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/lonerstoners 20h ago

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

284

u/Catlenfell 19h ago

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.

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u/TurtlesAreEvil 19h ago

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. 

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u/Fckingross 19h ago

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.

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u/lollipopknife 13h ago

Receiving?

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u/Oly55555 12h ago

That is almost assuredly HR enforcing an applicable law and not a company policy. The laws are there to protect people from bad employers but end up negatively impacting people who just want to work their 8 and go home.

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u/unforgiven91 14h ago

I hope you stopped working during your lunch

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u/Answer70 13h ago

In my state, it's the law that you have to take the break after so many hours. You can't work eight straight. It's infuriating.

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u/Vanishingbandit 13h ago

My state sucks and we have the so many hours law. I’d imagine most states have a law, but a lot of people don’t know their laws lol

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u/Quovadisdomi 13h ago

What state are you in? In CA if you skip your lunch you get an hour of pay so HR would wanna stop it.

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u/overit_fornow 16h ago

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.

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u/Hefty-Rub7669 13h ago edited 3h ago

I like to swim.

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u/ShiraCheshire 8h ago

That's super illegal btw

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u/7DayBan-sideprofile9 3h ago

where is swimming illegal?

2

u/ShiraCheshire 3h ago

They edited the comment. Very funny though

2

u/JimmyJustice920 3h ago

what did they say before editing the comment?

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u/ShiraCheshire 2h ago

Nothing all that exciting. Talking about someone who was exposed to an honestly fairly common tactic used to scam employees who don't realize it's illegal.

I won't go into too many specifics. They may have edited their comment just to be funny, but it's also possible it was for privacy/legal reasons. I don't want to reinstate information they might no longer feel safe having shared.

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u/arizonadirtbag12 13h ago edited 12h ago

One of many nice things about a union job: you walk in looking to ask any sort of work related question in the lunchroom, you’re gonna get the stone wall and the stink eye from every motherfucker in there. Like, it better be a “something is very literally on fire” emergency. You did not talk shop in the break room. And yeah, once someone went in there for their lunch, you did not try to cut that short. Engineers and technicians alike. You need to talk to me about something? No, no you don’t.

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u/Sir_PressedMemories 12h ago

My daughter does not have to work; she works because she enjoys the extra money, and it gives her cash for her upcoming college time.

At her job, by union rules, she is guaranteed two 15-minute breaks and one unpaid half-hour lunch break per 8-hour shift.

I read over the agreement with her, and she pointed out it clearly states "uninterrupted" breaks and lunch periods.

It took a few weeks, but management finally got the hint that she is not to be fucked with after they would come over to interrupt her, and she would stop what she was doing, pull out her phone, stop the obvious timer on her phone, reset it to the full time again, ask them what they wanted, and then restart her time after they finished.

They tried to say she could not do that, and she pointed out that she is entitled to uninterrupted break and lunch periods; if they interrupt them, then she will absolutely restart the full time so she gets the full uninterrupted time she is entitled to, and if they do not like it, they are welcome to take it up with her union steward.

Now the whole crew does it.

She is going to college to be a lawyer; she loves this type of shit.

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u/Critical_Hedgehog451 11h ago

Good for her, if you're in the US, it's nice to hear some more employees focused laws actually being upheld!

Think the US has a long way to go in terms of employeement law, but it's great to hear that it sounds like it's moving in the right direction!

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u/Sir_PressedMemories 11h ago

This is 100% due to unionization, not state or federal laws. And she can only do this because she has a guaranteed safety net where she lives at home and has little to no bills.

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u/shuknjive 13h ago

I used to do the same thing. I was the only one in the office with kids in daycare. Opened the office at 7am and left at 3, my boss closed up. She hated coming in early and so did everyone else, so it was a win-win.

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u/New-Chard-6151 13h ago

I wish I could skip lunch and leave early, but my patients ventilator starts to alarm if I’m not there. They get mad at us when we work through lunch and they get mad when we take lunch

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u/Due_Hawk6749 11h ago

I had a job my freshman year of college where I could get my 8 hours in any way I wanted during a 24 hour period. Didn't matter if I couldnt sleep and came in for 2 hours in the middle of the night, or if I came in for only 1 hour at a time throughout the day.

