[GD-General] Work hours, was (but has little to do with) Re: Prices of well-known 3D engines

[Enno R. <en...@de...>]

Gareth Lewin wrote:

> Actually, as I understand EU rules ( and I know this based on documentries
> about the Euro and the problems they are having in Germany ) it's illegal
> for you to work more than 37.5 hours a week. That's why the German people
> are calling for "flexibility".

I don't know exactly, but I think that's only true if you've got a union 
contract. Where I work, contracts are for 37.5 hours, but there's overtime 
during crunch periods. This can be either paid or unpaid depending on the 
contract, but there's a limit (200 hours, IIRC) of how much you're allowed 
to work per year.

> But I have to admit I'm pretty ignorant in this area, I do know that talking
> to one of the people from our publisher said that one developer in France
> they work with is (in his vision) a "nightmare cause they work so little
> hours".

I heard the same thing from a publisher. "They come in at 11 and leave at 
3!", but someohwo I find that hard to believe. We've probably talked to the 
same publisher here, and it wasn't Atari :-)

Personally, my productivity per hour gets higher when I go beyond 40 hours a 
week. I like working around 50, because it takes a while to get started each 
day, and in the evening, if there is a lose end, I'd like to tie it rather 
than push it into the next day. Burnout can become a problem if you push 
that. For me, taking a full day off when I feel like it instead of working 
to a strict schedule works much better. So I'd rather work 4x10 hours than 
5x8, but that's not really working out :-)

Enno.