USAinDebt

‘Overtime r us’ is about to become every American family’s slogan soon. Everybody does overtime – my neighbor, my colleagues, my friends. The 40-hour workweek is something that seems long gone, lost in the past. The trend is that overtime is on the rise – employees worked 10% more hours in 2005 than in 2004 and 12% more hours in 2006, compared to the previous year. And how not to – bills are piling up, employer requirements are higher and higher, inflation increased, eating out worker’s paychecks.

Long working hours have a list of negative effects, associated with them. The high levels of stress lead to the so-called burnout where individuals are simply not able to perform on adequate level, they turn into workaholics. Just like an overworked old car, their “engine” – the brain needs it’s “oil changed”.  And sleeping 4-5 hours doesn’t work. These employees often lose interest in their social lives, drop exercising, eat junk food, smoke excessively and consume tons of caffeine in forms of coffee and chocolate. More hours however are not always equal to more money: overtime-exempt employees are often working for the benefit of keeping their job or to satisfy the demand when it pikes up. People are often required to work OT to cover for their absent colleagues.

United States of America is one of the few modern countries without vacation minimums, mandated by law. Most European countries mandate 3-5 weeks of vacation per year for their workers. For example, the London-based HSBC Group starts its England based employees out with 26 vacation days plus 8 public holidays each year. A U.S. employee in an American subsidiary would have to be on the job for 10 years at HSBC before getting that kind of time off. According to Associated Content, ‘the average American works 350 more hours per year than the average citizen of a western European country such as the United Kingdom or France.’

Many Americans are not even aware of how many days off they are given, simply because they rather not take them. Some companies offer workers to “save” their days off by not taking them and receive a pay instead. Many allow their employees to work on holidays and receive double and triple pays, this way keeping workers at the desk on Thanksgiving, Christmas or other major holidays.

Now get back to work!