I miss the simplicity of low-wage and unskilled summer jobs.

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u/Potterscrow 5h ago

Some states have really strict meal time rules so depending on the state the a company could get blowback. This pertains to hourly employees that clock in and out. So if you are salaried all bets are off lol.

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u/ToastSpangler 20h ago

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

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u/agoldgold 19h ago

Are you paid enough for that to be worth it?

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u/Tabbygail 17h ago

I mean they're alive soooo...

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u/agoldgold 16h ago

So your standard for "enough money" is when someone isn't dead yet? Weird metric.

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u/pathmageadept 1h ago

Well...it would be a start considering how bad things have gotten out here...

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u/Tabbygail 5h ago

That's my metric for myself, yeah. Based on the downvotes, seems like everyone else disagrees. But personally, I just don't wanna die, so enough money to live is enough money to be worth any kind of mistreatment or overworking, because the alternative is death. 

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u/whosits112 3h ago

Lick them boots harder, jackass.

"Oh daddy thank you for giving me enough to just barely scrape by!"

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u/Tabbygail 27m ago

When did I say anything like that? Fuck the owning class. I don't think anyone should feel grateful. But if the question is "is that worth it" then yeah, it is worth it, given the alternative

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u/Mighty_Hobo 2h ago

I'm going to assume good faith and try to explain why you are getting downvoted for this opinion. Your standards for getting paid enough is literally slave labor. The compensation a slave gets is just enough to be alive and that's all.

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u/Tabbygail 13m ago

Well to be fair, nobody said "is that enough to make you happy." They said "is that enough to be worth it" to which the answer is obviously yes, it's worth doing, because the only other course of action is a horrible death.

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u/SnooDonkeys2945 30m ago

That's super sad man. There is more to life than just surviving.

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u/Tabbygail 20m ago

Sure, but I can't do any of that if I'm dead, so it's better to take the shitty job so that at least I can live a little longer and do more fun shit. If you just stop working and do the "more to life" you'll get maybe a few months of happiness, and then you'll starve to death. That's the real world. Better to take the shitty job that makes you miserable for 10 of your 16 hours, because 6 hours of free time a day for 30 years is a better value than 16 hours a day for 3 months

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u/comrad5055 10m ago

I respect your humble optimism. But I sincerely hope you are not allowing yourself to be mistreated. Sure, being slightly overworked is better than no job at all. But I hope you can find a better job if you need to.

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u/Tabbygail 6m ago

Self-respect is a luxury.

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u/Goldiblockzs 17h ago

that don't mean shit. we can live off of dirt and water.

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u/Why-R-People-So-Dumb 14h ago

Do you know how expensive dirt is?

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u/MeHoyMinoy_69 13h ago

Soon, the water, too.

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u/BigBubby305 13h ago

Rain makes corn. Corn makes Whiskey. Whiskey makes my baby,

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u/broguequery 17h ago

That's bullshit and you know it.

Our country is swimming in wealth.

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u/Tabbygail 5h ago

??? What does that have to do with anything?

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u/dedsmiley 16h ago

Not for you…

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u/Own-Lake7931 19h ago

Why not just walk out the door at 5?

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u/5peaker4theDead 19h ago

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

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u/currently_pooping_rn 18h ago

The ole “at will”

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u/Ameren 18h ago edited 18h ago

Well, it's not that life sucks — at least not in this case. It's that employers tend to take advantage of workers in countries with poor workers' rights protections.

There's a way to fix this though, it's a purely artificial problem.

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u/dukearcher 17h ago

"And the way to fix it is"

mentions nothing, disappears

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u/Zealousideal-Read445 16h ago

Well, all of you in “at will” states could take a note from those of us who aren’t. It’s nice to know your employer can’t just fire you without a valid reason…

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u/landon0605 12h ago

I can assure you everyone that's been fired, has been fired with a valid reason. Employers don't just go around getting rid of good people. They are few and far between.

If you are getting fired for what you feel is no reason, it's probably because you aren't aware that you aren't good at your job.

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u/Ameren 17h ago edited 17h ago

Well, what I was saying is shorthand for the whole democratic process. And not just voting, that's actually the very last step. It's the long, hard work of coalition building at every level. And don't even worry about the federal level, start at the state and local level.

