David.Poole (9/9/2008)
... Although I do get paid for this it does mean that my entire family has to go without trips and treats while I am on support....
One point I would like to make is that if companies work their employees into the ground what they gain in extra hours they will lose in sickness and absence.
My experience is that people don't work linearly. I do my best work between 07:00 and 12:00. Hours worked beyond the 8 aren't really that productive. In fact I have found that I most productive when I limit my hours to between 35 and 40 per week.
I totally agree. I can work the occasional 10 hour day, or even do 45+ per week regularly, but when the individual day is longer than 10 hours or the week is greater than 55 hours consistently, the efficiency of my work goes down.
On the on-call issue: I believe UK employees get a lot more vacation time than US employees. Most people here get two or three weeks per year, and a lot of people don't take it all, either rolling it over or taking cash out if that is available. I think UK employees start at four weeks a year, don't they?