[blimp]

IMHO
it very much depends on the company.
a rule of the thumb is that the bigger the company the shorter r the working hours. it also depends on ur status within the company. today many people r not regular employees, but rather contract staff or paid by the hour. these ppl usually don't work that many over-time hours or if they do, they get paid. there r however many exceptions as i am certain that ppl will tell u about.

concerning over-time pay, it is a tricky area. apart for employees where it is stated that they shall work long hours, such as shift system, over-time pay shall be paid, if, and this is important, the company is over a certain size and if the employee is not a manager of any sort. some companies take advantage of the especially the last exception, labelling many as management even though the r clearly not managers. mcdonalds have apparently used this and were recently fined in court.

remeber that the above is only "in principle" and as i said, ppl can probably give u plenty of examples where neither have been adhered to. the biggest problem i see is that the over-time hours r never registered. on the other hand working long hours doesn't necessarily mean that u work hard, i have seen plenty of inefficient workplaces.