MetaChat - How many hours do you work in a week?

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16 June 2005

How many hours do you work in a week? Do you get paid enough for working that much? If you work significantly more than 40 hours per work, are the extra hours as productive as the first 40?

post by: brainwidth at: 18:56 | 16 comments

See here and here for related info.

posted by Specklet 16 June | 19:03

yup..freelancer..i get paid for every minute i work (and some i don't).

posted by amberglow 16 June | 19:22

I am now unemployed...turned in my key today.

posted by Schyler523 16 June | 19:30

I'm supposed to be working mandatory overtime--45 to 50 hours a week--but I've been defiantly putting in around 40 for three months without getting a talking to.

If they talk to me about it, I'll get the damned 45 hours for about a month, probably. Then I'll go back to 40. I make more money than I really need as it is, and my pay isn't really even all that high.

Fuck 'em.

posted by interrobang 16 June | 19:34

...Oh, and I generally leave when it's honest for me to leave. When I know I'm not going to be able to concentrate enough to actually do my job. Which is at about the eight hour mark.

I could stay there for that extra hour and do nothing, but I feel dishonest about it. Which is weird, 'cause, well, fuck 'em.

posted by interrobang 16 June | 19:37

About 40 hours a week, yes, dunno (don't work more than 40 or so)

posted by bugbread 16 June | 21:56

I work 35 hours a week. And not very hard at the moment.

That's down from 70-80 2 years ago.

Down from 100-120 6 years ago.

Not bad.

And no, they pay me crap.

posted by dreamsign 16 June | 23:43

I bill at least 40 hours a week (which means I work at least 58 hours a week, since my timesheets, department meetings and things that can't get attributed to a client job number). My biggest billing week was 74 hours.

I'm salaried, which means no overtime. But when (if) a week is slow, I can take a full hour lunch, work from home and head out a little early.

posted by gucky 16 June | 23:56

Big seasonal variations in my (academic) workload. Huge hours at the start and end of semesters, 50-60 hour weeks easy. Much lower mid-semester, (25-30?) though with spikes as there are papers to grade. Summers less so, except when I get greedy and teach a summer class. The last six weeks was a blur of grant writing, 60 to God-Knows-How-Many hour weeks, but that ended Tuesday (yay!). Over the course of the year it probably averages 40 hour a week.

Do I get paid enough? Hell no, but I knew that going in.

posted by LarryC 17 June | 00:09

I work a 37.25 hour week, officially. If I happen to work any extra, I can bank it up and take it off whenever I want (schedules permitting). I love working for the Government, considering that my last job required me to work 60-65 hours per week in addition to being on call 24/7/365 (including holidays) and paid me 10k less. I do miss that company car, but it really wasn't worth it.

posted by dg 17 June | 00:33

Billing, gucky? Come work for government! Have a life. (and no money)

posted by dreamsign 17 June | 00:43

Depends on the government, dreamsign. I work for a state legislature. Wednesday I worked from 8 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning, and then had to be back at work again at 8 a.m. Thursday I only worked from 8 to 6, but tonight could get ugly again. Fortunately it's not always like this, and fortunately I get comp time.

posted by JanetLand 17 June | 09:37

As with Gucky, I operate in terms of billable hours. I typically bill somewhere in the neighborhood of 50-55 hours, which means I work a total of 60-70 hours to get that done. My biggest week was 115 billed hours. My biggest month was 310 billed hours. I get paid well, but not enough to continue this for the long term.

posted by brainwidth 17 June | 11:00

40, no, n/a.

posted by Hugh Janus 17 June | 12:48

I work 4 twelve-hour shifts a week, and get paid for 40 hours. Overtime doesn't kick in until actual 40hours+15minutes of work-time has been logged, though.

posted by reflecked 17 June | 13:53

You must be a litigator, gucky. When I worked for a private firm, I was pulling those hours (70-80), and when I worked litigation for the gov it wasn't so different. Outside of lit, though, it's a different story. Of course, the pace change is a bit of a killer...

posted by dreamsign 18 June | 01:43

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