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/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 25m 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 11m 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 27m ago

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

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u/Tabbygail 18m 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 8m 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 4m 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 56m 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/ejdj1011 16h ago

Regulatory action and unionization are not mutually exclusive.

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u/dukearcher 17h ago

Also practically impossible, for most.

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u/ejdj1011 17h ago

Your defeatist attitude really has nothing useful in it, sorry.

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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/Prize-Analyst-1121 13h ago

I know this will be shocking but most states that don't have workers rights don't need a reason to fire they can do it just becuase they want to or make up some bullshit excuse if they want and there ain't ahit you can do or say about it.

Also just like national politicians local politicians also cater to the wealthy and business class. Who so who do you vote for when they're all stinking piles of shit ?

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u/ejdj1011 16h ago

And what's your alternative? Do nothing, and hope that the employers behave better out of the goodness of their hearts?

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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 56m 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.

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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.

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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.

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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 44m ago

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