[e12e]

Power over ones life is very important. In Norwegian labour law there's strict limits to work hours and overtime (I believe the TL;DR is: 40 hour week, 4 weeks paid vacation, every other Sunday off, no "non-essential" Sunday work, along with some caveats for seasonal work (eg: ocean fishing) - a baseline of 100 hours of overtime a year per employee, with the option to apply for another 100(?) on a case-by-case basis".

But those do not apply to people that can decide their own hours - managers (that are actually managers, and that can choose when they are present), or people in an "especially free position".

The latter one is a bit woollen, but it generally means consultants that really are free to set their own hours.

While the particulars of what's reasonable hours/off-time etc is debatable (and could use more research), I think the core idea, that working hard for yourself is much less harmful than being forced to work hard. While the hours might be similar, the stress is different when you decide for yourself how to spend your time.

I'd love to see some research on that, though.