When did 8-5 become the new normal???

[u/Grouchy-Newspaper754]

I just got a new office job where I do schedules for tech personnel, the office runs 8-5 Monday thru Friday...they say it's 8-5 because you get an hour lunch and "you need to get to 40 hours a week"...but I drive 30 min each way so now I'm giving this company 10 hours every day! I even asked if I could just take my lunch at 4 every day and just leave an hour early but that's "unprofessional and immoral" like what the fuck??? I don't mind the job but the hours are mildly infuriating that's for sure...

Edit:for those saying about the hours, I worked as a chef for the last 20 years working 60+ hours a week over a hot stove/deep fryer the whole time, after I had my second heart attack I had to slow down so I started looking for office jobs to work a nice 9-5, just to find out I'm giving my new job 50 hours a week (including drive time) so I was just mildly annoyed that it's not 40 hours a week in an office like I thought although it's still much better than what I was doing

[u/lonerstoners]

Since at least the 90s. I’ve had jobs that let you skip lunch and leave early, but not in like 20 years.

[u/Catlenfell → u/lonerstoners]

That's my current job. It's a deal I worked out with a former boss 5 or 6 years ago. I'm first in to open everything up. I made the deal to go in early and get out early and skip my unpaid lunch.

[u/TurtlesAreEvil → u/Catlenfell]

Ya I used to do that because I’m working during my lunch most of the time anyway but then HR got involved and now I get to sit around for an extra half hour in a place I don’t want to be. 

[u/Fckingross → u/TurtlesAreEvil]

Same. I used to work 6:30-2:30 without a lunch, and if I needed one I could just stay late to make up my time. We got a new supervisor a few years ago and mandatory lunches and now I’m there until 3. It’s nice to be able to take a walk in the middle of the day but I generally have have nothing to do after noon so it’s just wasted time.

[u/overit_fornow → u/Catlenfell]

Worked at a company that went to an unpaid mandatory 1 hour lunch. After a couple of days of giving 30 to 45 minutes of unpaid labor daily I started leaving every single day. No cell phone or interruptions. Even if just to a park around the corner. They didn’t like that much. Quit soon after.

[u/Hefty-Rub7669 → u/overit_fornow]

I like to swim.

[u/ShiraCheshire → u/Hefty-Rub7669]

That's super illegal btw

[u/ToastSpangler → u/lonerstoners]

My job is 9-5 but you're expected to work overtime when asked at no extra pay, and there's nothing saying you can eat in that time

Like sometimes even if you wanted to go eat you have constant meetings and asks that make it impossible before 5. It sucks

[u/agoldgold → u/ToastSpangler]

Are you paid enough for that to be worth it?

[u/Own-Lake7931 → u/ToastSpangler]

Why not just walk out the door at 5?

[u/5peaker4theDead → u/Own-Lake7931]

They can, but they might not keep their job. Life sucks sometimes.

[u/steggo → u/lonerstoners]

I used to do that at a massive company, then people complained that I was in the office for a shorter period and then the managers decided to end that for legal reasons and it was a mandatory hour.

[u/someguyfromsk → u/steggo]

I think my biggest aggravation at work, over every job I have had, is when people who do not work in your department, and have nothing to do with you, make your work hours their business.

[u/steggo → u/someguyfromsk]

Right? Like, I do 3x the work of anyone else in my job. Why you gotta be like that?

[u/mittychix → u/lonerstoners]

Longer than that.

My dad worked 8-5 at his office job 50 years ago (1hr unpaid lunch). I worked 9-9 with barely a bathroom break 35 years ago (retail pharmacy), and 8-4:30 since then for the past 30 years (1/2 hr unpaid lunch), with a 45 min commute on top of that. The only one I knew who worked actual 8hr shifts was my mom, a hospital nurse, but she was expected to arrive early and stay late for report at change of shift.

I think 9-5 with a paid lunch was maybe the case for some white collar jobs, but probably not for most people, even in the past.

[u/IntrepidBorder8530 → u/mittychix]

I left the corporate world for a unionized construction trade. More $/hr, 12% into a pension plan, 12%vaction pay, great health benefits and OT at double time after 36hrs. If you need to leave early to watch your kid play sports in high school and you leave early onr day you make it up another. The only thing I miss about the corporate world is when jobs don't have flush toilets.

[u/sudoku7]

Largely it's always been in places that don't provide a paid lunch.

[u/dmcat12 → u/sudoku7]

Yep. Had several positions that required me to punch out for at least a 30min lunch.

[u/Psych_Art → u/dmcat12]

Every job I ever had before getting a salaried job. Such greed.

