Are you tired? I know I am.

[Twilight Hue]

My day is usually 12-13 hours long and can go up to 6 days straight although its usually 5 lately. It used to be 4.

My compensation after analysis, is lower than standard pay vs hours worked as its only a single flat rate. It calculates to just above the new standard for minimum wage for those hours. The schedule is all over the board. Needless to say I had enough. I'm tired. I'm now seeking alternatives including self employment.

What is it with this country? Compared to others, its not right nor fair from the perspective of the worker. Agree / disagree


The U.S. is the Most Overworked Nation in the World


Do you think it will ever change here? I personally don't see it happening. Our nation just gets worked to the bone ever worse and worse and it seems its not going to stop anytime soon.

Thoughts?

 

[Daemon Sophic]

It reminds me of a story my aunt told me some 30 years ago. She was the director of a radiology department of a large hospital, and had a visiting professor from Australia giving some lectures.
At the end of his few days in town she offered him a job at the hospital, but he turned it down, saying that he was much more comfortable in Australia because, “You Yanks work too hard.”

We have friends in Denmark who have also told us about how light their workdays are compared to our; and how open their vacation policies are, as well as daycare and maternity/paternity leave. Plus many other benefits we Americans scrape by to get from our overlords.

 

[Left Coast]

My day is usually 12-13 hours long and can go up to 6 days straight although its usually 5 lately. It used to be 4.

My compensation after analysis, is lower than standard pay vs hours worked as its only a single flat rate. It calculates to just above the new standard for minimum wage for those hours. The schedule is all over the board. Needless to say I had enough. I'm tired. I'm now seeking alternatives including self employment.

What is it with this country? Compared to others, its not right nor fair from the perspective of the worker. Agree / disagree


The U.S. is the Most Overworked Nation in the World


Do you think it will ever change here? I personally don't see it happening. Our nation just gets worked to the bone ever worse and worse and it seems its not going to stop anytime soon.

Thoughts?

Agree.

We've taken "free market" capitalism to its logical and most absurd conclusion. The system we've built disproportionately benefits the most rich and powerful. That won't change till we make systemic change.

 

[Father Heathen]

My day is usually 12-13 hours long and can go up to 6 days straight although its usually 5 lately. It used to be 4.

My compensation after analysis, is lower than standard pay vs hours worked as its only a single flat rate. It calculates to just above the new standard for minimum wage for those hours. The schedule is all over the board. Needless to say I had enough. I'm tired. I'm now seeking alternatives including self employment.

What is it with this country? Compared to others, its not right nor fair from the perspective of the worker. Agree / disagree


The U.S. is the Most Overworked Nation in the World


Do you think it will ever change here? I personally don't see it happening. Our nation just gets worked to the bone ever worse and worse and it seems its not going to stop anytime soon.

Thoughts?

Uh, oh. You sound an awful lot like a socialist here. Remember, if you're not rich it's because you're lazy, right?

 

[ChristineM]

I agree the US hours are quite Dickensian.

The working week across europe varies from around 35/36 hours to 40. Over that, if you volunteer to work extra then overtime rate should be paid. Some companies insist on 4 hours compulsory overtime.

However right wing business owners are using a get out clause with zero hours contracts which are being seen more and more. An employee is paid a standard rate per hour worked (usually little more than minimum wage) for as many hours as are offered ranging from zero (hence the name) to far to many.

 

[Revoltingest]

I wonder about long hours being imposed.
My daughter chose to live in NYC, with its culture of demanding
hours & living in a closet. She works 70+ hours per week, &
shares a 350 sq ft apartment. She could move back here,
work a mere 40 hour week, & have far more space.
But no, she's doing what she wants.
Of the people I personally know who work horrendous hours,
it's all by choice, & usually someone running their business.
But far & away most I know work pretty regular hours.

I've worked 20 hour days for stretches. No more.

 

[Father Heathen]

I agree the US hours are quite Dickensian.

I remember working mandated 12 hour shifts for 6 days a week doing physically demanding labor in a high temperature environment. Vacation was one week a year until you were employed with the company for 5 years, then you got two. You also had 5 sick days, along with the option of sacrificing a vacation day for one.
And then there is the privatized health care which is a predatory racket.
And believe it or not, most of the working class votes to keep things this way, even as they're either driven into dept or into the grave by it. Because you know, gays, guns, god, fetuses, and Stalin's ghost.

 

[exchemist]

My day is usually 12-13 hours long and can go up to 6 days straight although its usually 5 lately. It used to be 4.

