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The death of the 40-hour workweek
CNN ^ | April 30, 2015 | CNN

Posted on 05/02/2015 3:48:34 AM PDT by Dallas59

When you're hired for a full-time job, the understanding is that you'll put in at least a 40-hour workweek.

The expectation -- especially for salaried employees who don't qualify for overtime -- is that you'll put in more to ensure your projects get done.

Or because the boss needs something at the last minute.

(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: 40hours; fulltimejobs; salariedjobs; work
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1 posted on 05/02/2015 3:48:34 AM PDT by Dallas59
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To: Dallas59

Lol...Never gonna happen.


2 posted on 05/02/2015 3:49:10 AM PDT by Dallas59 (Only a fool stumbles on things behind him.)
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To: Dallas59

True...yeah - good luck with that!


3 posted on 05/02/2015 3:52:32 AM PDT by Caipirabob (Communists... Socialists... Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: Dallas59

When I had employees I would talk to them about their overtime. Excepting unusual circumstances, in every other case there was no need. They either had a problem at home or they thought the perception of being dedicated was needed. I found that they did no more work in 50 hours than they could easily do in 40. I told them that they’d need to justify overtime to me. Productivity improved.

For the most part I don’t know where the people who didn’t want to go home went. One joined a gym and by the time he got divorced he looked awesome.


4 posted on 05/02/2015 3:58:21 AM PDT by Gen.Blather
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To: Dallas59

In my area job descriptions for engineers read like a novel. I refuse to apply for it is nonsense. One can only do so much and be effective.


5 posted on 05/02/2015 4:00:19 AM PDT by smaug6 (We can't afford to be innocent!! Stand up and face the enemy.)
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To: Dallas59

I work in IT. A 46 hour work week sounds like a dream right about now.

If you’re working, you put in the time, because you know it’s an employer’s market right now. I’m young, I have time to bitch about work/life balance. In 10 years, if this pace keeps going, I’ll burn out, but right now, I’m going to ride the biggest wave I can to get as far up the ladder as I can before I get to that “middle age” where the younger prospects can outperform me.


6 posted on 05/02/2015 4:01:01 AM PDT by rarestia (It's time to water the Tree of Liberty.)
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To: Gen.Blather

Most overtime occurs at the end of the month or 4th quarter where I work. Can’t be helped. There are employees like myself that will volunteer to work over in order to get something done that’s urgent.


7 posted on 05/02/2015 4:02:43 AM PDT by Dallas59 (Only a fool stumbles on things behind him.)
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To: Dallas59

same here, and it always seems to be the same ones


8 posted on 05/02/2015 4:08:58 AM PDT by gattaca (Republicans believe every day is July 4, democrats believe every day is April 15. Ronald Reagan)
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To: Dallas59

I’ve observed most government workers put in 40 hours (or a bit less). At 5:00 pm work simply stops at the county offices. Don’t be standing in the doorway or you’ll be trampled by the herd leaving the building.

Drive down the street to a corporate headquarters. A few young females are driving out of the parking lot at 5:00 to pick up kids at day care. At 6:00 p.m. the parking lot is over 50% full. At 8:00 am the corporate office parting lot is full and the county office lot is empty. about 8:55 am cars start arriving at the county office lot.

Two different worlds.


9 posted on 05/02/2015 4:21:52 AM PDT by Soul of the South (Yesterday is gone. Today will be what we make of it.)
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To: Dallas59

I once had a job where all the people around me were getting little by little fired because the place was shutting down and they didn’t want to give unemployment, and so I was doing multiple jobs, and then I got fired for doing multiple jobs; I was told I should have left it to the person whose job it was, who by the way was fired.


10 posted on 05/02/2015 4:25:40 AM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: rarestia

I don’t know how many States this applies to
http://www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/fs17e_computer.pdf

But IMHO it needs to change in a bad way.

No excuse for 60+ hour work weeks without overtime just because it’s IT...


11 posted on 05/02/2015 4:31:01 AM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus-)
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To: Dallas59
In the source article, the image if the employee collapsed sleeping on his laptop only means he suffers from apnea.

