can I do anything about my unreasonable workloads?

If you are working long hours because you have too much to do, then you have a problem. This is probably the hardest long hours problem to solve.

First try and work out why you have long hours. Is it a temporary problem? Is it permanent? Is it because your managers refuse to employ enough staff to do your job? Is the whole organisation affected? Just your department? Or just you? Is it something that is easy to deal with, such as appointing readily available staff or getting some temporary assistance? Does your manager recognise that it's a problem?

Most 'too much to do' workplaces will lie somewhere along a spectrum between workplaces where people are being exploited by ruthless managers and those where the organisation, or a particular section, has been overwhelmed with work that couldn't have been anticipated or dealt with in some other way.

They will require different approaches. If you are facing simple exploitation then it will be tough, as the only way to make progress will be to take on your manager. Acting together with the support of a union if you have one is the most effective way to do that. You can find an appropriate union on workSMART's union finder. You have some legal rights to take breaks and rest days and not to work more than 48 hours a week on average. You can find out about them here.

If it's not your manager's fault and they are in the same boat then your approach should be different, but it is still ultimately your manager's responsibility to sort out the overwork. Can they get some temporary or permanent extra staff? Can you reorganise the work to do it more efficiently or cut out waste and duplication? Can you postpone less important stuff until it's a bit quieter.

Even if you continue to face a heavy workload, and are prepared to put up with it through loyalty or commitment, then are there other adjustments that could be made? It may be easier for some to cope with extra work if they can work more flexible hours. If you are prepared to put in extra commitment then, your boss should repay that with extra trust (and perhaps some extra cash or holidays) for you to adjust your hours or working style appropriately.

But it may be that you don't have so much a 'too much to do' issue, but more a bad organisation problem. Is everything you do strictly necessary? Are you following antiquated systems for the sake of it? See the next section for tips on how to deal with bad organisation.