Working long hours
Discussion
DJRC said:
economicpygmy said:
conanius said:
Some of you guys must earn mental money for it to be worth that level of agro.
No money is worth the stress TBH.70-100 per week. Nearly into the last year of a 5 year plan when I will reduce it to 50; cant wait!
My contract says I work an 8 hour day (IT Consultant). After having a little girl last year (well, my wife did) I've made a massive effort to reduce my hours and so far am averaging 9 hours/day for the year (not including being away from home 2 nights a week). That's still 29 days of unpaid overtime, but expected given my salary/position.
economicpygmy said:
DJRC said:
economicpygmy said:
conanius said:
Some of you guys must earn mental money for it to be worth that level of agro.
No money is worth the stress TBH.70-100 per week. Nearly into the last year of a 5 year plan when I will reduce it to 50; cant wait!
Mon: 5.20am up, leave house 5.50am. Midlands - Portsmouth, arrive 09.30 after spending an hr detouring round Oxford as the A34 was shut. Finish 18.00. Overnight in hotel outside Portsmouth.
Tue: Leave hotel about 09.00, get to Heathrow. Purple Parking. Fly out midday. Overnight in Rome.
Weds:. 05.45 am up. Leave Rome hotel at 06.30 to drive 2 hrs into the middle of nowhere in Italy. Finish 19.00. Xmas pissup that evening.
Thurs: Work till who knows. Drive 2 hrs back to Rome, combat GRA traffic. Overnight in Rome.
Fri: 06.00 up. Leave hotel 07.00, flight 09.00. Heathrow 10am. Drive back upto the Midlands.
Thats a short week and conservatively 45hrs. Different hotel in different cities, in two different countries each night. Ill work from home Sat and prob Sun, all the fuel, parking and hotel costs are up front on me aswell, which I won't get back till late Jan, which will make me 6k currently owed.
It sounds "glamorous" when viewed from the perspective of a normal office based worker, but after 4 yrs and only seeing your other half for rushed weekends at best, more normally 1.5 days (my wife works Sat mornings), its really not. Its viable for a short term plan, its bought the big ticket items, a couple of nice holidays and one more big ticket item to go and then I will happily cut my earnings by 40-50% and my hours by 30-40% - especially the travelling.
If there is one thing the last few years has taught me that I didn't understand or believe before then its that money is a tool you use to get what you need/want. Money is not what you work for itself though. Yes I know Im a bit slow in working that out!
Cant believe some of the hours people do on here! I'm currently doing a 37 hour week for a half decent wage. My previous job I could be doing anything from 40 hours a week up to 60 if it was really busy or we were short staffed. I knew it was time to move on when I started to grow a few too many grey hairs, at 26!!
I regularly do duties of 18 hours; but, I'll sleep/rest for about 7 of those. This would be flying our longest routes, at this time of year (so, greater headwinds westbound, de-icing, etc). But, I'll get a couple of days off before the return leg, and typically 5-7 days off when I get home.
I'll typically fly 75 hours or so a month, and total additional duty would be in the region of 8-10 hours.
Not much compared to the office crowd, and plenty of time off. The flopping around of my body clock, however, is very fatiguing. Consequently I lose some of my days off recovering after a trip, or resting before a through the night flight.
I'll typically fly 75 hours or so a month, and total additional duty would be in the region of 8-10 hours.
Not much compared to the office crowd, and plenty of time off. The flopping around of my body clock, however, is very fatiguing. Consequently I lose some of my days off recovering after a trip, or resting before a through the night flight.
Testaburger said:
I regularly do duties of 18 hours; but, I'll sleep/rest for about 7 of those. This would be flying our longest routes, at this time of year (so, greater headwinds westbound, de-icing, etc). But, I'll get a couple of days off before the return leg, and typically 5-7 days off when I get home.
I'll typically fly 75 hours or so a month, and total additional duty would be in the region of 8-10 hours.
Not much compared to the office crowd, and plenty of time off. The flopping around of my body clock, however, is very fatiguing. Consequently I lose some of my days off recovering after a trip, or resting before a through the night flight.
Although it's probably quite well known but I've never came across someone to ask, if you're doing a long haul flight how often would the pilot and crew expect to get as down time on the other end? I'm thinking if you're flying from the UK to the far east or Aus do you get much time put up in a hotel to put your feet up? I'll typically fly 75 hours or so a month, and total additional duty would be in the region of 8-10 hours.
Not much compared to the office crowd, and plenty of time off. The flopping around of my body clock, however, is very fatiguing. Consequently I lose some of my days off recovering after a trip, or resting before a through the night flight.
