There are few things at play. First there is mounting evidence that working more than 40 hours makes you less productive [1]. So you're not helping and probably hurting things working beyond that. Second, there is a very real revulsion at working on the weekends, especially if there no time shift like working Tues-Sat. Combined this type of effort doesn't scale, which leads to point three. Third, management has a tendency to death march permanently. Since everything requires so many hours, no one has time to stop, reflect and improve processes to reduce that type of effort.

Taken together, many people with a problem solving mind see those involved as wallowing in their own failure. A natural response to such behavior is revulsion.

1 - http://lifehacker.com/working-over-40-hours-a-week-makes-you...

I am surprised you do not find crazy to spend 10h/day + 12 in the weekend at work. It is normal for you or in your zone/country? Here in EU it would be considered madness (and legally in some states you couldn't even do it)

If you do, do the police arrest you (I assume no)? What happens?

Your employer risks some (huge) fines, depending on where you live. Here in France, we have "Work Inspectors" who verify sponteously those rules − they can be called by employees themselves, too.

Of course, if you are self-employed, there is no way that those rules can be enforced… but it will be frowned upon by your relatives, because we know that it is wrong in the long term.

How do work inspectors do it? If they ask people and get told how many hours are worked it could work, but it's not like they could count hours..

(I moved to work in Paris this year, so am rather interested... though I believe my 'cadre' status exempts me from this anyway)

Usually they don't need to count. In general working hours are stipulated in the contract, so if they find someone in the office outside the hours they have stipulated in the contract the managers better have a good explanation.... Then, if they consider the evidence is enough there's an official investigation where they can search for emails/phone call logs/documents that attest that the employees were working or asked to work outside of "working hours" and a trial takes place. In my current workplace there are no such strict rules, but if management finds someone working noticeably more than 40h a week they'll want to know why that person needs more time than the rest to do his job. I guess that's as weird for non Europeans as working >40h a week is for them.

Normally I work 8h/day, 5days/week. Last month I was demanded to work also on a pair of weekends. Man, I still am not totally recovered from the stress...

What's crazy about it is there is a wealth of scientific information that says even shoveling coal you won't be very effective doing that over the long run, let alone an intellectual pursuit

> 50% more time spent working than a standard 40-hour workweek

That's the part that I find crazy.

Well one important financial reason is that the more hours you work, the less money you make per hour, unless you have a huge equity stake. So your effective wage actually decreases if you spend more time at work.

Other reasons are work/life balance, enjoying time to relax, spending time with friends or family, mental health reasons, and things like that.

By that logic you should try to get away with 30 or 35 hours a week (behind your manager's back, if necessary) in order to increase your "effective wage," which actually doesn't get you anything.

The vast majority of salaried employees see no change in quality of life if they work 35, 40, or 45 hours one week to the next. In fact, if you work a lot, one would think you're less likely to go out and spend your money in your limited free time.

The times I've worked 60+ hours a week have always been better for my bank account than the times I've worked 35-40.