We do not often think how our work week might compare to other areas of the world. Taking a look at just college grads, a much higher percent of them plan on working more than 40 hours per week relative to their peers around the world. A couple of items to consider:

If your employees are working more than 40 hours, are they in an exempt or non-exempt status? I know you may have an opinion on this, but it is important to be objective and try to understand how the Wage and Hour Commission of the Department of Labor would view this. This agency continues to target emerging and medium-sized companies for failing to pay their non-exempt employees over-time. You may want to take a look at this in your business.

Also, how productive are the 40+ hours you are getting from your employees. Whether your employees fall into the knowledge-based worker category or some other, you need to understand and own the productivity of your staff. In every business we have seen, the first or second largest expense is labor. You need to know if you are getting your money's worth. If you want to know if you are getting your money's worth out of your labor force please contact a CFO Advisor today.