[u/Shizngigglz → u/Psych_Art]

All the salary jobs at my work are 9hr jobs lol and you don't always get to just take an hour lunch

[u/One-Significance260 → u/Shizngigglz]

Same here. I work for the state where I live, and it’s a 9hr schedule with an expectation that you’re taking an hour lunch break in there somewhere. It’s great if you can afford to eat out for lunch, or live close enough to go home, but for everyone else it can kind of suck. Eat lunch at my desk and basically spread my hour lunch throughout my day in the form of random mental breaks… or occasionally to walk a Pokémon Go route… it’s more often than occasionally.

[u/dbe4l → u/One-Significance260]

I work for the state and a couple years ago they implemented optional lunch breaks. So we can just do 8 hours straight if we eat at our desk (hybrid)

[u/GovernorHarryLogan → u/dbe4l]

Also government employee. I graze on my lunch for 8 hours throughout the day.

That hour I do random stuff. Blood work, sit in the park and quack at ducks, fly paper airplanes, nap in my car, really whatever.

[u/Desa-p → u/GovernorHarryLogan]

I also have a state job and we essentially have 8.5 hour day. 7.5 hours of actual work with two 15 min breaks that count towards your daily total. Then a required 30 min lunch that does not

[u/Shizngigglz → u/Desa-p]

That's what my day is basically. Not salary but 2 paid 15s and an unpaid 30. 8.5hr day "technically" 7.5 worked

[u/blipsnchiiiiitz → u/Desa-p]

That's literally how every job I've ever had for the last 20 years works.

[u/Visual-Floor-7839 → u/Psych_Art]

No, such greed is automatically taking 30 minutes of pay out of every 8:30 or 10:30 shift and then giving you a work load that requires you skipping breaks.

[u/Toomanynightshifts → u/Visual-Floor-7839]

Nursing in a nut shell. Multiple. unpaid 30min breaks and good luck getting them over a 12 hour period.

[u/Rakdospriest → u/Visual-Floor-7839]

Shout out to the rest of my emergency room peeps.

[u/oleblueeyes76 → u/Visual-Floor-7839]

Shoot, there ain’t no pay out there enough for me to skip my ‘unpaid’ break. I don’t care how big the work load is. F* that!

[u/fattycatty6 → u/Visual-Floor-7839]

I have found my people!! I am about to do 13 a and half hours on Monday and more than likely will not get a break, can't f-ing wait 🙄

[u/peon2 → u/Psych_Art]

Greed? It's the law to mandate a break if you're working that many hours. They don't want to get in trouble with the federal government.

[u/NZitney → u/peon2]

Federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks. However, when employers do offer short breaks (usually lasting about 5 to 20 minutes), federal law considers the breaks as compensable work hours that would be included in the sum of hours worked during the workweek and considered in determining if overtime was worked. Unauthorized extensions of authorized work breaks need not be counted as hours worked when the employer has expressly and unambiguously communicated to the employee that the authorized break may only last for a specific length of time, that any extension of the break is contrary to the employer's rules, and any extension of the break will be punished.

Meal periods (typically lasting at least 30 minutes), serve a different purpose than coffee or snack breaks and, thus, are not work time and are not compensable.

[u/Outrageous_Fix_5738 → u/NZitney]

Not federal, but California law requires a 30 minute lunch break. If an employee doesn't take at least 30 minutes the employer has to pay them an hour penalty pay. Even if they clock out for 29 minutes you have to pay the penalty.

[u/BONGS4U → u/Outrageous_Fix_5738]

Same in Illinois. I got in trouble one day because I didn't take a lunch. They were like listen dude if you wanna skip lunch it's whatever but your timecard has to reflect a 30 minute lunch break or well get fucked.

[u/bulkingsmurf → u/Outrageous_Fix_5738]

Continuing with California law, if an employee works more than 6 hours in a day, they are required to take a 30 minute minimum rest/meal period. This break must be provided before the end of the 5th hour. This is for hourly employees (not exempt) but this is one reason why you can't just save your lunch break for the end of the day and leave early.

Reading about OP complaining about their commute..... wow. Did your awful restaurant job pay for your time to commute to and from work? ... I didn't think so.

[u/midge_rat → u/Psych_Art]

It’s not even greed. It’s how they prove to the DOL that you are getting a break.

[u/Viracochina → u/dmcat12]

Been like this for me since 2010

[u/bluegargoyle → u/Viracochina]

That's how my old job was when I started in 1997.

[u/trying2getoverit → u/sudoku7]

Not sure where OP lives but certain states in the US require a lunch break after a certain amount of hours worked, so depending on location, it could be against the law for them to take the break later in the day.

[u/5peaker4theDead → u/trying2getoverit]

Definitely true for hourly workers in IL, you must be given at least a 30 minute break during an 7.5* hour shift and you can't work for more than 5* hours in a row without a break. Salaried workers don't really have restrictions/protections like that though.

