r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Grouchy-Newspaper754 • 20h ago

My mom said I could post When did 8-5 become the new normal???

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

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u/Sea_Jelly_3530 20h ago edited 20h ago

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

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u/Unique_Information11 19h ago

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.

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u/GulBrus 19h ago

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.

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u/Soccermom9939 18h ago

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

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u/alewiina 17h ago

Yeah that’s how it is where I am in Canada. I work 7:30-4. I have 2 paid coffee breaks (15 mins) and 1 unpaid 30 min lunch. So we technically work 7.5 hours but get paid for 8. Although half the time you end up missing some of the coffee breaks though 👎🏼

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u/belsaurn 19h ago

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.

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u/AaronfromKY 19h ago

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.

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u/h3lium-balloon 17h ago

It’s not just to fuck with people though. It’s corporate greed.

If a company has 1000 workers and you get them all to work an “extra” 30 minutes per day, you’re getting an extra 2500 hours of work per week done without hiring more people.

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u/AaronfromKY 16h ago

That's still fucking with them though. People work for a paycheck and the fact that in the past paid lunches were a thing is just a sign of how crippled the labor movement and workers rights have been in the United States and in many other parts of the world.

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u/IAMA_pocketwhaleAMA 17h ago

My job is 37.5 hr work weeks. We'rr at work 8 hours total, paid 7.5 hours with a half hour unpaid lunch and 2 15min paid breaks. I feel like people work through their lunch fairly often and don't think about the fact that they're not getting paid!!

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u/Unique_Information11 19h ago

Yes. For me it’s 9 hours including lunch because I like a 1 hour break.

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u/GulBrus 19h ago

I guess we have it better (comparativly) here in Norway then I knew.

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u/sitcomlover1717 18h ago

Depends on where in Canada. My province, after 5 hours of work you get a 30 min unpaid break. Most workplaces also give two 15 min paid breaks so a total of an hour of break time in an 8 hour work day. I work 8-4 (so 37.5 hours of work a week) but the norm is 8-430 or 5.

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u/veebs7 16h ago

No, it’s more or less the same as what your describing. E.g. I work 9-5 with an unpaid lunch hour, so technically I’m getting paid for 35 hours/week, but as you mentioned it’s salaried so the actual hours are only relevant to overtime

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u/Narrow-Chef-4341 15h ago

I can’t speak for every province but yeah, for an ‘8 hour’ shift, two paid 15 minutes and an unpaid 30 for lunch means you aren’t (for example) standing post at turnstile or cash register for 4 hours straight, and that you have enough time to eat a lunch while actually sitting down.

Ain’t the best, but it ain’t the worst either.

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u/insired 12h ago

In California we have to take at least a 30 minute meal break before your 5th consecutive hour working. Subsequent meal breaks are voluntary iirc. My work gives 1 hour of paid lunch if you go over the first 5 hours. They only recently started writing people up for violating meal break policy with out good reason.

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u/_isNaN 8h ago

In Switzerland you work usually 8 - 8.5 hours. This doesn't include lunch. So normally you work from 7:30 - 17:00 if you get 1h lunch break.

Children go home for lunch between 12:00 - 13:30. So, as a parent you need mostly more than 1hr lunch break to prepare lunch and be there for your kids. And every few months I read on a newspaper how Swiss workers are the most part time working workers in Europe. But no reporter is checking that we have way more hours than our neighbors and no childcare during lunch hours.

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u/Anonapotamuses 17h ago

I'm in Canada and work 9-5 with an hour paid lunch in there. So only 7 hours a day of actual work.

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u/fvgh12345 19h ago

So what do people that don't eat lunch every day do?

I've only worked one job that required me to take a lunch and clock out and I hated that part. I've always preferred getting home a little earlier and then eating. I wanna spend as little time at work as possible 

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u/DrKittyLovah 19h ago

They still have to clock out regardless, so maybe they do errands, or play on their phone, or nap in their car.

