To not be certain what people mean when they say they work for 12 hours a day.

[topcat2014]

Now, I get that we are busy - but here is my question.

If people say they work 60 hours a week (say), then do they really mean:

At my desk from 07:00 to 19:30 with a half hour for lunch, every day - or

Leave the house at 07:00 and arrive home at 19:00.

I have never worked anywhere where staff are sat at their desks from 7am to 7pm, so not quite sure.

I don't include my commute. I work 12.5 hours a day (midwife) and my commute is an hour each way.

And howling laughing at NHS staff being well paid or getting paid overtime. I don't get paid for my 1 hour break, I can't remember the last time I actually got that break! It's quite normal to stay late after a shift and that's not paid either and if we do extra days which is pretty common it's paid at your normal rate.

I arrive at work at 7:45 and leave at 20:10

my partners hours should be around 40/45 a week but if there are deadlines to meet for certain projects it could be 13/14 hour days. the latest i've known her to be home is about 3am and then back in again at 9. seems crazy to me, but then again my job isn't one that would ever require me to work anything more than 30 minutes on the end of my 8 hour shift

On an AFD shift - arrive at 9:30am. 20 minute break after lunch. Work through until 3am.

Hospitality.

When I was in hotel management, 14 hour days were standard. I'm not exaggerating either. 'Breaks' were a sandwich in the office while I cashed up.

I know lots of people work those kind of hours, whether over worked NHS or highly paid law etc. Different reasons for different people and very different remuneration.

I don't understand why someone would do 100 mile commute every day on top? Wouldn't it be easier to move either work or home??

Arrive 8am, leave any time between 5pm and 8pm (depending on meeting schedule, what I'm working on and who else is involved), 30 mins lunch break. Usually work from home another 1-4h (depending on workload) and work some 4-6h every Sunday to prep for the week ahead.

When project work is low and I'm not meant to be putting in billable client hours in addition to my manaement role, I technically work 9-5. Hasn't happened to me for the last three years, though.

PP who said hospitality: Oh, goodness, yes! I used to work in that industry and I worked as much as I do now and got paid peanuts. No overtime or time off in lieu either - we were assigned 12 hour shifts and supposedly had 4 hours of breaks during our working day. Emphasis being on the supposedly part. In practice, we were lucky to even get to the loo and eat half a sandwich.

Ambulance service, shift work. Rota varies but mostly 12 hr shifts, 7-7 or 8-8 or 12-12 (killer shift). Don't include the commute which is half an hour each way.

Years ago when I worked for a Wimpy restaurant, we had a 12 hour shift - 10am - 10pm. I didn't do it very often but we got 2 breaks, one being for lunch, and the last half hour was cleaning everything after the punters had all left and we'd closed up.

When I worked for the NHS labs, I used to do the equivalent of a 24h shift sometimes - it was "on call" but meant I did a full day in the lab, then stayed all night and left the next morning when the day staff came in. Sometimes I might get a bit of sleep but not always. At least we did get the next day off at home though.

And I wouldn't say that we were "seriously well paid" for that on-call work, either!
Also worked Saturday mornings, 1 in 3 - that was time off in lieu, no extra payment.

many careers and employers demand these hours from people, but it is not sustainable nor compatible for good mental health, good work/life balance, or family life

Exactly.

And we wonder why rates of mental health are declining, or why families have such gender segregation (try doing those hrs over a sustained period as a couple), or why people on zero hour contracts are on the increase (cleaners, gardeners, childminder - having to outsource "life" whether you want to or not in order to meet those unhealthy work levels).

It doesn't result in good role models for our children.

Neither does popular culture.

The "fetishism" of work is quite strong.

The next time you look at a high dedication and/or high remuneration career represented on TV, consider what it shows. You can't rise through the police ranks without having no home life or caring commitments ; you can't meet your potential as a lawyer; want to pick up the kids and eat dinner with them even 2 nights a week? Well say goodbye to everything but the lowest level temp admin jobs or cleaning at my employer. And so on.

What we show as accepted in our culture output is often brutal in reality, and yet writers just use the broken people burning out on that treadmill as characters that are showing dedication.

You can't be a fully committed good mum,good sister, good daughter, good wife and a good employer .... You'd need about 1000 hrs in the week to meet those expectations!

"What we show as accepted in our culture output is often brutal in reality, and yet writers just use the broken people burning out on that treadmill as characters that are showing dedication."

I agree that it's not depicted with teachers, lawyers and doctors. The exception is police detectives. They are usually shown to have completely messed up their private lives.