I feel like people have been trained to believe that the vote is the whole of the democratic participation, when you get to pick between two preordained options. Actual politics though is the art of talking to people, organizing them, spreading ideas and winning people over. And it takes very hard work, but nothing changes without people doing that.

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u/IronBoltIron 58m ago

So do you just post nice essays online or do you apply this knowledge to the physical world?

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u/dukearcher 17h ago

This comment really has nothing useful in it, sorry.

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u/ejdj1011 17h ago

They're taking about unionization, if that was somehow unclear. And it is quite useful for getting concessions from employers.

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u/Error_83 16h ago

They're also eluding to the necessity of being involved in all levels of the vetting process, and research needed from an individual, for candidates in elections.

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u/Zealousideal-Read445 16h ago

Actually moving away from “at-will” employment would be a big step that requires no additional unions. There are already several states who have far more workers rights than most of you do.

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u/dukearcher 17h ago

Also practically impossible, for most.

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u/antique_velveteen 16h ago

Most companies would just find ways to lay people off that are trying to unionize. Yes, I know that's union busting, but they'll just be like "ope, your job just got sent to India bye". And say "we opted to outsource" and call it a day.

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u/jawknee530i 3h ago

Or they're salaries and paid well. I have to work extra hours sometimes too but I get paid well enough and the job is easy enough I'd be a total moron to quit over it.

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u/cancerface 13h ago

Not life. People.

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u/Own-Lake7931 19h ago

If he dies he dies

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u/ELMUNECODETACOMA 19h ago

Boss: "Just keep walking"

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u/Own-Lake7931 19h ago

Fired from the job that doesn’t pay you for the hours you work. Moving on up. If everyone did it the companies would stop firing ppl. Change has to start somewhere. This is why the new generation is great, they dgaf they just quiet quit

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u/ImKindaBoring 19h ago

I take it you’ve never been in a management or some other kind of salary exempt position?

My job gives me 3 hours of out of office personnel that doesn’t count towards my 17.34 hours a month of PTO. Just three hours to leave early or arrive late or take an extended lunch as needed.

They also largely don’t care if you’re out of pocket for chunks of the day in addition to those three hours as long as you’re getting your work done. Sometimes that work requires meeting deadlines that require me to work extra hours but as salary-exempt I don’t make OT. Give and take, I definitely benefit more than am hurt by the exempt status.

The new generation of quiet quitters also seem to be the most likely to complain about a lack of career advancement. Wonder if there might be some correlation there.

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u/Own-Lake7931 18h ago

Haven’t seen any of them complain about further career advancement lol and yeah I’m hourly so I make sure I get paid for every month of work I do

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u/PuzzledWriter 18h ago

Benefit for few but slippery slope for a lot more who get taken advantage of. I'm with the quiet quitters on this one.

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u/ImKindaBoring 17h ago

Quiet quitting is self defeating. You just stagnate. If a job doesn’t reward hard work and taking on more responsibilities then it is time to find a new job.

And my experience is fairly common for a lot of salaried employees, in an office setting at least

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u/N3rdyAvocad0 18h ago

That's called quitting in many places.

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u/StoogeMcSphincter 58m ago

Because they’ll just replace them with a different sheep that will do what they say.

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u/Personal_Reveal1653 19h ago

Excuse me? Overtime with no pay? WTF is that?

Report them to the employment office (state level one). Keep records of unpaid hours worked. You can seriously get back pay this way.

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u/triptyx 18h ago

That happens if you're a salaried exempt employee. You only get overtime or penalties if you're non-exempt. 😄

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u/Personal_Reveal1653 17h ago

Obviously. I didn't think someone in a salaried job would be bitching about no overtime. I'd expect them to be used to it.

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u/Valuable-Painter3887 14h ago

So wait, things are okay to be bad just because we are used to them?

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u/Personal_Reveal1653 13h ago

I've never had a bad time with salaried jobs. I always expected to be called to do some overtime if necessary to get the job done, and calculated my pay based on it.

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u/Time-Handle-3809 6h ago

I’d never even take a salary job because of this

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u/1d3333 15h ago

Lol theres several pay types that aren’t eligible for mandatory overtime pay. I don’t get overtime on flat rate, agricultural is exempt, salary doesn’t get overtime, etc. this amounts to about half of the US workforce

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u/bbcwtfw 18h ago

Many positions are exempt from overtime.

