Working Too Hard Just Say No

A recent ‘survey’ reckons we are working so hard we are skipping lunch breaks and missing holidays.

It sort of epitomises so much that has gone wrong in Britain over the past two or three decades. British people have allowed themselves to be so very easily manipulated, exploited and ripped-off.

They have embraced rip-off Britain instead of challenging it. House prices are a good example whereby people still bought despite extortionate prices compared to other parts of Europe and then struggling with huge mortgage repayments, when they should have, like Zammo from Grange Hill, just said no.

It shows that we’re a nation of spineless creeps always trying to suck up to the boss and never willing to challenge and stand up for our rights. I’m sure many forego their entitled lunch-hour becuase they’re too spineless to claim it, and it seems the same goes for holidays. What people don’t realise is that by taking this line, they’re making it worse for everyone in the long-term, because management will realise they can manipulate and bully their staff into conceding many of their rights. The culture then becomes exploitative by default because employees have allowed it to become that way.

The opt-out of the 48 hour rule is another aspect of this. Far too many people sign the opt-out when they should just be saying no, I do not want to work more than 48 hours in one week you can pay me a proper wage so that I won’t have to work excessive hours.

A lot of it goes back to the Thatcher era and the erosion of the unions and then workers rights but also the weakness and passiveness of us Brits to challenge anything.

What people don’t realise is that by taking this line, they’re making it worse for everyone in the long-term

Quite. This behaviour has a cumulative toxicity in the workplace, a little like people being prepared to pay over the odds for housing or any other product/service.

When we make concessions to companies, employers, banks or whoever, such as buying a video game with restrictive DRM, or agreeing to work additional unpaid hours, or being willing to pay £200k for a shoddy damp bedsit, we’re not only tacitly approving of that behaviour, we’re actively rewarding it.

It’s like rewarding a dog for peeing on the carpet, or rewarding a child for swearing. Utterly irresponsible.