Chris Taylor of Gas Powered Games says, "No more overtime."

[Tychandrus]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6167123...renews;title;2

Do you agree, or disagree? Discuss.

[Santa]

Makes sense to me. My dad always says that the happier the employees are, the better off the company is. Give them bonuses, give them benefits, and minimal overtime and youll see more creativity and more production even if there are fewer work hours.

[xTYBALTx]

Enough overtime, since it's charged at 1.5x, is bad for companies even if you discount effects on morale. For example, forty workers earning three hours of overtime per person per week are effectively costing their employer more than what it would cost to just hire 42 people and have less overtime.

Additionally, many employees want to work overtime for the extra money.

And salaried workers, who aren't paid by the hour, throw this whole calculation off kilter.

[El_Gringo_Grande]

You forgot to include other things like un-employment insurance and other required costs per employee. You actually have to work a bunch of overtime before it makes sense to hire another person on a purely monetary basis. Especially if the overtime is not constant.

Salaried workers, at least the ones I know, tend to work more than 40 hours a week. I work about 48 hours a week simply because I come in 30 minutes early and work through lunch. I only do this to accomplish everything I need to. Since most salaried workers are knowledge workers they often even work during their off-time. I read two to three technical books a month just to keep up (I am a software developer). Plus the time I spend reading technical site, downloading and testing new tools/software. I bet I probably put in close to 65 hours a week. I really don't mind it and, in fact, I find it enjoyable.

Then there are the weekends I have to work to get a project done on time. Doesn't happen often but it does happen. I actually enjoy this. My boss buys my food and I can turn up my stereo loud. Kinda fun.

But if your boss is good (and mine is) there are also a bunch of perks to working those extra hours. If my kids are sick, even just a little bit, I don't even ask to stay home, I simply email him telling him I won't be in. If I just need a "mental health day" I take it. If I want to leave a couple hours early or come in a couple hours late, I do.

So I don't see anything wrong with overtime as long as the work is something I enjoy and there are benefits gained from it. And, probably most importantly, if those I work for recognize my hard work and reward me for it.

[icky]

Overtime is a very bad idea except in exceptional circumstances. Employees get dependent on it and management gets dependent on it. When the employees burn out, you are left with a problem that has no solution.

Companies need to employ the right number of people to do the work and make sure they are able to work efficiently in regular hours.

[tau_neutrino]

Geez, I wish I got paid overtime. I work from 10am-8pm M-F and need to go to work on weekends, too. I can't risk missing a single day of work, otherwise I lose months worth of data.

Entry level science jobs suck. Oh... and my salary sucks, too.

Re: the OP, I agree with the idea.

[Acreo Aeneas]

Overtime has it's goods and bad. If an employee has a family, he or she might or might not want overtime. So I think employers shouldn't force overtime on employees, but should instead offer it voluntarily.

I know some office job managers sit on their lazy behinds and work to death their employees. That's simply not the right by any means.

[El_Gringo_Grande]

Originally Posted by icky

Overtime is a very bad idea except in exceptional circumstances. Employees get dependent on it...

That is a very good point. I have known people that got used to spending past their limits. To catch up they would just work some overtime. One guy I know did this then the company limited overtime allowed and it hurt him pretty bad financially. Took him about half a year to adjust his spending habits.

[Zephyr]

So basically, Google is the perfect company by this definition.

...I want a work shuttle that has wireless internet and sends me updates on its location when it is late or early...

-Zephyr

[gunjunkie]

I don't have linkies at the moment, but a study was done on the effects of overwork (read > 40 hrs per week) on the quality of code output from a group of programmers. Basic results were, it will cost you around 3x more for the code produced on overtime (counting the overtime pay) due to bugs and defects introduced because of shoddy workmanship due to overtiredness and other factors a poor work/life balance introduces. It also lengthens the process by a similar amount, due to the rework that must be performed.

Ofc. Getting managment to accept this fact is another thing entirely.

[El_Gringo_Grande]

Originally Posted by gunjunkie

I don't have linkies at the moment, but a study was done on the effects of overwork (read > 40 hrs per week) on the quality of code output from a group of programmers. Basic results were, it will cost you around 3x more for the code produced on overtime (counting the overtime pay) due to bugs and defects introduced because of shoddy workmanship due to overtiredness and other factors a poor work/life balance introduces. It also lengthens the process by a similar amount, due to the rework that must be performed.

Ofc. Getting managment to accept this fact is another thing entirely.

But if you are a consultant these are very good things.

[LuckyStrike]

paid or unpaid overtime? huge difference. I've worked 84 hours+ a week and been very happy with paid overtime.