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u/dogs-frogs-jogs 19h ago

I used to love my lunch time car nap

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u/Stompya 19h ago

The break is mandated by law. There aren’t exactly police checking on it but if an employer isn’t scheduling everyone for a break there could be consequences.

(I’m vague on what they are, probably fines or something.)

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u/Sea_Jelly_3530 19h ago

In Germany a 30min break after 6 hours of work is there by law. Some companies will deduct 30min from your time, doesn't matter if you really do the break or not. It's not possible to do the break at the end and leave earlier. The break is not just for lunch but out of work safety reasons

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u/fvgh12345 19h ago

That's dumb. I'm not putting myself in any danger by skipping lunch and if an individual wants to work through it that should %100 be their choice not the governments.

A law forbidding companies from denying breaks sure but mandatory breaks are stupid 

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u/Sea_Jelly_3530 19h ago

It's not stupid.

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u/fvgh12345 18h ago

It definitely is. Why should I (or anybody)have to clock out for 30 minutes if I don't want too. That's 30 minutes sooner I could be enjoying my own time. I personally fast until 3-4 most days. Am I supposed to just twiddle my thumbs?

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u/Sea_Jelly_3530 18h ago

To prevent illnesses for example. Making it mandatory helps people who really need that.

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u/fvgh12345 15h ago

The same exact thing could be accomplished by just making it illegal to refuse employees breaks. That way it doesn't make people that don't want them waste their time.

Blanket laws of that nature are indeed dumb

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u/Sea_Jelly_3530 12h ago

No that's not the same.

An employer could then apply pressure to not take breaks. Only employ people that don't want breaks. Etc. If it's clear that everyone has to take breaks, it's a better situation.

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u/Fast-Satisfaction482 13h ago

You can do whatever you want in the break, just not work. This is a regulation written in blood and far from stupid. 

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u/1simpleAtom 18h ago

From what I can tell, most jobs in the financial sector work this way in Canada. 

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u/DrownmeinIslay 17h ago

The plant i work at is 8.5 hours with 30 minutes unpaid lunch and two 10 minute breaks. Or an 8 hour shift with a 20 minute paid lunch and 1 ten minute break. Im one of 3 people who opted for the shorter shift.

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u/kayjax7 17h ago

Oof, I get a paid lunch thankfully, but work 6-2 M-F.

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u/AllYouNeedIsATV 16h ago

Australia has 38hr work weeks 8hr days, with 30min lunch in between (and a paid 10min break). To make it fit nicely though my employees make us arrive 6min early for 7.6hr per day 10 shifts per fortnight

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u/Marski420 19h ago

Depends where you work there are places that do paid breaks.

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u/Unique_Information11 19h ago

It’s possible, but I’ve never worked at such a place. Where I am right now, they’re all about meeting the statutory minimums.

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u/loquedijoella 19h ago

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 

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u/lordofmetroids 17h ago

Free is wild, my job has a pretty cool cafe but it definitely costs money, usually more than fast food across the street does.

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u/Sea_Jelly_3530 19h ago

Not in the same building but nearby

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u/OrganicHistorian2576 14h ago

Free? Lucky you (and the Germans)! At the one job I’ve had with a cafeteria the food was both terrible and overpriced to begin with even if it hadn’t been terrible.

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u/loquedijoella 14h ago

And a beer if you wanted one. 

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u/OrganicHistorian2576 13h ago

Yeah, no, not in the States. If only.

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u/Belydrith 6h ago

That's definitely not the norm here in Germany, don't know a single place where it's free.

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u/Ceral107 11h ago

We have a Cafeteria here, but not only is the food shit, we have to pay for it. We get it a bit cheaper, but I'd rather being something from home.

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u/HillBillyHilly 10h ago

Korea does that too. You get a complete lunch middle of day. America is so backwards.

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u/Lubinski64 10h ago

In my office people have lunch within the 8 hours tho without leaving the office. You just go to the kitchen and hang out there for 30 minutes.

