Forced labor in your country?

[Tassadar]

How much over-time work does your boss can ask you to do ?

Here in Québec ( canada), since january 2003 your boss can ask you to work up to 50 hour per week, so it could mean working 6 day a week all year long, and you cant refuse without severe problem.

Before january 2003, there wasnt any limit, yes it is thrue, accordind to the law, they had the right to make you work 24 hour a day, 6 day per week. You had the right to have 24 hour per week without work.

How it is in your country if you are syndicated or not? and what do think of it ?

 

[CurtSibling]

The UK is famous for it's long working hours and workaholic attitude!

Happily I am not in that dreaded 'nine to five' slavery loop.

 

[The Yankee]

It depends. If you're on an hourly wage here in the US, you get compensated for any work done over 40 hours in a week with "time and a half," that is, your hourly wage times 1.5 for each hour or partial hour over 40. If you have a regular salary, sometimes you can get compensated with some kind of set overtime pay. Some jobs do not have overtime pay because sometimes overtime is just required to get the job done right.

I do not think there is a limit to extra hours (provided the terms for compensation are met, mind you).

 

[Mr Black]

A year ago, I used to work on an hourly wage in an office.

Anyway, the poeple who worked there, were FORCED to work OT to get their projects done (Architecture), WITHOUT PAY. This is ILLEGAL, but the folks just wanted to keep their jobs, (tough economy) so MOST did it. NOT ME. They'd sometimes work OVER 50 hours a week. Again, this was for FREE, since they weren't getting OT pay.

Anyway, when the layoffs began, guess who got the shaft and who didn't. That boss, is a major league A-HOLE. It almost turned me into a COMMUNIST.

 

[G-Man]

Can't you file a legal complaint against them?

 

[The Yankee]

Wow, if it's bad enough to want to turn you into a Communist, that's pretty bad. Sorry you went through all that.....that's not cool at all.


I'd like a French workday...maybe 25 hours a week. They really got pissed off when the government was trying or actually went through with instituting a 35 hour workweek. I'm sure many Americans would take that in a heartbeat....a lot of them really do work 50 hours or more.

 

[Cimbri]

I guess workers here have it easier than other parts of the world. If my boss were to try and impose overtime on me, fat cat union gangsters will tear the business a new blowhole. That goes for the low-paid workers as well.
Labour Unions reign supreme.

But in the golden age of Internet-companies, many employees in small 'online-companies' choose not to be in a labour union. Work hours were dictated by need.
Alas, these companies were practically wiped out in the ‘Silicone Valley Incident’ years back...

 

[FredLC]

Theory of our labor laws in Brazil is that a person can work for 8 hours a day, up to the limit of 44 hours a week. To encourage the creation of more jobs, the law institutes penalties for overtime working, like, work at OT grants a 50% bonus per hour, to work at night hours grants another bonus per hour (50% too, if I recall correctly), and they are cumulative, so having people to work late ends up being as expensive as hirting more people.

Practise however, works diferently, there are many people that disobey the law, and take their chances with the workers that choose to pursuit their rights.

People in positions of responsibility, OTOH, like managers and stuff, usually do not have the right to extra payment for OT work, as it's part of the job description to stay as long as it's take to get the job done.

And of course, there are the independent professionals, like doctors and lawyers, that will work for as long as it takes too.

Regards .

 

[Phantom Lord]

Basically a maximum of ten hours of work per day is legal here.

If you work in a typical union-type job, you've got 35 working hours, if you've got a management job, you'll usually find yourself working 40 hours a week.

So you could work 10-15 hours overtime a week, usually you will get the same amount of free time back or get paid for overtime hours, altough this is a matter of your contract. As a rule of thumb you're better off in big corporations concerning overtime compensation.

I probably worked an average of ten hours unpaid overtime each week for a some years in my old company, which was small, but it was fun and I did it voluntary, so it was OK. Where I'm working now I hear ten times a day someone saying "I'll take a day off tomorrow to compensate my overtime".

 

[Mr Black]

Originally posted by G-Man
Can't you file a legal complaint against them?

We talked about that, before the layoffs. But in the end, we wouldn't come out with anything. We just wanted our jobs, no matter how ****** it was. And now it will only hurt the workers, not the boss, with his Lexus. And yes, he drives a brand new Lexus, among other cars.

This is pretty much a no-union town, in companies. It's what you would expect from the home-town of ENRON.

Talking about terrible bosses, I've got another story:
In my friend's workplace, one of the head honchos, was a major drug addict. Anyway, just before christmas this guy spent about 60 G's in a strip club, in ONE weekend. With the company in dire needs, all christmas bonuses were cancelled and I think 2 people were canned. THIS IS JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!!

P.S. The companies I'm talking about are small business with only around 20 - 30 employees in total. These aren't BIG corporations, but they're just as bad.

 

[bobgote]

i work a 37.5 hour week. i think this is pretty much standard for australia. Anyway, for the most part, people would get time-and-a-half as has already been explained in this thread, but i don't. I get flextime. This means any time i do over my 7.5hrs a day cumulates, and I can take that time off when i want to. so i can work overtime for a while, then take a week off nice system, i don't get paid more but can take days off (i don't mind working an extra hour or so if i can take time off).

In regards to work regulations, there is some laws or something that prevent you working i think more than 5 hours without a half hour break, and it's illegal for employers to make employees work without a set break between two days (eg if you finish at midnight for example, they can't make you go to work before say 9am or something. I don't know the amount of time there, but there's a rule like that)

 

[Shadylookin]

Anyway, just before christmas this guy spent about 60 G's in a strip club

for 60 grand i would expect more than just striping I would expect.... oh tos rules right

I don't know of any specific laws, I really think it depends on what your union can get you

 

[HighlandWarrior]

i usually work 40hours a week now.(8am-5pm dont get paid for a 1hr lunch)

when i worked as a laborer for a large construction company i worked from 7am to 7pm 6 days, a week in the summer. in the winter i worked 4 10hr days. 3day weekends are nice.