My compensation after analysis, is lower than standard pay vs hours worked as its only a single flat rate. It calculates to just above the new standard for minimum wage for those hours. The schedule is all over the board. Needless to say I had enough. I'm tired. I'm now seeking alternatives including self employment.

What is it with this country? Compared to others, its not right nor fair from the perspective of the worker. Agree / disagree


The U.S. is the Most Overworked Nation in the World


Do you think it will ever change here? I personally don't see it happening. Our nation just gets worked to the bone ever worse and worse and it seems its not going to stop anytime soon.

Thoughts?

You need better employment law. The is a gross imbalance in power between the employer and the employee, most obvious in the power of employers to fire people for no reason. In European countries, including the UK, they have to have justification for sacking someone, or they can be taken to an employment tribunal. This limits the demands that employers can make and reduces the element of fear on the part of the employee.

At my old company if they wanted to get rid of someone and could not make a solid legal justification (which can be quite hard to assemble), they would pay them off, with compensation equal to the compensation they would be likely to win at the employment tribunal, so that it would not be worth the employee's while to make a fuss. That would commonly be between 9 and 18 months salary if I remember right.

Also, since healthcare is provided by the state, rather than by an employer's insurance plan, that is something else the employee does not have to worry about, in the event of dismissal. Whereas in the USA, your employer really does have you by the balls.

This, I feel, is the sort of thing a Democrat administration could usefully apply itself to, in an ideal world. But the Republicans would fight it tooth and nail of course, with all the money they get from business. So it may be a non-starter while you have a Republican Senate.

 

[Audie]

When I lived in US, I one time figured out
how much of the US " defense" bill i was
funding.

I forget now what it was. .03 seconds maybe.
Probably less.

 

[Mock Turtle]

When I started work in 1962 it was on just over 36 hours per week, and this was predicted to fall gradually as we progressed into the future. Boy, were they wrong. My future employment never dipped down to this level ever again, even though flexi-time was a bonus.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Uh, oh. You sound an awful lot like a socialist here. Remember, if you're not rich it's because you're lazy, right?

I'd prefer to keep the political nuances out in this instance. Thank you.

 

[pearl]

What is it with this country? Compared to others, its not right nor fair from the perspective of the worker. Agree / disagree

We are a nation, with a corporate driven by productivity and labor is never considered an asset, but a necessary liability.

 

[Quetzal]

I'd prefer to keep the political nuances out in this instance. Thank you.

While I will agree it would be best to do so, I would like to point out that there are several ideas from the left side of things that can help. Shortened work weeks, stronger regulation against the top 1%, a shift away from the employer healthcare model, etc; all would help in the areas you are upset about.

Edit: I am not saying these ideas would be successful or failures, just a few key talking points.

 

[pearl]

This, I feel, is the sort of thing a Democrat administration could usefully apply itself to, in an ideal world. But the Republicans would fight it tooth and nail of course, with all the money they get from business. So it may be a non-starter while you have a Republican Senate.

That explains the high concern over Georgia's senate race, we could get there!

 

[Father Heathen]

I'd prefer to keep the political nuances out in this instance. Thank you.

Of course you would. Nobody likes to acknowledge they're getting ****ed by their own "team".

 

[sun rise]

Do you think it will ever change here? I personally don't see it happening. Our nation just gets worked to the bone ever worse and worse and it seems its not going to stop anytime soon.

It will stop when people stop accepting being treated like disposable cogs in a machine which exists to deliver money to the wealthy.

I'd prefer to keep the political nuances out in this instance. Thank you.

You don't want to consider the cause, it seems.

 

[exchemist]

I'd prefer to keep the political nuances out in this instance. Thank you.

Yes, it does not need to be a matter of point-scoring, I agree. But the only way to improve things is by lawmakers making new laws to redress the imbalance of power. And that is politics. Inescapably.

I say this as a predominantly Conservative UK voter (until Brexit came along). Things are just too far out of balance, especially in the USA.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

It needs to change.
I was a case manager, working with kids, working with child services, high stress job with high turnover, it's in demand basically everywhere, and I was still below the poverty line and still qualifying for low income assistance.
I make more money doing people's shopping, and (prior to covid) made WAY more driving people around on the weekends.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Reminds me of the 55-60 hours a week I did in warehouse for $11/hour.
And then being on call 24/7 for poverty wages despite being a degreed professional working in a professional field.

 

[Brickjectivity]

What is it with this country?

Rapid industrial change
Bottom of a Monetary Cycle
Middle of a Pandemic
Overly Centralized governance
Religious Turmoil and Betrayal
Mind Blowing Technological changes
Guilt complex
Parents unable to anticipate needs of children

Considering the above you actually aren't doing very badly, though I don't envy your 12 hour workday.