If he gets clinically treated for sleep management and fitted for a continuous positive airway pressure machine, he'll get effective restorative sleep and be ready for 60 or more productive work hours.

For some humans, "work" is play, and the most delightful allocation of their time they can find. Being forced into it may be "iffy," but some people just can't cut it and need to find another job.

12 posted on 05/02/2015 4:34:40 AM PDT by imardmd1 (Fiat Lux)
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To: logi_cal869

The problem is not so much the volume of work or the hours, it’s the effect on the body. The overwhelming majority of IT workers I know are drinkers, many of us are overweight, and at least half have health issues related to obesity, lack of sleep, and work-related musculoskeletal issues. I often go for 90 - 120 minutes between breaks at the office due to the volume of work. My managers require that I be available anywhere at any time, because if something in the office goes down, they’re losing money.

I don’t mind being needed, but I don’t expect compensation over the already very generous salary I make.


13 posted on 05/02/2015 4:40:26 AM PDT by rarestia (It's time to water the Tree of Liberty.)
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To: logi_cal869

I think a majority of IT people actually fall under the FLSA administrative rules since they are directly supporting management and the business operations..


14 posted on 05/02/2015 4:47:25 AM PDT by EVO X
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To: Dallas59

Oh, give me a break.
In my office there is those of us who work hourly, and the exalted salaried personnel. The hourly staff has to justify any overtime, so we take lunch at our desks and rarely take any time to chat or visit.

Our salaried “betters” claim they work 60 or more hours per week. I have no idea where this work is happening, however. They show up maybe 20 hours a week in the office. When I walk by “The Capitol District” from “District 12” to use the bathroom, I hear conversations about gym memberships and new restaurants in town.

But I’m not bitter-—honest! :)


15 posted on 05/02/2015 4:49:06 AM PDT by Mangia E Statti Zitto
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To: Gen.Blather

I figure that i’d have done best with 6 6hr days.


16 posted on 05/02/2015 4:52:28 AM PDT by Paladin2
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To: Dallas59

Well you take out the 20 minute chat at the coffee mess, smoke breaks, longer lunch then allocated, and just general BS, companies rarely get 40 hours out of their workers. And I will be first to admit that some days I don’t give my usual 500 percent.


17 posted on 05/02/2015 4:52:41 AM PDT by napscoordinator (Walker for President 2016. The only candidate with actual real RESULTS!!!!! The rest...talkers!)
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To: rarestia

I used to work 10 hour days 6 or 7 days a week. I’m 60 now, figuring out what retirement is going to look like, and glad I can hold to 40 hours. I’m an industrial electrician repairing cnc machinery. And I feel entirely burned out after 35 or so years.


18 posted on 05/02/2015 4:53:36 AM PDT by exnavy (government should be neither seen or heard.)
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To: Dallas59

I usually put in more than 40 hours, because there is so much to do. But unless something is critical, I don’t put in 60 hour weeks.

That one boss who insists that his employees not put in over 40 hours really does not “get it” as the article says. Sometimes, there is a project which one person is working on, and because of time crunches and so forth, that person has to put in extra time to get it done. That does not mean that more than one person needs to be put on the project, because that can actually lead to a loss in efficiency. That’s because two people have to spend a lot of time coordinating, reviewing what the other person has done, etc., especially if there are not clear and separate tasks on the project.

In work, as with everything, moderation is the key. An employer who pressures everyone into working no more than 40 hours per week is just as unreasonable as an employer who insists on 60 hour work weeks. Work loads are variable.

I’m glad I’m salaried, not hourly, so I don’t have to worry about overtime.


19 posted on 05/02/2015 4:55:38 AM PDT by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
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To: Soul of the South

There is a simple explanation for that. Govt workers are on the clock, get paid the same whether they are the best or worst at their job. There is very little encouragement to get a job done. It can always wait until tomorrow.


20 posted on 05/02/2015 5:01:21 AM PDT by USNBandit (sarcasm engaged at all times)
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