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It would be interesting, to me at least, to see the results of this survey based on location. To compare the working cultures of say the UK (where I live) to the Australia (where I'm moving in two weeks).
- Dy
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wouldn't work default location is US and it seems 60% don't move it off that - I suggested lalaland as the default instead.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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Hi
I am mostly lost in overtimes, i do not know whats my actual schedule of work. but yes, i personally dont get paid for overtime either, but its time to time appreciation in amount paid + some bonus keeps me going.
I do agree that people should put in extra effort as and when needed, but its also important that daily personal life is not lost in everyday overtime system
Thanks
Anuj Pandey
www.anuj.co.in[^]
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in our company we have time reports and for occational overtime we can go earlier if it is less to do. It is really fine. 
Greetings from Germany
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Something similar here in the UK. I work in a factory. I'm one of the white collars who sit upstairs and write the software to run on the machines we sell. Because of the factory we have flexitime so that in busy times you build up time and in quiet times you take that time off.
In my case its been useful because of my wife being ill and having to do childcare has meant that i've taken time off and am currently working a little bit of extra to get back to 0.
I much prefer this to overtime or being required to work a bit extra just because its needed and impresses your boss.
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KarstenK wrote: in our company we have time reports and for occational overtime we can go earlier if it is less to do. It is really fine.
Is there honestly less to do?
I used to work for a big company, and I suppose to leave at 5 but always leave later, because if I leave earlier I was threaten to be fired, or at least mocked by my boss because he said I suppose to work for free to earn merits in the company
Now I luckily work for a better company , and I get paid every extra hour I work
Edgar Prieto
Software Engineer
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... is similar to serfdom.
No one should accept to work for nothing. This is exploitation
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Ka?l wrote: No one should accept to work for nothing.
Hell, I'd better stop volunteering for charity projects, then. I thought I was helping feed the hungry, but as it turns out it was exploatation. 
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I see humour is not dead on CP 
As a volunteer, I don't think you can consider yourself as an employee . And if you are, and are not paid, then yes, you are exploited, and you may well end needing the services of the charity your work for to feed you, the hungry.
I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly.
Fold with us! ¤ flickr
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I have not worked in a job where overtime (even in the $5/hr jobs in college) was permitted however in most cases it was expected. I mean you were and are expected to work more than the 40 hours that is automatically put on your time card. Although I do not work the hours as I did in the past (girlfriend will not permit that), if I was paid overtime I would have broke 100K (in Pittsburgh where $200K gets you a 2000+ square foot house with a large lot in a good neighborhood...) for probably all of the years that I have been in C++ programming job. I am still very happy in this job though.
John
modified on Monday, August 18, 2008 12:40 PM
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John M. Drescher wrote: I mean you were and are expected to work more than the 40 hours that is automatically put on your time card.
hope then that the KY lube is for free
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We do get descent yearly raises though.
John
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My friend works for a big company (can't say as he is not really allowed to say what he does), and most often his pay for overtime exceeds his normal time pay.
You should see how hard this guy works...
He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes. He who does not ask a question remains a fool forever. [Chineese Proverb]
Jonathan C Dickinson (C# Software Engineer)
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If one of my guys worked a couple extra hours one evening and submitted an overtime card (not that we have them!) I'd be less than impressed.
It's the natural of the game that one will be expected to put in some extra hours here and there.
If it is a deathmarch, then sure.
Otherwise showing a willingness to work a bit extra should rather count in your favor when it comes to bonuses and increases.
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Hey... then why get paid for regular hours, too?
I mean... what better way to say you're enthusiastic about your job, than not asking for any money. It should get you some real points when it comes to bonuses and taps on the shoulder... The down side is that one would be dependant on bonuses, since he gave up his regular salary.
Putting some extra hours from time to time in order to meet the dead line, or to work on some great new idea, or whatever is OK, but constantly working extra hours (shifts, days...) just because the manageres are incompetent, or because the sales team doesn't really know what they are selling, or for whatever reason, and not getting paid for that is just plain old wrong.
To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.