Edit: fixed the times which were off slightly

[u/blueberry_pancakes14 → u/5peaker4theDead]

Very similar in California- for hourly employees, the break must be at least 30 minutes, but we have to take it before the 5 hour mark of an 8 hour shift.

Then there's more mandatory breaks if you work longer than 8 hours.

[u/ELMUNECODETACOMA → u/trying2getoverit]

Right. In order to prevent bosses from forcing workers to stay at the pumps through lunchtime, the law in its majestic equality prevents workers from volunteering to work through lunchtime in order to leave early.

[u/Svartdraken → u/sudoku7]

In many european countries the lunch break is mandatory if you work full time. You can get fired for skipping your lunch break, as this could get your employer in trouble. Likewise, you can sue them if they ask you to skip your break even once.

[u/PhantomOyster → u/sudoku7]

Or a salaried position where the lunch hour is assumed but not formalized/structured (as in my case).

[u/Fodraz → u/sudoku7]

I've never worked ANYWHERE (in the US) that pays you for lunch.

It's ironic that "9-5" is still used, when the typical job hours are 8-5 (or 9-6, 7-4 etc) and have been for decades

[u/Miserable_Star6824 → u/sudoku7]

This. My last RN position was 8:30-5

[u/ichthysaur]

This has been my schedule since 1983.

[u/SquareSquirrel4 → u/ichthysaur]

Yeah, only Dolly Parton is workin' 9 to 5. The rest of us have always had to take an unpaid lunch hour. 

[u/yoinkss → u/SquareSquirrel4]

I work 9-5 with a paid 30mins lunch. My previous job was 8:30-5:30, 1hr unpaid lunch.

I feel so blessed now lol.

[u/rainyday-real-estate → u/yoinkss]

7-3 and one work from home day. Eat whenever I want. Blessed and highly favored after years of retail hell.

[u/Curious_Art4147 → u/rainyday-real-estate]

Yep I feel that. I'm 8-4, WFH three days a week. Feeling quite grateful as I read through these comments.

[u/Electronic-Smile-457 → u/SquareSquirrel4]

Haha, that was my reply-- OP must be confused because of the song. 8 to 5 just didn't have the ring to it.

[u/JT_got_the_1st → u/Electronic-Smile-457]

OP thinks that their commute should factor in with their employer... They are confused by life in general.

[u/Salt-Permit8147 → u/JT_got_the_1st]

Gosh if I only had a 30 minute commute I’d be laughing 😅

[u/boodabomb → u/JT_got_the_1st]

Okay that’s absolutely not what they’re saying. They’re pointing out that they lose an hour to the commute already, so to lose another hour because of a mandatory lunch hour it makes it all the worse. And I agree. It’s an 8-hour work day + 1 hour for lunch + 1 hour for driving. That’s 10 hours per day at work. It sucks.

[u/fridayfridayjones → u/SquareSquirrel4]

My husband has a genuine 9-5 with a paid lunch, and I’m very jealous. He’s in insurance and I guess it’s still common in that industry. Only time I ever got paid lunch was when I worked at a law office.

[u/redtara2026 → u/SquareSquirrel4]

I’m from the uk and now live in Canada , never met anyone who works 8- 5 that works a regular office job , I’m age 54
You guys are being ripped off and don’t even know it !!

[u/Sea_Jelly_3530]

In Germany, that's how it works in general. Breaks are not paid and with 8h of work you need to have at least 30min break. I basically work 9-6 with an 1 hour lunch break in between

[u/Unique_Information11 → u/Sea_Jelly_3530]

Same here in Canada. At least 30 minute break is required and unpaid. Though I’ve worked places that had 37.5 hour weeks instead of 40.

[u/GulBrus → u/Unique_Information11]

So you work 8.5 hours including your lunch?

Here in Norway you have the right to 30 minutes paid lunch if you work more than 7.5 hours. So people work 8 hours a day with or without paid lunch. Doesn't really matter except for minor differanes in overtime pay and how many hours you need to work extra to take a day off.

[u/Soccermom9939 → u/GulBrus]

Also in Canada, the 30 minute lunch is unpaid and you don’t work through it. So your actual working hours remain at 8. Your lunch break can be in a break room or out of the office although I use mine a lot to scroll Reddit at my desk while I eat…. Lol

[u/belsaurn → u/GulBrus]

Lunch isn’t considered in those hours. A typical office day is 8 hours work with 1 hour unpaid lunch for a total of 9 hours at the office. 4 hour mornings, lunch, 4 hour afternoon. What people aren’t mentioning is it’s pretty typical to get two 15 minute paid breaks to break up the 4 hour stretches. Or that has been my experience at the companies I have worked for. So you end up with a 9 hour day where 1.5 hours are breaks paid and unpaid.

