The summer break is anything but for Peter Rose who works up to 100 hours a week from Boxing Day until the end of the school holidays.
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As more than 1000 visitors flock to his Lake Eppalock Holiday Park, about 30 kilometres east of Bendigo, Mr Rose has to be available at almost all hours, seven days a week.
The place, he says, becomes like a little town during these times. And it is his job to make sure everyone is looked after.
"You’re a manager, a police officer, and a counsellor as well, making sure people are happy," Mr Rose says. On top of that he is also a shop attendant, cleaner, garbage collector, call taker, handyman and plumber during these busy periods.
Census data shows full-time caravan park and camping ground managers are among the jobs that work the longest hours. The only occupations that work longer hours are miners, deckhands, mining labourers and livestock farmers.
At the time of the last census, there were 6.6 million full-time workers in Australia, and the average number of hours they reported clocking up in a week was 44.5.
That’s six-and-a-half more than what the Fair Work Ombudsman suggests, although they acknowledge some industries typically work longer or irregular hours, or that some roles demand more time at the office.
How many hours a week do people in your job work on average? Type your job into the interactive tool below to find out
Out of 392 occupations, only two averaged about 38 hours of toil per week - library assistants and museum technicians.
Miners recorded the longest hours, spending almost 62 hours on average per week at work.
You can also compare jobs by hourly pay. On this metric anaesthetists come out on top at $78.62 per hour, while taxi drivers fare worst with $14.22 an hour. But because of the way census data is collected, it likely understates the hourly income of those in jobs that earn more than $180,000 a year.
And within any occupation there is bound to be variation in pay rates and hours worked, for some professions unpaid overtime may be common and for self-employed people income may not be proportional to hours worked.
On average caravan park and camping ground managers work about 56 hours per week, but for Mr Rose, this is about the minimum number of hours he puts in during the winter off-peak.
His workday starts at 8.30am when the phone lines open and winds up about 1am after he has finished checking the park to make sure people have settled down.
Throughout the day, five sets of toilet blocks have to be cleaned three times each, there is constantly tidying to do or repairs to be carried out, he operates a takeaway food store on-site, and he has to help a steady stream of guests arrive and depart.
"People come out from Melbourne and don’t rock up until 9pm, sometimes 11pm at night. We get people ringing after 11pm looking for accommodation. Your phone is always going to be on," he says.
Victorian Caravan Parks Association chief executive Elizabeth White says most parks are family-run businesses, and the owners put in as many hours a week as are needed to get the job done.
Mr Rose and his wife Leisa have owned and run the Lake Eppalock Holiday Park for seven years and since taking over the business have added a swimming pool, a playground and a games area to keep guests entertained, as well as extra accommodation so more people can stay there.
They have a house in Geelong, but during the summer peak, the couple can spend two months away from home.
Read more: Jet ski safety danger at Lake Eppalock
Towards the end of these busy times, Mr Rose says it can be difficult to remain cheerful in front of visitors.
"By the time it reaches February I don't want to talk to anybody. I hibernate. I just want to read a book," he says.
But Mr Rose says he likes his work and gets a buzz out of all the activity. "I enjoy seeing other people enjoy themselves. The biggest pleasure is when people are here having a good time and when they leave they have good comments about the park."
The Age
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