Employee burnout is becoming a huge problem in the American workforce
I've been working professionally in IT for about 6 years now and the concept of 'working too little' has never come up from any of my managers.  I have a strict personal policy of working the exact amount of hours discussed upon hiring, and never responding to calls or email outside of those hours.  For example I worked at a Fortune 50 with a 37.5 hour workweek and always stuck to that.  I even counted the time I spent at lunch.  Issue never raised.<p>I am not saying cases exist where workers are asked to work more than their agreed hours.  I killed myself in kitchens for a $25k salary before switching to tech.  These cases are a problem.<p>My point is that this behavior is often self-imposed.  People seem to feel a sense of importance when they overwork themselves.  Simply stick to the number of hours you've agreed upon and tell your manager to discuss with their supervisor if they bring it up as a disciplinary issue.  This all qualified by being in a position of demand as an engineer.<p>Point is, you'd be surprised with what you can 'get away with.'