h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

When people talk of working in a desk job, they often call it working '9-5'.

Now, I actually work 9-5, with an hour for lunch. When I talk to my family and friends however, I actually work the least hours of any of them.

Does anyone know if this '9-5' idea was actually true, or was it just a handy way to generalise?

Secondly, does anyone know what the average working week is now?

Thirdly, should I feel guilty for only working 35 hours a week when my husband does a minimum of 40? I mean this more as an illustration of the differences between people, rather than a personal plea for justification. Ignore it if you want.

- who doesn't start work until 9 o'clock.

No idea where 9 - 5 originated. I suspect that it's become less relevant with global electronic interaction. Competitiveness, faster communications and increase in the pace of life have also lead to a demand for longer and more flexible working hours.

An average is rather meaningless without specifying parameters. I suspect as well that some people are contracted for x hours per week but actually work far more for no extra pay. Others will clock in & out & claim overtime.

Why feel guilty for working fewer hours? Do you do more household tasks to compensate?Parity of pay for similar time/tasks is what's important. Perhaps we should all work fewer hours to permit more people to have jobs?

I do indeed do more tasks around the house to compensate, and it works for us.

What I probably *should* have said, is that even were I offered a higher paid job doing 40 hours a week, I don't know if I would take it because of the long hours.
I feel guilty because other people work for longer than I do, but I wouldn't be prepared to do the same.

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The thing is, I feel that 35 hours should be enough - not just for me, but for everyone.
Home life suffers the longer you work, so why this quasi-macho instinct to work longer and longer?

Come over here to France, we have a law saying that nobody has to work more than 35 hours a week!

Seriously though, don't feel guilty about it. Other people wouldn't have less work to do if you did more...

I've noticed an increase in the concept of being *on call*. Once you are given a company Crackberry the idea of private time seems to go out the window. Once upon a time you could walk away from your desk and not be involved with work whereas now your availability seems to be expected 24/7, but you are paid only for your office or scheduled time.

I'm contracted for 39.5 hours a week semi-flexi about start-finish times. Up until a few months ago I was paid overtime.

I've now been promoted and work more hours, with no paid overtime and even though I am supposed to be paid a bit more to compensate I actually end up with a bit less than I averaged before. But I do have a rather sexy mobile phone - nobody calls me since I don't have keys to the office, I'm not allowed to make decisions and I don't have access to email or anything else when I'm not in the office

But I must say that I would prefer not to work overtime - even paid. I was averaging 50 overtime hours a month. It's not funny when you have to fit in a home and family. (and my works far far more hours than should be allowed, especially if you consider split shifts and weekends, which makes me )

Er.... what was I going to say? Oh yes. I don't know anyone who starts at 9 - in my place we've all been at our desks for at least an hour by then.

Start work at 9am, finish work at 6pm. Hour for lunch allowed by contract, usually take 20-30 minutes as I simply don't have enough time for a longer lunch. I work what amounts to 42.5 hours a week (supposed to work 40, can't get overtime as technically I'm not working outside my contracted hours) in a high-pressure high-stress job that pays about £3000 p/a less than my previous 36.5 hours-a-week twenty-minutes-of-real-work-a-day job. I am constantly tired and irritable.

Yet for some reason I bloody love it.

Here, by law, the employer has to deduct 45 minutes lunchbreak from you, even if you work. So only silly people work during that time (those paid on time-worked that is, the rest of us work all the time )

I'm contracted to do 148 hours over a 4 week period with core hours being 9.30-4 Mon-Thurs & 9.30-3.30 Fri, with a lunch break of 30-60 mins. It's flexitime, and during every 4 week period we can have two half days or one full day off provided the hours are done at some point in the period. I get paid overtime, basic rate weekdays, time & a half Sat and double time Sun.

I work for a really great company.

But speaking to family and friends, my employer is in the minority - they all seem to have to jump through extra hoops just to be considered as doing the minimum their jobs require. And I do think the higher up the ladder you get the more is expected of you (until you're at the top, of course, when you get to sit back and watch some other sucker do your work!).

Deb

I have about 6 part time jobs. One main one and up to 5 other temporary or part-time sources of income. In any given week I usually do 3 of the jobs for 2-3 days each, which can occasionally lead to 7 day weeks and a weekly working total of about 70 hours. That's not including the travelling, since it is very rare for me to be in the same place 2 days running, even if I'm doing the same job.

This 70 hours includes time when I need to be checking and replying to work emails, making phonecalls or writing. This is done at home in the evenings and weekends. I take whatever is available so I worked Easter, the last May Bank Holiday and I will do for the next one too.

You'd think I'd be rich, but somehow I'm not! I suppose the trick to that is to be the boss and not work for others. I'm hoping to have an increase in the hours for the main job from September. Or to win the lottery.

I start at 9! Envious?

I am supposed to work 40 hours a week - that would mean from 9 to 5 and when you count 30 min lunch break I should be here till 5.30. I do feel guilty for leaving shortly after 5. I do it, because I usually manage to complete all my work faster than most people here and I see no point in hanging around just to impress the boss.

