11th February 2014

Anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis knows that I often bang on about how people do not value their time enough. Film crews for instance, have been asked to work longer and longer hours for the same rate of pay. And in many cases, for an even lower rate of pay since daily rates have actually dropped slightly since the recession and have not kept up with inflation or the rises in the cost of living.  Meanwhile, the shoot work week is often 72 hours, i.e. 12 hours a day, for six days a week. Also bear in mind that in London, you are adding on 2 hours of commute which results in a 14 hour day. The belief has been that this is sustainable since the production period is relatively short (6-12 weeks). However, as this excellent article by Sara Robinson in Salon shows (Bring Back the 40 Hour Work Week), this increase in hours is detrimental to our health and does not result in greater productivity.  In actual fact, these sorts of hours can really only be sustained for a VERY short time, and by short, that means a couple of weeks, before resulting in sustained losses in productivity and potential long term damage to health and well being.  The sleep deprivation that often occurs as a consequence of such long hours  results in cognitive impairment equivalent to alcoholic intoxication.  Anyway, read the full article HERE.