[UserIsUnused]

It should always be "I get paid for giving my employee 40h/ week of availability for work". that doesn't necessarily mean code. there's design, meetings, bugs to find, etc.

ofc, short breaks should be in those paid times. And the hour/week is not the same in every country.

But 40/week doesn't have to be every week, just average (as some times there is less work to do, and other times stuff is on fire and must be fixed)

also, that rate has nothing to do with being remote or on-site.

[Joe-Z]

I find an _average_ of 40 hours to be quite extrem also. I've been at a new 40-hour job for 1 1/2 years now, after working 26/30 hours week for the 3 years prior. My impression is that 30 hours a week might be a realistic average to aim for (26 being the ideal amount IMO). It shifts the work-life balance to "I go to work and in the evenings and on weekends I do whatever I like", where 40 hr / week feels more like "life is work and I'm glad if I get one day completely off on the weekends"

EDIT: Maybe I should give some perspective: I'm single and under the impression that people in a relationship have an easier time managing 40hr weeks because they can better distribute the random shit that comes up every week (how people with kids do it though, I have no idea...). Also I'm currently laying in bed sick, due to having had no reasonable work-week for months, because the only thing I get as reward for finishing my projects in time and to the utmost satisfaction of our customers is even more work. /rant off I guess...

[UserIsUnused]

I just said 40h as that is what the law specifies as what is a full time job. Agree that 40h is too much for most knowledge based jobs.