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Comment by kamaal | Hacker News Reader

The problem is never more working hours. Nobody minds working extra hours as long as they are paid for it.

The problem really is companies expecting people to do far more then anything they are ready to pay for. Sometime its even more worse when a few people have to make up for other people, and then watch the lazy group get rewarded better for political reasons.

The real issue is resentment not extra working hours.

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There are people that have obligations outside of the work day, particularly people with families. You couldn't pay me to work a 12 hour day, for example, because those hours are reserved for my wife and kids. Emergencies are one thing, but no way would I accept it as routine, even if I got paid extra.

> Nobody minds working extra hours as long as they are paid for it.

"As long as they are paid for it" may already be fairyland. A usual clause in employment contracts for developers in Germany goes like "The salary is X per month. Overtime is satisfied by this."

Don't larger companies in Germany usually do flex-time (Gleitzeit) for non-management employees?

So, my boss can require that I work an extra 10 hours this week, but I need to get it back at some point, right?

I know it as "Zeitausgleich". You don't get paid overtime but you accumulate time off. Pretty much like getting additional vacation days. And to be honest, I kind of like this system. I'm happy to work >40h every now and then, but I won't work >40h on average.

They don't?

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