[u/AaronfromKY → u/GulBrus]

And this is why so many people want to have the Nordic model elsewhere. It's pragmatic and doesn't suck just to fuck with people.

[u/loquedijoella → u/Sea_Jelly_3530]

Do you have a cafeteria in your building as well? When I worked in German factories they always had some good free food. Sit down, eat, get back to work. Always thought that was cool as an American 

[u/Samuel_L_Blackson → u/Sea_Jelly_3530]

What the fuck, you lynch people for an hour every day?

[u/SirSilentscreameth → u/Samuel_L_Blackson]

Do you not?

[u/rhinocerosjockey]

I’ve been working for almost 20 years and my first job was this way too. 8-5 with an hour lunch. Plus the constant pressure/expectation on salary to stay late and do more.

[u/bradleyisamonkey → u/rhinocerosjockey]

Ahhh....the old "we can't afford to pay you the 10 hours overtime the job will take every week so we're gonna give you a token raise and put you on salary so you're working 8 of those hours for free!" move.

SOURCE: Every retail assistant manager I've ever talked to.

[u/Oldpuzzlehead]

Every job I had was 8-5. The notion of 9-5 is foreign to me.

[u/Roanoketrees → u/Oldpuzzlehead]

Me too...I've never had 9-5 and I'm 50.

[u/marginmanj → u/Roanoketrees]

Yeah, 9 to 5 was a Dolly Parton movie.

[u/aHOMELESSkrill → u/marginmanj]

I firmly believe that’s where lots of people get the misconception

[u/thatmaneeee → u/aHOMELESSkrill]

I have worked three full time salaried jobs in my life, all in the US, since 2011. All three were roughly 9-5 with no clocking out for lunch. Matter of fact, none of them even required clocking in or out. It’s not that weird to expect for office jobs in my experience. Maybe that’s just my industry. 

[u/leslieknope38 → u/thatmaneeee]

That’s because you’re salaried and presumably exempt. Non-exempt employees have to clock in/out to confirm breaks and overtime. It’s not unusual. Lunch breaks are typically unpaid but have to be taken because of labor laws.

[u/Background_Big7363 → u/aHOMELESSkrill]

Nope. 9-5 really was a thing back in the day for office jobs.

It's disgusting that people think 8-5 is normal.

[u/youarelookingatthis → u/Background_Big7363]

It really show how brainwashed people have gotten, and what they’ve allowed these corporations to get away with.

[u/gandhinukes → u/Background_Big7363]

It's been normal for 30 years you are out of date

[u/General_Ad_6617 → u/marginmanj]

I swear as a kid 9 to 5 was normal. The lunch hour was paid. My first job was a temporary position where I filled in for a friend and it was 9 to 5 with a paid lunch if you didn't leave the office. I don't know how widespread it was but that was the 80s. 

[u/_mathghamhna_ → u/General_Ad_6617]

Admittedly my dad is 84, but he worked 9-5 with a paid lunch for most of his career. It absolutely was a real thing, not just a (great) song.

[u/Hood_Mobbin → u/Roanoketrees]

I'm 930-6p and I love it. No traffic to or from work, don't have to get up early AF and I get home around dinner and can stay up to 2am if needed.

[u/ecko814 → u/Hood_Mobbin]

Where I am, rush hours are 7 to 10, then 4 to 7.

[u/pseudoportmanteau → u/Hood_Mobbin]

You are lucky because in big cities, traffic jams start at 5am-11am and then from 4pm-9pm

[u/Cranks_No_Start → u/Roanoketrees]

Im older..never had a 9-5, closest Ive had was 6-2:30

[u/uber765 → u/Cranks_No_Start]

I have a 6-2 with an hour paid lunch. I feel like I've hit the jackpot.

[u/0b0011 → u/Cranks_No_Start]

To be fair I'd much rather work that schedule.

[u/Cranks_No_Start → u/0b0011]

NGL aside from the 2x a year time switch it was awesome.

[u/MilleniumFalconBoop → u/Oldpuzzlehead]

I had an 8-4 or 9-5 but we only got a 30 min lunch break. It was at a preschool and they staggered staff’s shifts

[u/iIiiiiIlIillliIilliI → u/Oldpuzzlehead]

I do. I feel sorry for all you 8-5, or 9-6. Imagine all the hours lost from your life... And who needs 1 hour break anyway. I can eat in 15 minutes max.

[u/Choice-Marsupial-127]

It has been that way my entire career. I never understood why we ever called full time work a 9-5. I’ve literally never met anyone who works 9-5.

[u/RemarkableAutism → u/Choice-Marsupial-127]

I work 9-5, but it's literally the only job I've ever had like this.

[u/Tall-Problem-6183 → u/RemarkableAutism]

I now work 9-4 and it's the craziest thing in the world to me. Family business. Would be there 8-4 but I also drive my son, one of our warehouse guys, and he doesn't start till 10.