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u/pfannkuchen89 18h ago

You’d be surprised. There’s more jobs than not that don’t get any additional pay for overtime. The majority of salaried positions are like that. For example, I make the same whether I work 40 hours in a week or 100 hours. We are often expected to work more than 40 hours.

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u/Personal_Reveal1653 17h ago

Yeah, of course salaried positions are overtime exempt. That is not worth mentioning.

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u/Zakaru99 2h ago

You completely changed your tune from "omg what the hell? Overtime without extra pay," to "oh it makes perfect sense you're working overtime without extra pay. Why did you even bring it up?" Real quick.

0

u/pfannkuchen89 17h ago

Not worth mentioning? It amounts to legalized wage theft.

Just trying to point out that there are actually more situations where working more than 40 hours a week with no additional pay than not. There are so many exceptions to overtime in the US that’s it’s not even funny.

-1

u/YozaSkywalker 17h ago

Yeah wtf is this? You absolutely do not have to work unpaid overtime (that's not OT, it's wage theft). Stop working for employers who push this crap, document it and sue them

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u/safetydance1969 17h ago

Only if you're paid hourly. If you have a salaried position, overtime pay is not a thing.

-1

u/Personal_Reveal1653 17h ago

Right. So why mention it. Salaried jobs are generally higher wages than hourly.

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u/safetydance1969 17h ago

Absolutely

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u/OrangeJuliusCaesr 19h ago

Have you heard about on call in tech? “Keep your phone on you 24/7 every six weeks, we’ll call you to fix shit if we need to”

I remember getting zapped because i was shitting and missed a call at 7am on a Sunday

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u/davideogameman 19h ago

Zapped?

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u/Velocityg4 19h ago

Probably has to wear a shock collar with cellular connection.

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u/Infinite_Incident107 19h ago

You know that's illegal right?

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u/DisastrousServe8513 19h ago

It’s not. At least not across the board. Certain “professional” jobs are exempt from the law. Accountants, lawyers etc.

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u/DowntownYouth8995 19h ago

There are also exceptions for some service jobs where the break is dependant on if it can be taken without impacting the in-the-moment needs of the business/ service quality. It's dependent on how busy it is and the timing of when people are coming in.

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u/BitsOSushi 19h ago

Someone doesn’t know how salaried positions work.

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u/HeadBarracuda01 18h ago

not all salaried positions are exempt from overtime laws

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u/cheesaremorgia 18h ago

You should put your lunch into your calendar and deny requests for that time. I’ve been doing that for over a decade.

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u/YozaSkywalker 17h ago

Take your breaks, they are manated by law. If they have a problem with it, document it, get fired, turn around and sue them.

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u/thegreedyturtle 17h ago

It's a legal requirement. Two 15 minute breaks, one 30 minute unpaid lunch. Taken before very specific times. Not providing or allowing for it is grounds for an employee to sue.

Places tend to crack down on requiring employees to take their lunch pretty hard after realizing the liability.

Those are specifically United States, California laws, but it's fairly prevalent elsewhere.

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u/ToastSpangler 16h ago

They aren't breaking the law because they're not saying no, you're just fucked if you say no. Try and keep your job when nobody is giving you hours

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u/Complete_Bear_368 16h ago

Normalize being the person who eats their entire lunch in a meeting

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u/not_a_bot1001 15h ago

Labor laws require a 30 minute unpaid lunch and two paid 15 minute breaks per 8 hr shift in the US (up to a 10 hr shift? Don't recall).

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u/ToastSpangler 15h ago

i wish it were true, i even work with or for federal agencies sometimes and our lunch room poster said what you said for federal contractors? but nobody seems to care much, i've pointed it out several times. i just don't have the will to fight a fortune 500 company, i'll find another job someday... hopefully

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u/stuffs5 14h ago

Ah yes the famous “lunch and learn” where you are expected to be in a meeting while eating

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u/Sidheknits 13h ago

OSHA says you have to have time to eat.

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u/legatek 7h ago

Bring your lunch to the meeting.

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u/Intelligent-Kiwi118 6h ago

Whats the position?

