Maybe there are people out there who can work 24/7. But I'm not one of them. If you need a lawyer and I'm not available, please call someone else. I won't be at all offended. I'd rather be sane than be your lawyer.
You go, ML!!
He's got a new job now, in Canada. And he doesn't do that any more. He works 9-5 - sometimes to 6 - and gets
much more job satisfaction. He's still in a relatively senior position. Sure, he's taken a pay cut compared to what he used to earn in the UK - but hour for hour he's paid more now.
The company doesn't have our cellphone number. They have the home number but, since he started, have never used it. And in fact
no-one in this company works later than around 6, other than dire emergency. He says the place is like a ghost town come 5.15!
And his health has improved. But not before he had a mini-stroke and lost some of the vision in one eye - directly attributable to work-related stress. Be warned - like ML's experience (and I'm so glad you're better now, ML!), working too hard can
seriously injure your health. It can even kill you.
The long hours culture is dangerous, bad for us and actually bad for the economy - stressed and demotivated workers mean lower productivity, more days lost through illness, higher staff turnover and so on. (When I was an academic, I carried out a survey on this three years running - always, there was a very high correlation between long hours, stress and illness).
Wendy