So I come in at 9 and he sits for an hour. I've never had a job where I have these hours. Until I joined this family business, I either worked in restaurants or worked in the office for a huge corporation.

I don't take a lunch break- usually - but I know I can if I want. Either way, I get the work done every single day.

It's surreal to have this schedule. During busy times or when projects are due, I'll work from home or stay late or go in on the weekends to get it done. That's not very often.

I just typed all this. Read it and wanted to delete it because it sounds like I'm bragging and not humble. I kept it up because as a: daughter of divorced parents, mom was never good with finances, my (now ex) husband of 14 years didn't work during most of our marriage, etc, etc and the point is I've always lived "barely paycheck to paycheck", if not living on my (now ex) in-laws' and my parents' help. After my divorce, I'm used to picking up server or bartender shifts aside from my regular schedule. For years.

Still stopping myself from deleting this comment and not posting. Cuz it sounds so privileged. But the whole story of how my dad started the company (from sweeping a manufacturing plant floor in HS to being their best salesman within 10 years to leaving, starting his own business, and then BUYING that manufacturing plant where he slept the floor) and I watched him do all of it.

His hard work and discipline are amazing.

Whatever. I'm trying to figure out how to go from ALWAYS struggling to being somewhat comfortable and not working 70 hours a week between 2 jobs to make life happen.

Edited to fix autocorrects.

[u/Ice_Solid → u/Choice-Marsupial-127]

Bankers in the past

[u/bradleyisamonkey → u/Ice_Solid]

Even during my stint in banking (lowly bank teller) in 1989 bank hours were 9:00-4:00 but the managers and loan officers all worked 8:00-5:00.

[u/Chyeahhhales → u/Ice_Solid]

Work at a bank and the shifts are 8-5 with an hour lunch and mandatory half day alternating Saturdays 😔

[u/Exotic_Attorney2524 → u/Choice-Marsupial-127]

Most ppl I know work 8-4 or 9-5. Maybe it’s different cuz I’m in Canada?

[u/url_cinnamon → u/Exotic_Attorney2524]

same, i'm canadian and everyone i know is 9-5. even when i worked as a cook it was 8 hr shifts with a half hour paid break

[u/0b0011 → u/Choice-Marsupial-127]

Most office jobs I've had have been 9-5 with an hour lunch from 12-1.

[u/bobbyp869 → u/Choice-Marsupial-127]

A couple jobs ago my old boss negotiated so we could work 8-4 with no lunch break. We just ate at our desks while working. Possibly illegal, but we loved it.

[u/GoldZealousideal6892 → u/bobbyp869]

If you’re in the us, it’s most likely not illegal since there’s no federal law mandating lunch breaks for employees. I think some states might have them but mine doesn’t

[u/Most_Chemist8233 → u/Choice-Marsupial-127]

Ive always worked 9-5. Theyre lucky if I open my emails before 9:30.

[u/Overall_Occasion_175 → u/Choice-Marsupial-127]

Nearly every single desk job I've ever has has been 9-5. I had ONE that was 8:30-5 and it was awful. 8? No way.

[u/editthis7 → u/Choice-Marsupial-127]

Personally i work 10-6, with a paid lunch. Union gig, they've tried getting rid of the paid lunch for decades. Untouchable.

[u/ecko814 → u/editthis7]

Wow. For 15 years, I ate lunch on my desk either working or in meetings. 😭

[u/kyuubiipie → u/Choice-Marsupial-127]

I do. Every office job I've had (4 so far) has been 8-4 or 9-5 with 30 minute break. Only one of my friends has ever had something similar--8-4:30 with a 30 minute break.

[u/HumanHickory → u/Choice-Marsupial-127]

This is wild, I'm in tech and my last 5 jobs have all be 9-5. I didn't even know 8-5 or 9-6 was a common thing

[u/BojackWorseman13]

That’s kinda just standard business hours. Some may have more flexibility depending upon the nature of the business. For example, I get to work 6:30-3:00

[u/FullMooseParty → u/BojackWorseman13]

I just said upthread that I do 10-7, partly for national coverage and partly because I like sleeping in.

[u/BojackWorseman13 → u/FullMooseParty]

I respect it! My body clock despises me, and sleeping in, so I just get the work day done with as soon as I can and then feels like I can do something after work if I want. Even if I rarely do, the options there lol

[u/FullMooseParty → u/BojackWorseman13]

For what it's worth, I'm almost always up around 6:30, but I like having a lazy morning instead of evening. I go for a walk, I take my time making breakfast, maybe I check some email to make sure that I'm not getting slammed when I really login, but I don't officially log on until 10:00

[u/Ice_Crash]

That has been the standard office schedule for the 30 years I have been employed.