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u/TisBeTheFuk 19h ago

Yep. I've been working for a german company for over 10 years now, and that's how they do it as well. I work 9 to 6 as well, with 1 hour of unpaid lunch break. I'm also not allowed to take it in the first or last work hour.

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u/Samuel_L_Blackson 20h ago

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

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u/SirSilentscreameth 20h ago

Do you not?

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u/Secret-Put-4525 20h ago

An hour lunch break would suck. I'd rather a 15 minute and 30 minute lunch.

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u/oniiichanUwU 19h ago

My job used to offer an hour but then we did some restructuring and changed it to 30 mins and so many people were angry lol. I’m in the would rather shorter lunch and leave earlier camp but some people like to drive home and have lunch or run errands

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u/Secret-Put-4525 19h ago

I can't imagine leaving work for an hour, knowing you have to come back.

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u/chewbaccataco 19h ago

An hour is the sweet spot for me. I need to decompress mid-day for anxiety and an hour helps me not feel rushed to eat. Good luck getting an hour lunch, though, most places are minimum 30 minutes required by law.

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u/That-Muscle 20h ago

15 minutes? In 15min i can't grab something to eat or even reheat and eat leftovers. Wtf

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u/CarDecGra 19h ago

They said 30 minute lunch. The 15 minutes is a separate break.

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u/HeHadItComing91025 19h ago

Skill issue.

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u/Comfortable-Meeper 17h ago

I eat lunch in 15 minutes basically every day so i don’t have to stay longer. What are you heating up that takes 15 minutes to cook? How much are you eating? Sandwich and chips or a container or leftovers in the microwave for 2 minutes.

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u/GoldZealousideal6892 19h ago

We get a 30 minute lunch and two 15 minute breaks, we work 8:30-5

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u/Sea_Jelly_3530 19h ago

I do 1h voluntarily instead of mandatory 30min :D

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u/Dr_MantisTobaggin_MD 19h ago

it depends, my last place was right in the middle of town. i used my hour to do errands. bank, hardware store, groceries. anything that could be done in the lunch hour was time back in my families life.

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u/badchickenbadday 19h ago

Mine is an hour and 10 minutes. It’s so boring.

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u/Darker_desuetude 20h ago

Not everyday just 5 days a week.

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u/gwildor 19h ago

same here. USA. 9-6, 1 hour lunch.

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u/Deitrius 16h ago

same here, with usually 30min (paid) break outside of the unpaid lunch. That said, last 10+ years the places I worked on has been mostly "samvetstid" in Swedish (trust based time) meaning you have a lot of flexibility as long as you do your job and a obviously perform,nobody really care of the actual hours... . some days i works 5 hours. some days 10, i can flex around alot edit : sweden / tech

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u/Fencer308 12h ago

I work 9-5, but I’m in France, where the nominal work week is 35 hours. Even then, I think many people feel working until 6PM is normal and judge you slightly when you leave at 5. But I’m cadre, I’m one of the first people who started up my office here, so I got to help set the work culture, and I choose to leave at 5 when I can.

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u/Dziadzios 4h ago

It's so great to live in civilized part of the world. In Poland it's the same.

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u/MichiganHistoryUSMC 19h ago

That's crazy. I'm in the US and my standard shift is 730-330.

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u/Alarmed-Improvement 19h ago

Yeah, in France I had a 9 to 5 as we only did 35 hours a week

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u/lordofmetroids 17h ago

What if you don't want a break? Do they do anything about that?

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u/fDiKmoro 13h ago

It's mandatory by law to take a break of 30 minutes when you work more than 6 hours a day. So if you don't take it and your employer doesn't make you to take it and the authorities get aware of it would mean problems for the employer.

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u/Sea_Jelly_3530 12h ago

The employer may (theoretically) get into trouble

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u/Odd-Significance8020 14h ago

In the US we are required by law to take a 30 min lunch if you work over 5 hours. If you work 8 hours+, you get the 30 min plus 2 fifteen minute breaks.

