> Don't forget that software engineers in the states tend to be much less productive than their German counterparts, to continue on your example. As a German s

> Don't forget that software engineers in the states tend to be much less productive than their German counterparts, to continue on your example. As a German software engineer I've got to ask: are we? > They're not paid overtime, because they're not paid by the hour. If you're not compensating them for the overtime, then you're taking those hours away somewhere else, i.e. giving them time off. In my contract, which is less than "full time", I get paid for overtime up to 40 hours / week. Eventually anyhow if I didn't compensate the hours somewhere else.