Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 88 total)
  • 'working' week length?
  • crispo
    Free Member

    Work as an Engineer for a big Civils/Construction company.

    Our standard is 45 hours/week.

    When I got my contract they sent me through the opt out for EU working time directive. I signed it as I wanted the job. I’m young so progressing and more money are more important then only working 9-5!

    john_drummer
    Free Member

    39 hours for me: 0830-1700 Mon-Thurs, 0830-1600 Fri. Half hour lunch.

    what bothers me is, for those of you getting paid for 37 hours but doing 50 without getting paid for the extra in Overtime or TOIL, why?
    Are you that inefficient?
    Are you creeping to the boss for a reason?
    Do they give you more work than you can reasonably do in the allotted time?

    I used to spend up to 2 hours each way commuting, but now I’m working from home 4 days out of 5, I wouldn’t even consider a job that had a “half hour each way by bike” commute any more

    faz083
    Free Member

    Really appreciate the responses all.

    this sums it up for me, given I already do a 20 mile each way commute, and the alternative job is the same:

    Do you need this extra money vs an hour and a half of your life EVERY DAY. It’s the equivalent of a 30 mile commute and time you’ll never get back. If it’s not a good career move or you’re not sick of your current job, I wouldn’t bother.

    But then I’ve always thought that after I reached a certain level of pay I’d rather work less hours than get a rise though I’m not sure I’m there yet.

    Leave house at 8:30, home by 5:30/6. Or leave house at 7:30, home by 6/6:30. For an extra 3.5k a year, I don’t think it’s worth it. Short term, summer is coming up too – I loathe nothing more than coming back tired and not up for riding. No point in making all that extra money to spend on bikes when you can’t even ride them.

    Decision made. Appreciate the help.

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    MrGrim
    Full Member

    Forgetting holidays, you are basically working for £2 per hour for those extra hours.

    bigjim
    Full Member

    40 hours

    never signed a contract that hasn’t had the opting out of the regs clause, but i’m pretty strict about not working mad hours, many colleagues present and past probably pulling 60 hours a week, I don’t unless I really have to.

    Drac
    Full Member

    However they can put it in your contract that you agree the limit doesn’t apply to you

    You have to agree to opt out of working time regs to work extra hours, including overtime, they can’t force you to do either and can’t make you sign.

    franksinatra
    Full Member

    FTE equivalent here is 35hrs, lunch not included. All done within a brilliant flexi system that results in me finishing at 1pm on Fridays.

    Not always been this rosy though, I spent a shameful year as a recruitment consultant where working week was 46hrs and it was frowned upon to take any sort of break.

    Mrs S is a GP and when she was a junior Dr in hospital she was regularly rota’d to work 90hr + weeks, 4 weeks solid without breaks. She was expected to lie on her working hours audit forms. Not safe enough to drive a bus on those hours but allowed to make medical decisions 🙄

    butlerjamesp
    Free Member

    45 here, but generally 50, no paid overtime either.

    GrahamS
    Full Member

    She was expected to lie on her working hours audit forms. Not safe enough to drive a bus on those hours but allowed to make medical decisions

    Yep, same for my Mrs S. Always shocked me. I believe the NHS are still one of the few companies that are completely exempt from the working time directive.

    Drac
    Full Member

    I believe the NHS are still one of the few companies that are completely exempt from the working time directive.

    No they’re not very few jobs are.

    donks
    Free Member

    45 hours a week. Basic 8-5 hours but as a very small company we don’t really take a lunch break so it adds to 45 hours. Shame really as there’s a great skate park 5 mins away and could spend an hour there most days but that’s life

    spooky_b329
    Full Member

    36 hour week, 07:30-17:10 including an unpaid lunch.

    4 day week with a rolling day off each week.

    Most people on this pattern do an occasional Saturday (so they’ll get two weekdays plus Sunday off that week) If anyone is an employer on here, it really does make sense. You get your staff in for longer each day, they spend less time/money commuting, you can use it as an incentive to get people to work weekends, and the biggy, they don’t feel the need to skive off for appointments/car servicing/etc. And during busy periods, these people can come back in on overtime on their day off 🙂 (except I’ve had no overtime for ages 🙁 )

    I’d do a 3 day week, 7:00 to 7:40 pm if they’d let me! 12hr day plus lunch, I’d love it 🙂

    ononeorange
    Full Member

    Why work longer hours? Because there is no way I could remotely cover everything in a 40 hour week, plus I would find myself unemployed in about a week if I started leaving at 5. Not hard.