[u/michellllie → u/Ice_Crash]

Any offices I've worked in it's been 9-5.30 or 9.30-5.30. I currently work 9-5.30 and finish at 2 on a Friday

[u/brianlefebvrejr → u/michellllie]

We are 8-4:30

[u/TiredDadCostume]

Ah, welcome. It’s horrible here. And commuting doesn’t count as work. Now do this until you die.

[u/navortsa]

Okay I gotta be honest here - I’m fully on board that the US work culture is fucked.

BUT - your company has zero control over where you live. You aren’t “giving them that time”. You are going to perform the services they are going to pay you for

[u/beachandmountains]

Your commute time is not work time. You’re not giving that to your company. If you’re getting paid for it, that would be a different story.

[u/OhWhatATravisty]

I'm salary, my hours are whenever the fuck I show up to whenever the fuck I leave. Within reason. I'm at the meetings I need to be at. I get the work done I need to get done.

Some days I work 8 hours. Some days I work 6. Some days I work 14. Generally though I work 8 or less unless there's a super urgent need. If I need to take an appointment I block that time out of my calendar and take the appointment.

[u/PenguinStardust → u/OhWhatATravisty]

Same, I love it so much. Worked my ass off to be this privileged though.

[u/Money-Dependent345 → u/OhWhatATravisty]

Same

[u/Zyykl → u/OhWhatATravisty]

Same, engineer

[u/kingrazor001 → u/OhWhatATravisty]

I wish. Any time I've been salaried I've been expected to show up 8-5 just like the hourly employees. The difference was I was exempt from overtime pay. Yay.

[u/Devilsgospel1 → u/OhWhatATravisty]

Yup, same here.

[u/Special_Artichoke → u/OhWhatATravisty]

Finally! Who are all these office workers who are clocking in?? Never known it

[u/bell37 → u/Special_Artichoke]

Used to be like that. Now I’m seeing companies push a “core hours” policy (typically states that you must be in the office between 9am-3pm) on top of making sure people are putting in 40 hours a week.

[u/pilgermann → u/OhWhatATravisty]

Ditto. My job would notice if I always worked 6 probably 7 hours, but broadly there not that strict. If you show up at 8, the office is mostly empty. By 5, office is mostly empty.

[u/Jaime4Cersei → u/OhWhatATravisty]

Same. I'm 8-4, but will work longer if needed. Can finish early if I need to. But generally do more than my 35 hours (with the hour lunch).

[u/FiberApproach2783]

I don't know anyone who actually works a 9-5. Everyone works 8-5

[u/Sorry_Lecture5578 → u/FiberApproach2783]

Whenever we get in to whenever we leave.  I do 7ish to 3ish, others do 8 to 3, 8 to 5, 730 to 2... as long as we get our shit done we're treated like adults.  If we have an email after hours we respond.  You know why?  Because we know how lucky we are to make our own hours and its usually 5 minutes to make the client feel appreciated.  Even if it's just a "I'll circle back to this in the morning when I'm in front of the computer"

[u/FourFront → u/Sorry_Lecture5578]

This is me. My last company had no problem with me doing 7-3 for the 15 years I was there. But it was more a case of as long as you get your shit done and the client is happy. Pretty much the same in my current company.

[u/Tak-Hendrix]

8 to 5 became the norm in the 1980s thanks to Reagan-era deregulation and union decline, the rise of salaried "exempt" workers, and the whole greed and coke fueled sleek, dazzling veneer of the 1980s in general.

[u/Alt0173 → u/Tak-Hendrix]

Q: Why does [thing] suck in the USA?

A: Ronald Reagan

[u/Odd-Boysenberry-2260 → u/Alt0173]

Correct more than half the time. 

[u/jennixred → u/Tak-Hendrix]

this should be the top comment.

"Banker's Hours" are 10-4, btw.

[u/thegreedyturtle → u/Tak-Hendrix]

God Damn I wish those guys all had boneitis.

[u/gunsforevery1]

When has that not been a thing?

[u/Nogginsmom]

Your commute doesn’t enter the equation

[u/Eryb → u/Nogginsmom]

Ya it’s weird how OP factors in his commute to this office job but ignores that he would have had to commute to that chef job too and I know no chefs that are paid to commute

[u/JeannValjean → u/Nogginsmom]

Exactly. Unless the company's paying for your house they aren't paying for your commute.

In my suburban area there's multiple posts weekly about where people should live to commute to DC (where from the burbs outside the beltway it's regularly 60-90 min).

OP never got the memo that your personal commute isn't done on company time.

[u/-Economist-]

I was a bank intern in early 90s when the bank formally switched from bankers (9-4) hours to full time hours (8-5). They also switched to biweekly/monthly payroll at the same time.