Can I ask people why you do it? Shift workers is one thing - I suppose it's just how the shifts are arranged and you might just work your whole week in 3 days, but people who work 60-hour weeks. Would you get sacked if you didn't or is it something you choose to do?

I am catching up with this thread at the same time as the obesity one (how would you solve the obesity crisis?). On that thread the culture of long hours and presenteeism is quoted as a reason for weight gain (irregular or no breaks to eat leading to sugar crashes, 12 hours sitting at a desk, lack of down time leading to poor sleep which affects your appetite, no time for exercise or cooking from scratch etc).

If you work 12 hours a day, would you agree that your working hours impact on your ability to be a healthy weight?

What an interesting thread! - yes, I suppose I was just thinking of desk based work - rather than thinking about shift work etc.

Happy Monday everyone!

My husband works shifts - either 7am-7pm or 7pm-7am, with a half hour lunch. I have 2 jobs, so mine varies - but sometimes I do 9 hours at one during the day, then 3 hours at the other in the evening. My teacher friends also easily do 12 hours some days, 8-5 at school then a good few hours marking and prep in the evening. Not all day every day though.

DH is a workaholic and deeply ambitious.
I love work and am quite ambitious and have a recent promotion and a department to turn round.

Both professionals, both late 50s. My career was on backburner for years but I liked work enough to go back when youngest started school and retrained etc.

Not a boast but my pay recompenses. At present if I didn't do it my department would fail possibly, I wouldn't meet my objectives and yes a pre oerformance mgt conversation would take place. But it's the challenge of bringing it up to speed and I knew when i took the job.

Anyway, must be off for anither day.

Can I ask people why you do it? Shift workers is one thing

Honest answer? Because I want to make partner in the next 3-5 years and this happens to be what it takes. And because, right now and speaking strictly for myself, I prioritise this over rocking the boat (not a fight I'd win, anyway).

We all jokingly predict that we'll have a reunion at the pottery workshop of some private clinic for burnt out executives some day down the line. There might be some truth to that ...

Gwenhyfar my OH does it because that's what it takes to get the job done. There are no hours stipulated in his contract. He earns good money.

Well lots of desk base work is paid 9-5. My job is and is a combination of desk work and field work, and it's 9-5 with unpaid lunch break.

Reality is that sometimes I can manage 8.30 til 5.30 lunch at desk, sometimes it's 7.30 til 8 with some extra work at home, and like most people that extra time is unpaid. I think a lot of people who work at desks have a similar experience

Retail, sometimes shifts are that long over Christmas season or if there’s many staff off for whatever reason.
I used to work in an emergency service and those shifts could also be endless sometimes.
I’ve never done a purely desk job, I can’t comment on office workers I always assumed their hours are more regular and a bit more cushty, 9/5 no weekends etc sounds dreamy xx

My DH works from 6am until they're done. This can be between 3pm and 7pm depending on the time of year. When they're really busy he starts at 5am.

He's lucky as he gets extra for over time and gets paid for his break so he is paid from the minute he swipes in to the minute he swipes out.

SIL is a teacher and she does so many extra hours at home!!!

"Gwenhyfar my OH does it because that's what it takes to get the job done."

That doesn't quite explain it falang. If that's what it took to do my job, I would still leave at a reasonable time and the employer would have to find someone else to do the extra work. I wouldn't do two people's jobs. So there's still the question of whether he wants to do the hours of two jobs or he has to i.e. he would be sacked if he didn't.

"Reality is that sometimes I can manage 8.30 til 5.30 lunch at desk, sometimes it's 7.30 til 8 with some extra work at home, and like most people that extra time is unpaid."

Yes, but working long hours during busy periods is a different things. The posters on this thread are doing it every day, permanently.

Can I ask people why you do it? Shift workers is one thing - I suppose it's just how the shifts are arranged and you might just work your whole week in 3 days, but people who work 60-hour weeks. Would you get sacked if you didn't or is it something you choose to do?

Because that's what it sometimes takes to get the job done

You can leave early because you've got to pick the kids up

But if you have to do X or Y for a client request by a certain deadline, if you don't do your bit when you get home, then you're just dumping more work onto your colleagues

You might not get sacked but you'd definitely not be seen as a team player, and it's unlikely you'll progress if you expect everyone else to pick up the slack because you're a prima donna.

Contracts wherever I've worked specify the core contracted hours, but also specifies additional hours as necessary to do the job. So it's about doing the job.