    RichPenny
    Free Member

    I’m not entirely sure what my standard hours are, moved from a 37.5 basic plus O/T in a flexitime environment. I’ll normally do 7.30 or 8 till 5 or 6. No O/T for that, though I do work and get paid for Saturdays if I want to.

    what bothers me is, for those of you getting paid for 37 hours but doing 50 without getting paid for the extra in Overtime or TOIL, why?
    Are you that inefficient?
    Are you creeping to the boss for a reason?
    Do they give you more work than you can reasonably do in the allotted time?

    1) No.
    2) I’ve spent the last year working hard. I was rewarded by the creation of a new position which is really enjoyable for me. I expect more of the same…
    3) As it’s a new position, I set my own workload to a large extent. I could do 9-5 and be satisfied, but the efforts I put in make me happy.

    CountZero
    Full Member

    I do 8-3.30, but I don’t take a break as such, otherwise I’d finish at 4.00. If I do work on, then I get paid for it, as happened yesterday, but that was only half an hour to finish off a folding job. Previous job had lots of overtime, at least an hour every day, plus Saturday mornings, but now I’d rather do the hours above; it’s nice finishing work with still some daylight during the winter, and I’m just out of the habit, plus sitting in front of a Mac was a lot less onerous than running a bloody folding machine.

    esselgruntfuttock
    Free Member

    You lot have it easy.
    39 hrs, 13 different shifts, & bank holidays (inc Xmas, New Year, Easter etc) all included in the price with absolutely no guarantee whatsoever of getting leave when you want/really need it.
    Loads of overtime though as we’re so short of staff.

    If your’e thinking of joining the prison service…..

    properbikeco
    Free Member

    When I got my contract they sent me through the opt out for EU working time directive. I signed it as I wanted the job. I’m young so progressing and more money are more important then only working 9-5!

    erm why did you sign it? you can still work as much as you want without signing it – all it does is sign your rights to refuse away…

    btw 35 hours week here, but i’m in one of the professions with the highest incidence of stress related sickness so very aware of the slippery slope to burnout

    PePPeR
    Full Member

    I look at you guys with jealousy, I had Monday off sick and I’ve still worked 35hrs and have one day to go. If I don’t do it I earn Shit all!

    I just really wish they’d make tachos legal in sub 3.5T vehicles, our company would have to double the amount of staff out on the road if they did!

    tinybits
    Free Member

    I don’t have working hours. I have a job. How I manage that is up to me. My staff start at 6:00am and don’t finish until 3:00am some days (two shifts worth) so i can’t be there for all of it, just make the hours count and get in with what can be done in the evenings post putting microbits to bed.
    I understand that lots of people don’t want to work extra hours, but the ones who achieve and therefore get the promotions / raises / bonuses often do.

    Tom-B
    Free Member

    Self employed so works lots 50 hours plus is the norm in term time. This thread is a bit of an eye opener tbh!

    PePPeR
    Full Member

    Judging by the posts coming in now, I reckon the long hours workers are coming in from work! 😉

    Baron_von_drais
    Free Member

    Officially contracted to 42.5 hours per week.

    08:00 to 17:30 Monday to Thursday 08:00 to 15:00 Friday with 1/2 hour lunch.

    But, I am paid to do a job not put hours in. Some days I work longer, some days I finish earlier and take the rough with the smooth.

    PePPeR
    Full Member

    erm why did you sign it? you can still work as much as you want without signing it – all it does is sign your rights to refuse away…

    I would like to opt back into the EU directive, but if I did then its in my contract that they would reduce the amount of wages I could earn! I’m pretty sure this is illegal but hey!

    faz083
    Free Member

    I just really wish they’d make tachos legal in sub 3.5T vehicles, our company would have to double the amount of staff out on the road if they did!

