...it's a way of them trying to get you to work 10-hour days, as has been noted previously. In my current (contract) position, it works like this: I work as much as is needed to get the job done. I bill for the first 8 hours. I work "for free" for the next 2 hours. I bill for every hour worked after that. The catch, however, is that I am "on the clock" when I go out to lunch, take a trip to the shitter, call my girlfriend (for reasonably short calls), etc.