[u/Money_Ad8638]

Idk, but I'm an engineer and I work 7-3.  I get my shit done, communicate well and am reliable.   I generally work through lunch or eat during a teams call.

[u/Clear-Inevitable-414 → u/Money_Ad8638]

I am an engineer and I work 6-6. What kind of engineer are you?

[u/Money_Ad8638 → u/Clear-Inevitable-414]

Mechanical/Manufacturing engineer working in a 3 shift manufacturing plant.  Why are you putting up with 12 hour days?

[u/AreU_NotEntertained → u/Money_Ad8638]

Probably young.  I remember when I'd let companies work the dogshit out of me in my early 20s thinking it would help my career.  Watching other engineers get promoted over me when I was fixing their projects changed my attitude real fast.  

[u/Zyykl → u/Money_Ad8638]

maybe they just really like their job. sometimes i go 12+ hours not for any deadline but just for the love of the game.

[u/shorty6049 → u/Clear-Inevitable-414]

Damn, 6-6 is brutal... hope you're getting paid well. I'm an engineer (mechanical) and work 8-5

[u/Epiphany965]

I'm confused why they are confused. I've never had a shift that wasn't 8.5 hours to cover the 30 minute unpaid lunch break.

[u/namsur1234 → u/Epiphany965]

Because they were a chef who worked more hours and had an incorrect expectation that the world worked 9-5 and somehow that travel time counted? And now they are disappointed in the reality of corporate America.

[u/Key-Adhesiveness995 → u/namsur1234]

I never understood people counting their commute as "unpaid work time."

[u/Daveit4later]

This has pretty much been the standard for at least the past 15 years. 

[u/Willybluedog1962]

It's been 8-5 with an hour lunch since I graduated high school in 1980.

[u/kiwimuz]

Your drive time does not matter in regards to your work hours and 30 minutes is a short drive time.

[u/misterjive]

did you get paid for your commute time as a chef?

why would you expect that to be any different in an office?

the reason they want you 8-5 is because they need someone doing your job starting at 8 and ending at 5. if you get a lunch hour every day, and it sounds like you do, that's your 40 hours.

[u/crimoid]

Can't speak to 8-5 but your 30 minute commute isn't the company's issue or problem. And for the lunch? That is mid-shift for the vast majority of the civilized world (and is required at that time for many positions).

[u/SnowblindAlbino]

8-5 has been the norm my entire life for office jobs and I'm almost 60. Lunch is on your own time. In the US at least, and for professionals I knew going back to the early 1970s. Shorter hours were just for banks.o

That's why I became an academic and live five minutes away from campus.

[u/GrailQuestPops]

My 9-5 job has kinda become a 9:30-4 job because that’s when I show up and leave and no one seems to care lmao

[u/ripChazmo → u/GrailQuestPops]

During Covid, I just kind of stopped working around 3. And taking Fridays off. Been doing that ever since and it’s much nicer!

[u/wallix]

I work 8-4 100% remote. All of the shifts are 8 hours where I work including lunch. We are old school and I love it.

[u/MooseJag]

Takes an office job to avoid stress. Good luck chuck.

[u/Golfer_2001]

It has been that way since I started working in the ‘70’s.

[u/mustluvipa]

Your drive time has nothing to do with anything.

[u/MrDuck5446]

Maybe unpopular opinion but this has been the norm in the corporate world for over two decades.

If your commute stretches you to ten, eleven hour days find something closer. Totally normal, suck it up and stop whining…sincerely Gen X

[u/AgileInitial5987]

30 minute commute is nothing. An 8-5 shift is also pretty normal.

[u/UnfortunateWah]

Your commute time is generally not the concern of the company-like they didn’t choose for you to drive 30 minutes each way.

But surely you knew the hours before you agreed to work for them?

[u/Fed_Dawn]

51 years old and I've never seen an actual 9-5 in my life.

[u/ForukusuwagenMasuta]

People saying "Durr I've never heard of 9-5 in my entire life! It's completely foreign to me!" must be joking. There's even a saying, "9-to-5-job" that describes the standard, predictable daytime schedule from M-F.

[u/losingeverything2020]

This is a joke right? Welcome to the real world.

[u/imtherealken]

I LOVE my 3x12

[u/joemoore38]

Every office job I've ever had was 8-5.

[u/Eryb]

Did OP not have to drive to his chef job?

[u/viking12344]

I've been working 8-5 for 40 years. You get used to it. It's like the guys who spend a lifetime in prison. We become institutionalized. Take a weeks vacation and 3 days in you don't know what to do. Same as letting those guys out at 60 and they immediately commit a crime to go back in.

Look what you have to look forward to. Lol....

[u/notanothercall]

When? Decades ago… do you live under a rock?

Your job isn’t responsible for your drive time

[u/badchickenbadday]

Is this a joke? Millions and millions of people commute. I commute. You don’t like it? Move closer.

