Common meaning:

Tasks that take a great deal of effort to complete.

Hidden meaning of the Equity religion: 

An ideal created by the oppressive capitalist system designed to wring the most work possible out of its poor workers.

Discussion:

Equity believes that the ideal of hard work was created by the oppressive capitalist system in order to get the most work possible out of the workers. 

In reality, the concept of doing hard work and taking pride in what you do actually came out of Christianity. It is not a Capitalist creation, although I am sure they were happy to have employees who worked hard and did things well.

The Equityists believe there is no value in hard work because all you’re doing is enriching the capitalist leeches who are taking everything you have and leaving you with practically nothing.

Back in the real world, anything that is worth doing often takes a lot of effort. Working hard is not a problem, but something that we should all aspire to in order to make our lives and the lives of others better.

Hard work is not a capitalist value, but a human one.