If you let me nitpick, it's not just hours -- intensity too. If you've ever just wanted to sprint through your work, or had a dangerous/exhausting job, clearly time can be a terrible measure of effort and sacrifice. People often approach the same job with different intensity.
Anyway, if you happen to have an alternative in mind, how would you prefer remuneration to work? If it's clearly more fair, just and equitable, I'd like to hear it.
Tayssir