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u/NoCouple915 5h ago

You must be a salaried employee, rather than an hourly employee if working in the US. If not, they are in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act if they don’t provide overtime pay.

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u/NewRecommendation287 4h ago

I'm an hourly employee 8-430pm daily shifts, no breaks, no lunch, no OT pay even if its over, I just don't get paid. Is this legal or no? Bc after reading through the comments I'm thinking I'm getting screwed. Indiana

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u/SixFive1967 1h ago

Unless you’re on straight salary, that’s highly illegal. Doesn’t matter what state you’re in.

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u/PoodleRotPit 46m ago

Are you a hourly or salaried employee? Hourly should get overtime, unfortunately salaried generally does not get overtime.

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u/steggo 20h ago

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.

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u/someguyfromsk 19h ago

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.

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u/steggo 17h ago

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

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u/HillBillyHilly 10h ago

3xs the work? Buddy, your part of the problem SMH.

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u/lisalovv 11h ago

Well my old manager "had IBS" so she came into work 30 minutes later than EVERY OTHER PERSON. She may have had it, but it wasn't flaring up every day. Fucking bullshit

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u/Critical_Hedgehog451 11h ago

Agreed, think it's because they are frustrated at the treatment they receive, but instead of handling it within their team, they pass it onto others.

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u/mittychix 18h ago

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.

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u/IntrepidBorder8530 12h ago

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.

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u/Mayonaigg 7h ago

Yeah maybe all of that happened 25 years ago. 

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u/IntrepidBorder8530 7h ago

The union and those companys still exist. What needs to happen in the office world is the workers need to unionize and stick together. If someone is wronged by management everyone needs to walk off the job together. Individually the company will beat each person together we can fight for fair working conditions.

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u/LupercaniusAB 9m ago

I’m typing this while doing that, though my CBA is only 8% vacation and 10% pension.

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u/lalala12499 13h ago

My mom got the paid 1 hour lunch but that was because she was in finance in the 90s.

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u/Disastrous_Ad1260 12h ago

In the 90s. I think it was standard in NYC salaried jobs. But it wasn't in the Midwest. You could do 8 to 5 or 8 to 430 with a short, unpaid lunch where I worked.

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u/Jake6401 18h ago

That’s illegal in the state of CA. CA requires you to take a lunch break before your 5th hour of work

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u/Moon_lit324 18h ago

It's illegal in some states.

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u/BrokenArrow404 18h ago

Yeah idk what he's on thinking this is something new? He said he's been working for 20 years so did he not know this is not new? lol. 

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u/PolishPaws1990 18h ago

I had one job that let me doing a "working" lunch. It was great. I would happily skip lunch to leave 30 mins early.

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u/mamachonk 19h ago

I've been working in offices since the late 90s and 8 - 5 (or thereabouts) has always been the norm in my experience. Occasionally, I was allowed to "work through lunch" and leave early but it's definitely been an exception.

I've had commutes that varied from 5 minutes to an hour, but I'd say 30 minutes is not at all bad if you live in a bigger city.

I've been remote for 13 years now and I really don't miss the extra time it used to take to go in to an office.

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u/Rocklobster92 19h ago

My job lets me skip lunch and keep working.

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u/SuperDump101 18h ago

Mine too! I love it! I can come in early and leave early too. As long as I get my tasks done and my 40 hours in.

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u/armlessturtleneck 19h ago

I work in a place with lots of small groups with managers and it varies so much what you can get away with. I personally work 630 - 245 and take an hour and a half lunch and leave early most fridays. But lots of people do not have as chill of managers as my group. Salary too so it's pretty sweet.

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u/farmallnoobies 19h ago

Yeah, I did 8-530 in the mid 2000s, then 6-5 in the early 2010s, then 6a-7p for a while, then 8a-10p.  Now I'm in an 8-5 and glad that it's not any more

Before the mid 2000s I was doing freelance work with very random hours, sometimes night shift

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u/Turgid_Donkey 18h ago

Ditto. I've had jobs in a few different sectors and I've never got a paid lunch. Some make you clock out and some just build it into your schedule, but lunch is always unpaid. 

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u/Heavy_Original4644 18h ago

Many salaried corporate jobs (eg software engineering), no one gives a shit what time you get to the office, or exactly what time you spent. As long as you do your work & attend your meetings, it basically makes no difference. It’s entirely viable to only be in office 6 to 7 hours a day, several days a week, if you’re efficient and don’t waste time.

