英语课程计划-Work Your Proper Hours Day

Work Your Proper Hours Day is usually around February 22. It was started in 2005 by Britain’s organization of labour unions the Trade Union Congress¹ (TUC). This is the day when a worker decides he or she has had enough of doing unpaid² overtime³. They decide that from Work Your Proper Hours Day, they will completely stop doing unpaid overtime and start using the time for themselves. The TUC website has a quiz so you can decide if you are working too many extra hours for no pay. It asks you if everyone you work with is also doing extra hours and whether you seem to get busier and busier every year. It also asks if you are worried that if you go home on time, your boss will think you’re slacking⁴.

The TUC says nearly five million people in Britain do unpaid overtime on a regular basis. If they got paid for this, the average employee would earn an extra ￡4,955 (around $10,000) a year. Working too long each day is bad for us. It causes stress, messes up our social life and relationships, and can have negative effects on family life. It is also bad for business if staff are worn out. There are signs that campaigns against overworking are beginning to make a difference. Within the past five years, fewer people are doing unpaid overtime and the average amount of time has gone down by 24 minutes a week. Take the TUC’s advice – take a proper lunch break and go home on time.

1 Congress   

n.(代表)大会；(C-:美国等国的)国会，议会

参考例句：

• There were some days to wait before the Congress.大会的召开还有几天时间。
• After 18 years in Congress,he intented to return to private life.在国会供职18年后，他打算告老还乡。

2 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

3 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

4 slacking   

偷懒( slack的现在分词 )； 减速； 放松

参考例句：

• The instructors were slacking on the job. 教员们对工作松松垮垮。
• He had never let a foreman see him slacking. 他从未在哪个工头面前表现出丝毫懈怠。