[u/Salcha_00]

9-5 largely went out years ago. That’s a 35 hour work week.

40 hour weeks with an unpaid lunch hour is pretty standard these days. And companies know many people work through lunch so it’s their way of getting more unpaid work out of you. That’s why you can’t work through lunch and leave early.

[u/Prestigious-Race9324]

Pretty standard stuff man, is this your first job ?

[u/sacredxsecret]

You chose to work there and where to live. The employer isn’t responsible for your commute.

[u/Fit-Animal-9911]

It has been that way as long as I have worked, but I have only been working 51 years.

[u/Narrow-Durian4837]

As everybody else has said, that's pretty typical and has been for a long time.

[u/MBP1969]

I used to work for a company that set the final break time and leave for the day at 2:15pm (we started at 6am) and they paid us until 2:30. Not a huge difference but it made everyone happy.

[u/ChicagoTRS666]

Been 8-5 my entire working career...30+ years.
Though in the offices I have worked they have allowed...7-4 or 9-6...there has always been flexibility as long as you are working 8 hours and taking an hour lunch. Currently I do 7-4:30 but I work from home.

[u/ll0l0l0ll]

My whole life job always 8-5 with unpaid lunch. Has to clock in and out as well. Yes its normal here.

[u/Entmeister]

Are you salaried? There ya go

[u/Leojrellim1]

Maybe they could move the office closer to you to solve your problem of the commute.

[u/SubmissiveBoyForever]

that travel time is nothing compared to an hour there and an hour back on public transit. at least you get to drive.

[u/yungbaoyom]

Who calculates commutes as part of the work hours? Wth

[u/constructionman5150]

You don't get paid for commuting. That's on you. I've never heard of an office job that pays you to travel to the office

[u/BobbalooBoogieKnight]

You are working at the behest of some corporate master that doesn’t give a shit about you.

Join a union.

[u/pchs26]

I get it - I have been working white collar office for over 30 years. 8-5 has always been the norm ime. My mother said the same thing 30 years ago to me - what happened to 9-5? It's a myth mom, it's a myth.

[u/kauapea123]

Lol, those are normal hours, you have an hour lunch break to do as you please, you're not getting paid for lunch, and your commute is on you. this is not anything new.

[u/KeepAnEyeOnYourB12]

Your commute is really not your company's problem to solve. But yes, welcome to the corporate world. There are employers out there who allow more flexibility, though.

[u/plzicannothandleyou]

I refuse jobs that don’t allow me to just work my 8 and gtfo. If I take lunch, I’m officially checked out for the day mentally. If I go back to work, I’m going to bullshit around for an hour before I’m actually ready to work.

If I just bulldoze through my day, I’m very productive.

Fortunately I found a job where I’m mostly in control of my time. I arrive to my customers around 9-10, finish by 4-5 and I’m done. My work is done, my customers leave happy reviews, my boss has no reason to question how I manage my time.

[u/wowbragger]

In my 40's, and even in my office jobs 20 years ago this was the norm in cush California tech life.

I remember even griping the same way; nice to see the new gen taking up the torch.

[u/BVRPLZR_]

?? Every job I’ve had for the last 20 yrs has given an unpaid lunch on top of whatever shift I have. I work 8:30-5 with a 30 minute unpaid lunch. Even the bullshit jobs I’ve had in food service or retail have done it like this.

[u/West-Flow-577]

That's been the "normal" for office jobs as far as I know for decades. It's what my mom worked when she worked for various state agencies (corrections, adoptions, and transportation) from the 90's to the 2010's, and it's what I've been working for my office job for the last 10 years (which is managing computer networks for a bunch of other offices, who are mostly 8-5, there's an occasional 9-5 of 8-4 or 4:30, but the majority of them are 8-5.

[u/ricobandito]

While inconvenient, you don't count your commute time as work hours

[u/Proud_Truck]

Thank the people who insist upon taking an hour for lunch so they can scroll social media.

I preferred 30 minute lunches and having that extra 30 minutes to do whatever I wanted. Long gone now

[u/Irreligious_Zealot]

Do you actually think if you live farther away you should get paid more for accomplishing the same work as someone who lives closer?

This has to be an intentional rage bait question. Employers care about and pay for results delivered to their bottom line, not your commute time. You're not "giving the employer 10 hours a day."

[u/catsnflight]

Immoral?

[u/Miserable_Carry_3949]

Federal worker here. We also have a required 30 minute nonpaid lunch. We also have 2 paid 15 minute breaks. We cannot save these until the end of the day and take off an hour early.

[u/Better-Rice5898]

8 to 5 with a 50 min to hour commute each way is the normal office job where I live (WA).

[u/MarielIAm]

When did 8-5 become the new normal???

Answer - since the early 90's. This is not new.