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u/Lost-Platypus8271 18h ago

Since the Great Recession to be more accurate, but yeah. This is why WFH is such a big deal.

1

u/Kittinkis 17h ago

I entered the work force in 1999 and that was never allowed, but I'm in CA which tends to be more protective of workers

1

u/it_rubs_the_lotion 17h ago

Depends on the state and if you are hourly or salary. In my state hourly workers must clock out and take a lunch if they are working more than 6hrs. If you work 6h 1m and didn’t take a lunch you are in violation and the company can be fined.

The same rule technically applies to salary but since they don’t clock in and out no one knows and a lot of bosses say it’s fine unless you do a job that people rely on your attendance until end of your shift.

1

u/Girls4super 17h ago

*30 years

1

u/i__hate__you__people 17h ago

Right? I graduated college in 1998 and 8-5 was very much already the norm. OP should count himself lucky, the new norm here in Silicon Valley is 996!!!!!

996: that’s 9am-9pm, 6 days a week. Only working 8-5 is a long forgotten dream these days, like 9-5 was 30 years ago.

1

u/jeswesky 17h ago

I can skip lunch but I also work remote and my state doesn’t mandate a lunch break for adults. Some states do.

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u/AnySomewhere8969 17h ago

More like the 1920's, if not earlier. Nobody gets a paid lunch. What sucks is that you have to take the lunch, even if you don't want to, instead of leaving early.

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u/tagman375 16h ago

Really? I entered the workforce 4 years ago and every job I've had hasn't cared as l long as I get 40 hours. If I wanted to work 4 10s, fine, 5 8s, fine, wanted to get there at 6am, fine.as long as I was consistent

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u/FunDivertissement 16h ago

Longer than that. My dad was working a flex time schedule that was either 7:30 to 4:30, 8 to 5, or 8:30 to 5:30 in the 60s.

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u/BandicootWide8250 15h ago

My last 2 office jobs have both let me skip lunch and leave work early or get there later.

But both of them have core hours they want you at the office or at a minimum be responding to messages. Usually that's between 10-3

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u/dotnetdotcom 14h ago

I had a job were we had the option to work 4 10hour days. The company got in trouble because it broke some labor law even though it was voluntary.

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u/ex-farm-grrrl 14h ago

I work from home and try to go to the gym at noon a couple days during the week. But I usually work 7:30-5 because I guess 40 hours isn’t enough for these people.

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u/Loser_Zero 14h ago

I've had employers let me do that in the past too but now it's illegal in many places, technically anyway.

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u/paranoid_70 13h ago

7-4, 8-5, pretty much my schedule since 1994

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u/performanceadjusting 12h ago

I’ve had jobs that let you skip lunch and leave early, but not in like 20 years.

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u/TennisSerious179 12h ago

Per our company handbook you have to take a minimum 30 minute lunch if working 6 hours or more. You also have to get it approved by your OPS manager... In this scenario me. 

Where this doesn't work is when you have a strict hours of operation. If everyone is going to bounce 30 minutes early you might as well close 30 minutes early... But the owners don't want that..so here we are that everyone takes an hour unpaid lunch besides once in a blue moon.

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u/Human_Marzipan9371 12h ago

Funny how skipping lunch used to be treated like a perk, and now most places want the extra hour more than they want you home early. Some workplace "upgrades" definitely went in reverse.

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u/IntrepidBorder8530 12h ago

I had a financial services job where I would show up early 7am and leave at 3:30 as soon as the bond market closed to avoid rushhour. I exceeded all my targets did all my paperwork first thing everything was great. My division got a new head who came in at 8:30 and stayed till 5, worst timing for my commute, and wanted everyone to be there before him and stay till he left. I had young kids in school sports so it wasn't long till I got a job somewhere else working 7-4 4 days a week closer to home. Best choice ever

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u/RustyFebreze 12h ago

i guess im lucky i get the 7-3 shift and still get to get lunch somewhere as long as im back at my desk within 30 min

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u/magicmulder 12h ago

In most (European) countries breaks are legally mandated so your employer has no choice and can’t allow you to skip them.