DJRC said:
economicpygmy said:
DJRC said:
economicpygmy said:
conanius said:
Some of you guys must earn mental money for it to be worth that level of agro.
No money is worth the stress TBH.70-100 per week. Nearly into the last year of a 5 year plan when I will reduce it to 50; cant wait!
a311 said:
Although it's probably quite well known but I've never came across someone to ask, if you're doing a long haul flight how often would the pilot and crew expect to get as down time on the other end? I'm thinking if you're flying from the UK to the far east or Aus do you get much time put up in a hotel to put your feet up?
It depends on a lot of factors, to be honest. For long haul flights, the required rest is determined (at least by my regulator) by:
how many days off you had before the trip/am I deemed to be on my 'home base local time',
what time the trip starts,
the scheduled length of the outbound trip,
the number of pilots…
Then you can determine whether you need a set amount of time, or whether you need 1 or 2 nights of sleep on your home base local time, etc…
Once you've hit the required rest figure, you're remaining rest period is determined usually by when the next return leg is.
For me, anywhere from 24-72 hours on my long hauls, although the legal minimum can be less, as long as the above stuff is complied with.
I generally like to go for somewhere in the middle (36-40). This will usually allow me to have a bit of a life down-route, and typically accomplish the following; have a dinner with my colleagues, have a sleep, gym, wonder around/shop, and have at least one full sleep on my body clock time. Any shorter, and I won't be able to do much other than a jog, some food and rest. Any longer and my body clock drifts, so I'll need a longer period to de-zombify when I get home.
Each country has its own regulator, which sets the rules, and I understand the UK/European rules have had a significant change, so I can't tell you much about them.
If I am awake, I need to be working more or less.
I refuse to do what some do however and still take half a day for myself every weekend.
My contact is silent on hours.
All entirely the norm for this job.
See tomorrow's press coverage of the REF results for the reason why. And see this week's ongoing debate in the Guardian and Times Higher Education Supplement for debate of the harm that this norm and policy does to mental health, family life, etc.
I refuse to do what some do however and still take half a day for myself every weekend.
My contact is silent on hours.
All entirely the norm for this job.
See tomorrow's press coverage of the REF results for the reason why. And see this week's ongoing debate in the Guardian and Times Higher Education Supplement for debate of the harm that this norm and policy does to mental health, family life, etc.
lukefreeman said:
Contracted to 38.
Do 45.
It's a hard knock life.
Don't know why people do 60+ hour weeks, madness. No money is worth your own time like that...Change jobs so you can work to live, not live to work.
Or you'll soon see youself retiring and too old to do anything good.
Easy to say when you earn enough isn't it.Do 45.
It's a hard knock life.
Don't know why people do 60+ hour weeks, madness. No money is worth your own time like that...Change jobs so you can work to live, not live to work.
Or you'll soon see youself retiring and too old to do anything good.
lukefreeman said:
Contracted to 38.
Do 45.
It's a hard knock life.
Don't know why people do 60+ hour weeks, madness. No money is worth your own time like that...Change jobs so you can work to live, not live to work.
Or you'll soon see youself retiring and too old to do anything good.
Unfortunately there aren't many employers willing to take on a middle aged bloke with health issues. I simply don't have the luxury of choice, unless I were to go on benefits I guess? With a basic of just £15k I rely on the overtime to give me a living wage. Mind you, I heard a Mr Farrage in Kent, on the radio, the other day. It seems he has it tough too. Evidently he doesn't even have a decent car and can barely afford his mortgage?! Seems I'm not alone in having it tough right now. Do 45.
It's a hard knock life.
Don't know why people do 60+ hour weeks, madness. No money is worth your own time like that...Change jobs so you can work to live, not live to work.
Or you'll soon see youself retiring and too old to do anything good.
Edited by e21Mark on Wednesday 17th December 09:48
Employed, contract says 38, realistically I probably work 45 - 50 hours per week plus travelling time to see clients.
I guess I'm relatively young - 31 with no kids - but this is the max I would do whilst working for someone else to be honest. It's important to me to have the right balance of working hard and achieving progression whilst ensuring I spend quality time with the OH, family and doing stuff I enjoy.
Inside the next 5 years I may well set up on my own. I can easily see how 90 - 100 hour weeks become the norm in that scenario.
I guess I'm relatively young - 31 with no kids - but this is the max I would do whilst working for someone else to be honest. It's important to me to have the right balance of working hard and achieving progression whilst ensuring I spend quality time with the OH, family and doing stuff I enjoy.
Inside the next 5 years I may well set up on my own. I can easily see how 90 - 100 hour weeks become the norm in that scenario.
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