I would agree with the “toxic office” syndrome. However long hours are often expected by the company, particularly in full time employment. Some of the methods I have been subjected to in some companies have included the following:-

An expectation that the employee works until the project is finished. However when that project is finished there is always another project waiting.

If long hours are worked on one project, then this sets a precedent for the type of hours expected to be worked for all projects.

Expectation that staff commence work at earlier times, such that they would be able to work longer hours in the day.

Scheduling meetings for late in the afternoon. If the meeting goes overtime then staff were expected to work back until the meeting was finished.

Requiring staff to “drop in” on weekends or on holidays to see how things were going. These drop in visits then become expected, often becoming a normal full days normal work.

Bonus payments were connected to hours worked, such that increases in pay were connected to hours worked, although productivity or work performance were always expected to be high.

When all these things were combined then the hours worked could easily exceed 60 hrs per week plus travel time. The hours expected to be worked were also variable from day to day, such that family related activities could not be planned beforehand or had to become secondary.

But it can often work against the company or organisation eventually, as such systems tend to burn people out and work performance eventually declines. Eventually the company and the employee's family will both loose.

Agree with Timkins 100% - his experience corresponds exactly with mine.

Hopefully, as more women and men, rally for family friendly workplaces we will achieve a bit more equilibrium - organisations cannot rely on burnt out employees forever.

No argument from me Alex. the old saying that 'no man on his death bed ever said 'I wish I had spent more time at the office' is true.
Raise your children well. Read to them. Nurture their humanity. Do not covet thy neighbour's BMW - his children never see him.

Very good Alex.

We definitely need to look at the idea of school and business hours being similar.

t.u.s

Very good article, I have worked in some pretty toxic workplaces, and even though I don't have kids, cannot imagine how parents can juggle (or be expected to) the more important parts of your life around that. I don't think any job is worth 60 hours a week (especially if you're only getting paid for 38 when it comes to the quality time with the stuff that's irreplacable. Good on you Mark, hopefully we'll see a turning of the tide rather than just forgetting this rational and responsible decision.

There is something distinctly Australian about this issue of working too much and having trouble accepting equal family roles for men and women. Australians work the longest hours in the OECD (apart from South Korea). According to ILO data our working hours haven't declined in the last 12 years, whereas in other countries they did, especially in Japan (see http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/kilm/kilm06.htm).

I tend to get the impression that Australian managers equate long hours with high productivity, a completely bizarre belief given that 1. It runs counter to the very definition of productivity and 2. Individual effectiveness tends to decline after about 7 hours at work. Then again, employees seem to have no trouble going along with the mutual deception. The common response of people is not to fight the insanity, but to opt out (downshifting). Which means the system remains intact, the 'traitor' is quickly forgotten and the 'slaves' go back to sending another email.

For once, we ought to look to Scandinavia instead of US/UK for some answers. Norway has the lowest working hours and highest productivity (output per hour) in the OECD. Makes sense?