Sherlock Holmes

Actually I was lying...I had to do 90 minutes yesterday.

moneypenny20

Talking to yourself. You've been back too long.

Sherlock Holmes

Hairs on palms of hands.....

lancastrian48

Looks like Chris has had a stellar change in fortunes since he was in Perth, he did seem very motivated and driven though.

I can understand your lonelyness though at times.

Better than being desperate for a job.

Dave

jad n rich

Partner always does really long hours in construction. They start at 7, but building site opens at 6, and he locks up usually about 5. Plus on many sites they open saturday so its easily 60 hours a week. But in construction you often have to travel so hes at times had a 2/3 hour drive on top each day

Luckily latest project is 5 mins from home, but it ends soon and its commute again.

jad n rich

Partner always does really long hours in construction. They start at 7, but building site opens at 6, and he locks up usually about 5. Plus on many sites they open saturday so its easily 60 hours a week. But in construction you often have to travel so hes at times had a 2/3 hour drive on top each day

Luckily latest project is 5 mins from home, but it ends soon and its commute again.

DadAgain

There was a while back in '96 when I did 70 hour weeks (unpaid overtime)... I was based in London, but doing the weekly commute to Brussels.

Then I returned to a nice comfortable <40 hours a week for a few years. Moved here to Brisbane and continued on sub 40hr weeks.

Now however, I find myself in a role where once again the number of unpaid hours I do goes through the roof and I've been doing 60 hours weeks for 3 years now. Thats 40 hours in the office and about 20 at home supposedly 'on call' - but with sufficient burden that some days I get out of bed at 7am for the first caller of the day and barely manage to get dressed and eat three meals between subsequent calls before its 10:30pm and I can turn the pager off. I DESPISE public holidays, because theres a 20% change that any public holiday I have to work a 16 hour unpaid day. I've even taken to carefully planning my annual leave to maximise the number of weekends and public holidays I'm "out of the country" for - just to reduce the amount of time I'm on call.

This easter for example in a masterstroke I managed to get 11 days of not being on call all for the bargain price of just 4 days annual leave thanks to the freakish concentration of public holidays. Of course some of my work colleagues got completely shafted and had to cover for me and the 2 others who took holiday at the same time .... (We are a team of 5 who share the out of hours tech support burden)

jad n rich

Beware the clause in the contract " Hours as required " seems to crop up a lot in higher paid contracts/salary.

Also seen 'Reasonable extra hours" - unpaid of course. Usually means anything but reasonable.

bingobob777

Just don't do it. There will be a job out there with a similar salary that won't require it.

Anyone regularly working upwards of 50hrs a week needs to re-evaluate their priorities.

DadAgain

You'd think so wouldnt you? But I've been looking (without any sense of urgency) for 2 years now. It seems the combination of my very relaxed and enjoyable 40 hours a week in the office, where I write my own job description, define my own lax quarterly targets, am strangely well respected throughout the organisation and the enviable 10 minute commute makes it VERY hard to find a replacement job that improves the 'overall' package.

Perhaps the burden of those extra 20 hours a week isnt as grim as they first seem? (We do have good weeks and bad weeks - and sometime those 20 hours of being 'on call' actually mean nothing more than half a dozen momentary interuptions to what I'm watching on the TV)

Or perhaps like some of my colleagues I have become institutionalised and have given up my 'rage against the machine'?

chris and farideh

Funny enough he was telling me how he wished he could cut down the hours he does but he said he never has enough time in a day to finish what he started to do on his daily list as they have so much jobs going at the same time & more works coming in but he tells me there others who stay in the office longer than he is.

Well I won't see him at all this week he is off to Melbourne.

Bermudashorts

I doubt very much that I would find a job with a similiar salary that would not stipulate "hours as required". I have not seen or heard of one yet anyway.

steen1976

According to my timesheet I've not gone over 40hrs yet. Often worked more in the uk. No one here seems to do more than standard hours. But I was in for another job where I would have ended up with long hours but this one got in first. It's a city work though and I expect longer hours as I would in London or NY. Would never have thought otherwise.

Amazulu

I wish I could work 70 hours a week

Dorothy

Really? My husband has had a career full of jobs without that stipulation.