Workers willing to trade pay for time

TOO many Australians are over-worked and feel rushed "often or almost all the time", a new study funded by three state governments reveals. Based on interviews with 2831 working men and women, it shows people on average want to work 35 hours a week - almost four hours less than the norm. Men would prefer to work 38 hours but almost one in three works 48 hours or more. Three-quarters would be happy to take a pay cut to work fewer hours. Most women want to work 30 hours. Many employees complained of work overload - and 54 per cent agreed they "often had too much work for one person to manage". And over a third of employees said supervisors expected them to put work ahead of personal life. The study, to be released on Tuesday, was funded by the Australian Research Council and the South Australian, West Australian and Victorian... [read full story]