Amidst all the backlash against Rockstar for their comments regarding 100-hour work weeks, a QA tester for Rockstar Games in the UK (Rockstar Lincoln) has taken to Reddit to declare that overtime was never an optional mandate, but rather an expected one. Normally, employees would sign NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) and forgo discussing Rockstar and any projects currently in development on social platforms. In light of the work hour controversy, Rockstar granted permission to employees to speak up on the topic, just as long as the discussion remains about work-hours. The QA tester stresses that he only knows with absolute certainty the hours worked by Lincoln QA, and not by any other Rockstar studio, refusing to speculate about what has been heard regarding their work hours. This is what they had to say: The other big thing is that this overtime is NOT optional, it is expected of us. If we are not able to work overtime on a certain day without a good reason, you have to make it up on another day. This usually means that if you want a full weekend off that you will have to work a double weekend to make up for it.
The second thing that can cause some confusion is how you count the hours. We do not get paid for our lunch or dinner breaks but we are at work for that time. This means that a standard full day is 7.5 hours paid and 8.5 hours actual, with an overtime day being 10 hours paid and 11.5 hours actual.
The final thing to note is how our overtime works. We have to opt i...