.....Hmmmm ! This explains a lot around here.............. "Nearly half of U.S. workers say they routinely put in more than 50 hours on the job each week, often without overtime pay. But employers should probably start politely declining the "free" gift, new research suggests.

So-called "work martyrs" give hundreds of hours in free labor to their employers every year, encouraged by always-on gadgets, work through nights, weekends, and vacations. Trading sleep or fun for unpaid work is obviously a bad deal for employees, but there's a growing body of evidence that even apparently "free" labor might not be a good deal for employers, either.
Research that attempts to quantify the relationship between hours worked and productivity found that employee output falls sharply after a 50-hour work-week, and falls off a cliff after 55 hours—so much so that someone who puts in 70 hours produces nothing more with those extra 15 hours, according to a study published last year by John Pencavel of Stanford University. Longer hours have also been connected to absenteeism and employee turnover. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention even has an entire website devoted to the effects of long working hours even if workers aren't paid for this extra time. It's not free, Pencavel points out.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102363524
"There are ancillary costs of long working hours such as the expenses of running complementary machinery and of providing light, heat, ventilation, and supervisory labor," he said in the study.

How's Gothenburg doing?

A Swedish city has embarked on an experiment in limiting the workday to six hours in an effort to improve productivity.

A section of employees of the municipality of Gothenburg will now work an hour less a day than the seven hours customary in the Scandinavian social democracy famed for its work-life balance.

The measure is being self-consciously conceived of as an experiment, with a group of municipal employees working fewer hours and a control group working regular hours - all on the same pay. The groups’ performances will then be compared.

It is hoped that the experiment will ultimately save money by making employees more productive in their working hours.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... iment.html

Good luck in getting them to go back to normal hours if the experiment fails.

Does France still mandate 35 hrs/week ? ps: Answered my own question - they're thinking of scrapping it: http://time.com/3608782/france-consider ... king-week/

France is the most productive nation on earth per capita. Though the 35 hour week is now a 39 hour week... or something like that.

I work for myself, so I don't have to worry too much about time keeping, etc. I work roughly 30 hours a week and earn a very respectable living. If I worked longer... I'd do the same work but spend more time fucking about than I already do.

Grinch, at what age do you intend to retire, and where, if I may ask?

You can ask Vlad, I can't really answer... if I manage to sell a business for a couple of million (which isn't beyond the realms of possibility in the next decade or so), I will retire the day it is done, if not I will keep on working, my work's pretty easy so I don't think it will ever become too much... not sure about where either, maybe here, maybe Thailand, maybe Brazil, maybe back in England, really don't know yet.

I was discussing wealth with a wealthy friend yesterday, and we both agreed that one of the major benefits of wealth accumulated in an ethical/moral is that you can live the way you choose, and ignore critics and detractors.

We also both agreed that those who kneejerk at criticism are basically not truly wealthy, nor ethical, but wannabes.

As one person put it, when Liberace was criticised, he laughed all the way to the bank.

I can't find arse-kisser font so that certain other forum migrators can appreciate this, LOL