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Being on Call

tyler.kim

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Re: Being on Call

#51

Post by Natfan »

gambiting wrote: post #40
antihero wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what hellish sort of company is 9AM "late"?

I sometimes wonder where the hell most HNers work where 9am is not considered late start. At a warehouse I worked at the shift was 6am to 2pm. And it was great that way as you avoided most of the summer heat. The software company where I work now, 8am is standard, that way you're nicely done at 4pm and have the entire evening to yourself. My wife is also a programmer and usually starts at 7:30am because that's their…

In the UK I'm 9am to 5pm, however my contract allows for unpaid overtime. Usually management are pretty good with this though, and give some unofficial time off in lieu if I have to work OT.

Re: Being on Call

#53

Post by rorykoehler »

gambiting wrote: post #40
antihero wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what hellish sort of company is 9AM "late"?

I sometimes wonder where the hell most HNers work where 9am is not considered late start. At a warehouse I worked at the shift was 6am to 2pm. And it was great that way as you avoided most of the summer heat. The software company where I work now, 8am is standard, that way you're nicely done at 4pm and have the entire evening to yourself. My wife is also a programmer and usually starts at 7:30am because that's their…

In Berlin the normal start time is 10am

Re: Being on Call

#54

Post by thebackup »

8fingerlouie wrote: post #50
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious, in which country is 36hours/week standard? Or is it just your company?

I think most of Europe has a 37 hour/week work schedule, and because "we're better" we have 36 hour/week. At least some of mainland Europe: Germany, France, Scandinavia, and IIRC the UK.

I’m in Sweden, so Scandinavia. Every company I know has 40h work weeks. Lunch break is not included so if you start working at 8, take a 1 hour lunch break around 12, then you can log off at 17.

Re: Being on Call

#55

Post by goatinaboat »

solatic wrote: post #34
yuliyp wrote: post #5

What is the point of such a crazy schedule? If someone has to do a double-graveyard shift and is basically useless the rest of the week, why not just split that shift into two so you don't destroy all of the people who try to cover such shifts. People can generally work 4-12 without much trouble or needing to recover after it other than weekends. Doing 12-8 might be an every other night kind of thing. Having a couple…

It's like that quote about how the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent - the organization can stay dysfunctional longer than you can stay sane. For any truly big system, inertia is a more powerful force than you think. The isn't a strategic or tactical purpose that makes this kind of situation an intentional or desired outcome. Any sufficiently large organization, and this especially holds tru…

If you're looking for logic then you don't understand how these organizations work

The logic is that everyone must be replaceable on a moments notice because they might be shot and someone else will need to pick up that job. Having roles that you need to be intimately familiar with in order to be effective is the exact opposite of what the military needs. If a job can be done by someone with minimal training while desperately sleep-deprived then that is perfect for their needs.

Re: Being on Call

#56

Post by darkwater »

8fingerlouie wrote: post #50
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious, in which country is 36hours/week standard? Or is it just your company?

I think most of Europe has a 37 hour/week work schedule, and because "we're better" we have 36 hour/week. At least some of mainland Europe: Germany, France, Scandinavia, and IIRC the UK.

AFAIK only France has a 35hrs week (7h/day), most of the other countries has 40hrs week.

Re: Being on Call

#57

Post by gambiting »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #46
8fingerlouie wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mandatory hours for most employees is "9am to 3pm". Opening hours for our customers is 10am to 4pm. Everybody is employed at 36 hours /week. Most people get in between 7am and 8am, and leave between 3pm and 4pm.

Just curious, in which country is 36hours/week standard? Or is it just your company?

Here in UK 37.5h is standard. 8 hour days with mandatory 30 minutes for lunch.

Re: Being on Call

#58

Post by gambiting »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #45
antihero wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what hellish sort of company is 9AM "late"?

When I worked in Austria and Germany, most employees started between 6:00 and 8:00 AM at the latest. Although there was nothing against coming in after 9:00 AM due to flex-time, it would guarantee you'd miss all the morning coffee chit-chat with internal company gossip and by the time you'd leave work and head to the city, the shops would already be close to closing.

Yeah that's the other thing. A lot of shops and agencies close at 5pm, so if your come in to work at 10am and work until 6pm? Everything is closed once you leave, good luck getting anything done after work.

Re: Being on Call

#59

Post by 8fingerlouie »

thebackup wrote: post #54
8fingerlouie wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most of Europe has a 37 hour/week work schedule, and because "we're better" we have 36 hour/week. At least some of mainland Europe: Germany, France, Scandinavia, and IIRC the UK.

I’m in Sweden, so Scandinavia. Every company I know has 40h work weeks. Lunch break is not included so if you start working at 8, take a 1 hour lunch break around 12, then you can log off at 17.

The normal (office) working hours here are 37.5 hours per week, excluding lunch break, which is usually 30 minutes. That breaks down to 7.5 hours of work + 30 minutes of lunch break, meaning you get in at 8am and leave at 4pm.

Re: Being on Call

#60

Post by bipson »

I don't understand the article on many levels... Is it supposed to be hyperbole?

- Flatulence is not "you rotting from the inside"

- I have friends that have (had) night-shifts back-to-back to a regular shift, and were on-call for for several nights a month. They never failed to answer the phone. They worked as the on-call doctor for a whole station in a clinic, not answering or not listening would have been disastrous! They admitted to be "zombies" but they were functional.

I'm not saying that this doesn't sound like hell, and I seriously am glad I never accepted a job with on-call duties, but this form of hyperbole rubs me the wrong way.

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