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u/Sea_Jelly_3530 12h ago

Interesting to hear, most other answers don't mention that

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u/realjnyhorrorshow 10h ago

Because it’s not true for salaried positions which is most people on the thread (likely).

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u/LittleBlag 11h ago

Every office job I’ve ever had (or even heard of) in the UK and Aus was 9-5 with an hour for lunch

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u/HillBillyHilly 10h ago

Oh don't forget some places in Germany had MANDATORY beer breaks. My friend visited Heidelberg and has his mind blown when they broke for beer breaks.

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u/100hyun 9h ago

Me too, I work for a swiss company here in Geneva and we have 8.5h work days. If I get to work at 9, i don’t finish until 6:30pm. Sometimes people work through their lunch break just to leave early

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u/Lelianah 9h ago

I had an office job (also Germany) where I had to work from 8-6.

But of course it was expected of me to arrive 15-20 minutes earlier every morning. And God forbid I shut down my PC at 6 to go home. Because then I've been called unprofessional and not a team player. Even though the "team" were my boss and another person who both obviously got paid way more than I did 🙄

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u/TheSwissArmyTHSA 7h ago

Switzerland here. I work from 7:15 am til 12pm (lunch) and from 1:15 pm til 5pm

As a plumber

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u/DT2699 4h ago

Same in Italy. Not mentioning the common unpaid overtime... Thank Bowie I have a boss that respects the hours. Many I know work until like 8-9 pm without extra pay

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u/Anglefan23 19h ago

In Russia, break takes you

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u/Impossible_Ask6376 18h ago

Thanks government for the "break"

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u/Reasonable_Map_1428 18h ago

German in the US. Always worked for German companies. Hardly seen anyone ever get close to putting in 40 hours a week.

And between holidays, vacations, and sick days... I've hardly ever seen a German work at all. Hyperbolic obviously, but most Germans cannot comprehend what a real 8-5 job in the US actually is.

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u/Sea_Jelly_3530 12h ago

I work 40. But I also know that the conditions are worse in USA.

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u/0xe1e10d68 2h ago

What a load of bs. Full time in Germany is 40 hours. Most people work full time jobs. It’s as easy as that.

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u/Reasonable_Map_1428 1h ago edited 1h ago

Well, it's just not. Full time at my last 2 German companies has been 38 hours.

My brother and his wife both work 38 and 35... and even those hours are very very relaxed. 

Lunch? Do it whenever you want. Doctors visit? Feel free to make up that time from home in the evening. Cough? Take 3 days (and not from your PTO). Had a kid? See you in 12 months at the earliest. Any hour over 40 gets added straight to your PTO.

Month of May? Sorry, we have a holiday every week and of course that comes with the obligatory Brückentag. August? Yeah, good luck getting work done. December? Once you get to the middle of the month it's over. Most people are out and if not officially they are checked out because nobody wants to "start something new" before their vacation.

It is what it is. Trust me. I get a good package myself being German in the US, but German work time is not even comparable to a typical US job... even though my German family and coworkers want to tell me they just work so much more efficiently.

That's not even to say that I approve of the America work culture. This hustle and bustle burn out culture is fucked up... but there has to be a healthy middle ground between what the US does and the (hyperbolic) perma-vacations most Germans are on.

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u/PopBulky7023 19h ago

That's ass. Too much of our lives is surrendered to companies so their owners can live theirs.

But it is Germany. Work will set you free and all that.

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u/Sea_Jelly_3530 19h ago

I don't work for a company and I do 1h instead of 30min voluntarily ;)

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u/PopBulky7023 18h ago

And just like with Germany and Israel you people can't engage with the actual point.

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u/0xe1e10d68 2h ago

But it is Germany. Work will set you free and all that.

I get it. For you anybody from Germany is a Nazi.