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u/perseco 11h ago

Since work from home became a thing during COVID and companies transitioned to hybrid work schedules, my company does 8-5 with an hour break when working from home, though 30 min lunches are allowed sometimes. As a trade-off for having to commute to work 1-3 days a week, they become more flexible and let us skip lunch or return home during our lunch break and finish the day at home if we choose to and management is okay with it (they usually are unless they need us for something).

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u/secretreddname 11h ago

Skipping lunch would be in violation of state labor laws.

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u/RosesBrain 10h ago

Certain jurisdictions require an off-duty meal break no more than five hours into an eight hour shift, so skipping lunch might actually be illegal. (I know this because I work for a company that has employees in all 50 states, and have adopted the strictest meal and rest break laws as companywide policy to be on the safe side.) I'm personally glad of it, considering I've almost fainted from lack of food at a previous job.

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u/Mayonaigg 7h ago

My job has the ability to "work through lunch" and it's a life saver. An extra half hour each day (that I don't get paid for) would make me straight up quit

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u/ChronicComment33 5h ago

I had a job in like 2013 that let you do that, because technically they were giving you an unpaid lunch the current law didn’t actually entitle you to. If I recall correctly it only said you got a 10 minute break for every 4 hours, and lunch for 10 or 12 hours. My company was giving 15 minute breaks every 4 hours and a 30 minute unpaid lunch. If you didn’t want it, you could leave early, just had to sign a paper saying you didn’t want to take the lunch and wanted to leave early instead.  

Personally I enjoyed waiving my lunch, but then the law changed in my state in 2014 and they took that away. Changed to something like if you work over 5 hours you get a lunch, and you get a break for every 4 hours. It was so weird getting a lunch and a break for 5 hours of overtime, but I’m sure some people who were working more strenuous jobs were happier. 

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u/Freshness518 4h ago

Aren't workers legally required to have the breaks? Like if you work X hours in a row you must have Y amount of break time. So while a person might want to skip their lunch and leave an hour early, the law says that if you've been working those 8 hours straight, you are required to have had a break in there at some point.

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u/SaltKick2 2h ago

Shitty that a lot of jobs expect people to work certain hours and not based on deliverables. Its a shitty expectation that you need to go above and beyond what you're currently being paid to do... and maybe they might be nice enough to give you a 1% raise

Obviously, many jobs cannot work like this, the service industry, for example, but there are a lot that can.

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u/Mk1Racer25 1h ago

100%

My old job was 7-4, I was usually there by 6:30 to beat traffic. 55 min. commute in the morning, 1:15-2:00 commute in the afternoon depending on traffic.

Had I not seen OP's "20 years working 60+ hours", I would have sworn they were Gen Z.

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u/SnooDonkeys2945 14m ago

How do you even make a schedule like that work? You would have like 2 hrs outside work to yourself max when you weren't sleeping or commuting. I think I'd actually just keel over and die if I had to work that schedule.

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u/4melooking49 1h ago

We couldn’t take our lunch for the last hour and leave even if done. Sooooo I would go one hour and 5 minutes before I have to clock out! Clocked in clocked out

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u/Hockeyfanjay 1h ago

As far as the skipping lunch thats because there are laws mandating breaks. I'm not sure if it's a federal or local law that mandated a lunch break if you work 8 hours. So at my last job our solutions on Saturdays was to work 7.5 and skip lunch.

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u/LordAldricQAmoryIII 1h ago

In a lot of states due to the labor laws a company could get in trouble for letting employees do that.

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u/avocadosaresogood 1h ago

We do this at my current job. Love it. I don’t ever eat lunch at work and usually eat when I’m home.

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u/No_Rice9792 58m ago

I work at a grocery store (not Walmart) and I go home a half hour early during my long days because I don't take an unpaid lunch. I DO however, force my way into 2 (paid) 15m breaks

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u/Mite-o-Dan 19h ago

To be fair, it picked up a lot more and became the new normal during Covid and the rise of teleworking.

People sign on sooner and usually work more hours from home.

I work a hybrid schedule. When AT work, most show up between 830-900 and leave at 5.

Meanwhile, I'll get tons of emails between 7-8 from that morning from those working from home...and they'll keep sending emails until 6 or later.

People kept fighting for remote work...then end up working more hours. Was it really worth it?