I start thinking that my colleagues like to show off by sitting in the office doing nothing and leaving at 6. Sometimes they come around 5 asking if I wanted to join them for a coffee! No, I don't, I'd much rather go home and take my dog for a walk, thank you very much!

Honestly, I don't get it! It happens so often that I do a job twice as fast as they are able or willing to, then why do I feel guilty? I wonder...

I also wonder why bosses are so stupid to BE impressed by such things!

Before I had kids I was contracted to work 40 hours a week, but frequently did much longer days. I would come in early so I could use the gym then start in the office at around 8.30 and it was frequently after 6.30 that I left for the evening. Given that I didn't leave my desk at lunchtime that meant that the company was getting around ten free hours of work from me a week. After coming back from my maternity leave I changed to part time - three days a week or 24 hours.

I arrived as soon as I could after dropping off my son at 8am - usually around 8.30. I *had* to leave no later then 5pm or I would risk not being there to pick him up before the nursery closed at 6pm. If I took half an hour for lunch then that would be my 8 hours, but I got the feeling that the bosses felt a bit hard done by, and like I was not pulling my weight in the team because I was no longer able to give them so much unpaid extra work. I decided that as they didn't actually give much of a stuff about me then I didn't care that I wasn't giving them any extra any more. I understand why employers don't like employing women with young families, they can't be exploited in the same way as other people as they have higher priorities!

When I go back after this maternity leave I think things will be much the same.

The being on call one is a tricky one now; I remember many many years ago, my Father, whilst doing 60 to 70 hour weeks, the company would then often want him in on overtime, and so he refused to have a phone in the house for many years after pretty-much everyone had house phones; just to avoid work calling him ten minutes after he'd got off a 12 hour shift, to ask him back in for another...

There do seem to be more jobs now that previously would have been a 9 AM start time, but which are starting earlier, 8.30 seems just as common now or moreso than 9 AM and I know of some that are waht may have once been traditionally 9 to 5 jobs, which now start at 7.30

My Brother's new job is a weird one, not sure what his hours per week work out as, but its a funny 'shift' patturn, so pretty-much every five weeks he gets a 7 days off

When I was working, which was mainly from home, I'd always try to work bank holidays as they're just so boring and hard to deal with if you've nothing to do But I really enjoyed the flexibility I had on that job; Strickly speaking it was X hours a week, though I'd often to half as many hours again as I was paid for, with no extra renumeration; but the best bit was mostly I could do the work as and when I wanted, which is handy if like me your often more wide away come 2 Am to 5 Am, so I'd useually be doing work very late at night, not necessarly starting much before I'd had lunch, and generally working in some respects at least all the time at about 20 hours a day (in respect of my not sleeping much and constantly checking Work E-mails and such like ) :- But I enjoyed what I was doing I could never be that bothered to keep strickly to the houss, and simualrly didn't worry if the work they'd expected me to take twenty hours to do was finished in six hours,

I think if I actually liked what I did I wouldn't worry as much about the hours. I've never had a job that I loved and only one that I liked. I find it weird when people seem interested and happy about their choice of career! (Slightly jealous, too...!)

Sorry to hear you don't really like your job Vip! Feeling good about what you do is great. After all you spent some 8-10 hours of your days there, it's best to enjoy it!

It's not that easy even if you DO like your job though. In my case it's the bosses (and the whole organisation at the place) that spoils it. I work in a lab and I really enjoy research. These days however I end up spending more time writing grant applications, reports and who knows what else for the boss than on the bench! So I end up hating the job I like!

i work 77 hours in a straight week of night shifts 20:30-07:30

11 hours a night, 7 nights,

i then get a week off while the other shift does the same

it avereges out to 38.5 hours a week, we are contracted for 39 hours so every year they take some leave off us to make up the difference

i get a paid lunch hour because i am locked in the establishment at night and cannot leave for a lunch break

I used to work a 3 shift system of days and nights averaging 37.5 hours a week. The nights were often much the same as Taff's 7 on and 7 off. However we could work any mix of earlies, lates and nights in a week. The duty rota was done on the basis of 150 hours over 4 week. We always worked over with no thanks or recognition and bullying was endemic. (Spot the employer?)

I now work 35 hours a week, 9 to 5 with no weekends or bank holiday working. I get an hour for lunch and I am in control of the amount of work I do. I love it (sorry to those that don't like what they do ) even though it is often busy and almost always stressful. I have to go away regularly and I generally work more than 35 hours.

t.

Hi
I read your last postings. I work 30 hours a week, 7 to 13 without a rest on Monday till Friday. I have the whole afternoon free, time to do homework and gardening and hobbies. I love the work, but I wouldn't work more hours. It's enough. When I have to work over (it is scarce), I can stay at home on another time.

Any open positions in your work place supersissi?

hi
I will give you information about than. By the way I have a boss, who's ok, and colleagues who're nice.