> It's just not sustainable or healthy to be working 60+ hour weeks and not taking any vacation
This seems to be a huge problem in many fields. I know it's a problem in medicine, and regulation of work hours doesn't appear to be particularly effective. This 2006 article compares the workload of medical students (who are paying to work in order to learn and gain experience) before and one year after work hours regulation:
> Working shifts greater than 30 consecutive hours was reported by 67.4% (95% CI, 64.8%-70.0%)
> Averaged over 4 weeks, 43.0% (95% CI, 40.3%-45.7%) reported working more than 80 hours weekly
> 43.7% (95% CI, 41.0%-46.5%) reported not having 1 day in 7 off work duties
> 29.0% (95% CI, 28.7%-29.7%) of reported work weeks were more than 80 hours per week
> 12.1% (95% CI, 11.8%-12.6%) were 90 or more hours per week
> 3.9% (95% CI, 3.7%-4.2%) were 100 or more hours per week
> reported mean work duration decreased 5.8% from 70.7 (95% CI, 70.5-70.9) hours to 66.6 (95% CI, 66.3-66.9) hours per week (P<.001)
> reported mean sleep duration increased 6.1% (22 minutes) from 5.91 (95% CI, 5.88-5.94) hours to 6.27 (95% CI, 6.23-6.31) hours per night (P<.001)
> reported mean sleep during extended shifts decreased 4.5%, from 2.69 (95% CI, 2.66-2.73) hours to 2.57 (95% CI, 2.52-2.62) hours (P<.001)
This directly contradicts official data published by the accreditation council, which claimed compliance rates were much higher. Apparently, people lie about the hours they worked because they don't want their programs to be shut down:
> residency programs and residents themselves face a direct conflict of interest in acknowledging violations to the ACGME
> because the identities of those reporting violations have not been adequately protected in the past
> Because disclosure of violations to the ACGME could lead to loss of program accreditation, disclosure could threaten residents' own careers
Similar conflicts of interest seem to arise in pretty much every field. Speaking up about violations or taking companies to court appears to harm employees in the long term. The problem is probably much larger than what we're seeing.
This seems to be a huge problem in many fields. I know it's a problem in medicine, and regulation of work hours doesn't appear to be particularly effective. This 2006 article compares the workload of medical students (who are paying to work in order to learn and gain experience) before and one year after work hours regulation:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/203251
> Working shifts greater than 30 consecutive hours was reported by 67.4% (95% CI, 64.8%-70.0%)
> Averaged over 4 weeks, 43.0% (95% CI, 40.3%-45.7%) reported working more than 80 hours weekly
> 43.7% (95% CI, 41.0%-46.5%) reported not having 1 day in 7 off work duties
> 29.0% (95% CI, 28.7%-29.7%) of reported work weeks were more than 80 hours per week
> 12.1% (95% CI, 11.8%-12.6%) were 90 or more hours per week
> 3.9% (95% CI, 3.7%-4.2%) were 100 or more hours per week
> reported mean work duration decreased 5.8% from 70.7 (95% CI, 70.5-70.9) hours to 66.6 (95% CI, 66.3-66.9) hours per week (P<.001)
> reported mean sleep duration increased 6.1% (22 minutes) from 5.91 (95% CI, 5.88-5.94) hours to 6.27 (95% CI, 6.23-6.31) hours per night (P<.001)
> reported mean sleep during extended shifts decreased 4.5%, from 2.69 (95% CI, 2.66-2.73) hours to 2.57 (95% CI, 2.52-2.62) hours (P<.001)
This directly contradicts official data published by the accreditation council, which claimed compliance rates were much higher. Apparently, people lie about the hours they worked because they don't want their programs to be shut down:
> residency programs and residents themselves face a direct conflict of interest in acknowledging violations to the ACGME
> because the identities of those reporting violations have not been adequately protected in the past
> Because disclosure of violations to the ACGME could lead to loss of program accreditation, disclosure could threaten residents' own careers
Similar conflicts of interest seem to arise in pretty much every field. Speaking up about violations or taking companies to court appears to harm employees in the long term. The problem is probably much larger than what we're seeing.