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Time is money. Your money. You protect your money, but what about your time? Using the calculator is fairly straightforward. Fill in the fields in the input column and press 'calculate'.
Working longer hours on a fixed salary not only reduces your quality of life, it also lowers your rate of pay. Unpaid overtime can dilute your pay by a significant amount. On the other hand, working less hours than your job specifies - (which I do not advocate) - can potentially increase your rate. Contrary to the stereotype of the Australian slacker, under-work doesn't seem to be a problem these days.
There is increasing pressure on workers to perform 'unpaid overtime'. I find this disturbing. Free work should be free choice, not obligatory, and those who offer their work without compensation should inform themselves about how much they are selling themselves short.
Similarly, I don't believe in grossly overstating your work hours. What you gain in money and time, you lose in credibility. A happy medium between over-work and under-work needs to be struck.
Most jobs now require flexibility, so insisting on fixed hours is futile. There needs to be a bit of give-and take. If overtime cannot be paid, perhaps a 'flexi' system could be used. Working longer than normal hours one week, could mean working less than normal hours the next week.
Don't know what normal working hours are? Thirty-seven and a half hours a week. That's five days with half an hour lunch each day. It's why unions were first organised. It's why May days and Labour days are celebrated. It's what our forefathers fought for during the Industrial Revolution. And it's what unpaid overtime threatens to unravel.
To say that the 40-hour week has no relevance in today's environment is to say that justice has no relevance in today's environment. Sadly, many of us acquiesce to that view.
Tuesday, 18 November 2003