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rastaVnuce wrote: Putting some extra hours from time to time in order to meet the dead line, or to work on some great new idea, or whatever is OK, but constantly working extra hours (shifts, days...) just because the manageres are incompetent, or because the sales team doesn't really know what they are selling, or for whatever reason, and not getting paid for that is just plain old wrong.
Agreed, 100%.
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Personally I think there should be a move towards "contract" based work, and by that I don't mean the developers being actual contractors. I'm talking about the company/dev team and the developer agreeing on a distinct piece of work and a timescale, the developer can then work when/as he sees fit. This could be 24 hours a day for 3 days or 8 hours a day for 9 days, or whatever. I think this kind of work fits into this well. Obviously you'd need some leeway and some checks and balances.
That's a bit of an aside really but in terms of overtime, I get paid overtime but at the end of the day would be happy to agree a higher salary and lose the overtime pay. True flexi-time would be much more valuable to me and I think much better for the business. I know some companies do already work like this, but I've no idea how widespread it is.
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I work for a company where all development, no matter how small the task, is run as a project.
A resource (or resources) gets allocated to the project and timelines are worked out in normal 8 hour working days. Once we agreed on the time lines then they do not care how wework and when we work as long as the deadline is met.
This leaves us to manage our time ourselves and we love it as we are not under the constraints of normal working hours.
I get to the office round about 11 am and then I work to +- 7 pm. If I want to take some time off (without taking leave days) then that is fine as long as I still make the deadline.
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That's awesome, I'm very jealous. Surely you should be getting in at 6 and leaving at 2 though!?
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I could surely do that. I am however not a morning person and enjoy sleeping a bit late otherwise I am all cranky  .
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Your ignoring the down-side to this. I've rarely encountered a project manager type who doesn't want to shorten deadlines and otherwise cutback on resources/expenses. That's how they earn their bonus'.
Then, what you considered awsome gets slightly rewritten as awful: not only will your personal life disappear, but your pleasure in the work will soon follow.
And, these days, with outsourcing so tempting to many of these types, one could find themselves enslaved by the fear of cheap (albeit shortsighted) replacement.
As a contractor (who can pretty much make his own hours), I remind you of one of the great wisdoms of the cosmos: Be careful what you ask for . . . you might get it.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"How do you find out if you're unwanted if everyone you try to ask tells you to go away?" - Balboos HaGadol
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Sure any system could be abused, but I think some companies are relatively enlightened about the way they treat their people. My own company certainly is, even if it doesn't go in for what I've described above. I think the amount of abuse this is open to is all relative to how senior you are, how specialised your job is, etc. i.e. the balance of powers between employer and employee.
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Perhaps you've missed the various business news items about how enlightend the majority of companies are in reguard to their employees:
A current top manager screws up the company - get dismissed with a US$25,000,000 severence package - and thousands of employees are layed off for his/her incompetence.
It's happening constantly: the employees pay the price for management's inabilities. They get the money - we get the shaft.
Yes, I know of exceptions. I remember a news item about an upstate NY Shoe manufacturer who payed all of his employees 1/2 pay after the plant burned down, until it was rebuilt, so he could rehire them. It was so amazing. That's why it was news.
Your company is enlighted? I guess so. For now. Let's hope you never see what happens on the day when the chips are down: do they cut out the management, or the employees (who actually produce the work that earns the money).
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"How do you find out if you're unwanted if everyone you try to ask tells you to go away?" - Balboos HaGadol
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Some people are so cynical! 
I don't doubt that a majority of companies want to screw their staff for all they can get, but hopefully I won't end up working for one of those companies. So far maybe I've been lucky to be able to move around and get jobs working for good companies. And if I move again and the company treats me bad, I hope I'll be in a position to leave for somewhere better.
Anyhow, the original post was about an idea that I think works well for all concerned, but it's not common practice so I probably can't disagree with what you're saying.
And if my current company stop being enlightened, hopefully they'll sack a couple of the younger guys before me! If not, I'll finally get to spend some time away from the screen.
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Just because you are willing to work until you're too burned out to enjoy your family time and hobbies doesn't mean that you should expect others to sacrifice their personal lives for your company's benefit.
To most of us, a job is just the thing that provides enough money to have a personal life. When the job consistently encroaches on the personal life, it's time to find a new job.
Paul
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