    I must be wrong but I thought all commercial vehicles carrying goods had to have tachos fitted? I recall a traffic cops with a land rover towing a trailer, the driver was under business insurance, and the scottish policeman (PC Nairn, IIRC), asked him where the tacho was. The guys face was a picture.

    dab
    Full Member

    36hr week over 4 days
    No weekends – OT – Wed off

    We don’t get OT just time in return
    Not worth it for me

    Plus I love the 4 day week
    Mid week skiing & biking or sort car / lawn etc

    john_drummer
    Free Member

    Ah, ambition. I used to have some of that.

    Now I’ve got a much better work/life balance

    RichPenny
    Free Member

    And yet you still appear to be quite miserable 🙂

    ste_t
    Free Member

    Contract says 44, but expected to have an Admin day’ of 4 hours on top of that.

    Reality? The norm tends to be about 55, just had my first Saturday off, and week off, since July

    PePPeR
    Full Member

    You have to have a tachograph on a vehicle if you’re towing a trailer for business.

    Other than that a commercial vehicle under 3.5T is exempt.

    legolam
    Free Member

    Junior doc here. Fully signed up to EWTD so my contract says I work 48hrs per week. My rota has me working 76 hours this week (5×12 + 2×8 hr shifts) and I’ll have actually worked >80 by the time Sunday finishes. No overtime payments.

    jonba
    Free Member

    37.5 hours

    personally I’d do the calculation on a per hour basis. I like the fact I have evenings relatively free. On a good day I can be home at 5pm which in summer gives me 4hours to ride in daylight. Wouldn’t want to finish at 6 regularly even if they paid me for the hours worked. Suppose that depends on how much you need the money vs. want the time.

    BenHouldsworth
    Free Member

    Leglam, the EWTD has covered junior doctors since 2004/2005, how are they still getting away with giving those sort of hours?

    restless
    Free Member

    I work 12 hr shifts 7-7, days or nights on a zero hours contract, so I might do 2, 3 or more shifts a week.
    Only get 45mins for lunch though. The hardest part is being sat down in front of a screen for all that time!

    deano8
    Free Member

    Self employed – roughly 30hrs per week excluding unpaid travel over 4 days.
    I’m daughter duty 1 day while wifey works.
    Feeling fortunate

    legolam
    Free Member

    BenHouldsworth – Member
    Leglam, the EWTD has covered junior doctors since 2004/2005, how are they still getting away with giving those sort of hours?
    POSTED 55 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

    It’s averaged over 17 weeks, so somehow it averages out at 48hrs/wk. Not quite sure how!

    _tom_
    Free Member

    160 hours a month minimum so 40 hours a week over odd shifts! Normally end up being rota’d to do more, 180ish a month.

    stimpy
    Free Member

    The joy of self-employment means that:

    (A) the Working Time Directive does not apply to me; and

    (B) for the past thirteen years I have not worked fewer than 60hrs per week and regularly put in 90-100hr weeks.

    Yes, that often means starting at around 7am and finishing around 1am.

    I haven’t included lunch (which I often don’t get anyway, because I have to work through it) or travel time in that, btw.

    Hadn’t actually thought that hard about it until I read this thread.

    FML.

    davidtaylforth
    Free Member

    stimpy – Member
    The joy of self-employment means that:

    (A) the Working Time Directive does not apply to me; and

    (B) for the past thirteen years I have not worked fewer than 60hrs per week and regularly put in 90-100hr weeks.

    Yes, that often means starting at around 7am and finishing around 1am.

    I haven’t included lunch (which I often don’t get anyway, because I have to work through it) or travel time in that, btw.

    Hadn’t actually thought that hard about it until I read this thread.

    FML.

    Fair play, that’s mad. How do you manage to do that?

    I struggle to do my 40 hours.

    v8ninety
    Full Member

    This thread reminds me; I need to get some ovies in, I’m obviously slacking…

    It may have been mentioned already; the UK’s biggest employer considers 37.5hrs excluding breaks to be the norm, and pay x1.5 for anything over that. I’m not arguing.

    john_drummer
    Free Member

    RichPenny

    How do you get that? I like my job, I’m just not prepared to work more hours than I’m paid for. I’m also a lot happier now I WFH 4 days out of 5

Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 88 total)

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