlines got pushed back as there was not enough time to get everything done and the brown stuff hit the fan.

It lasted 2 weeks before it got changed back.

I'm currently working about 10 hours a day with just under 3 hours of travelling on top and have pretty much been doing this since October 2011. I've found the last 15 months quite trying.

I guess I'm fairly lucky in that although I work for a big company they do take the work/life balance fairly seriously. I'm contracted for 37.5 hours but usually end up working 40ish (5 hours extra during the working week is expected to be non-O/T). If we have a project deadline looming then I'm fine with working 50+ to get the job done (again usually unpaid additional hours) but that's because those periods are normally fairly short (week or two) and infrequent (every 3-4 months). If it started to become the norm then I'd start to kick-back and raise objections.
Ofc if the company you work for is struggling then 'mucking in' and doing unpaid extra hours is probably in your short-term interest anyway but it's a fine line between this and getting exploited.
No way I'd do 60+ hours a week on a regular basis unless I actually enjoyed my job, I bet a lot of people that do probably end up on less than minimum wage as a result - you're better sacking it off and flipping burgers or something.

aP - Member
I'm currently working about 10 hours a day with just under 3 hours of travelling on top and have pretty much been doing this since October 2011. I've found the last 15 months quite trying.

Ouch !

Ouch again

contractor here 🙂

8 hours a day is what my contract says... i tend to be in before everyone and don't take a lunch break, so I leave earlier than them (I asked if they were OK with this when I joined, and they were)

Used to get a few raised eyebrows when I walk out at 5, but I asked for a one to one with my boss and I pointed out that I was willing to muck in and help when the fit hits the shan, but I'm not going to volunteer a load of extra hours every day just to fit in with the people who are trying to look like they deserve a promotion.

I really can't put a value on cycling home and being in the warm shower by 5.30 🙂 Summertime is amazing, it is like there is another whole day to be had after the working day.

Contrast that with when I was a permie, working most nights until 7:30, then travelling home. Screw that!

Dave

dave, me too!

In fact I was in at 8, i've done my 7.5 hours and at 4pm I'm outta here, off to get into cycle gear now, toodle pip !