How much work is too much???

You are technically correct, but in practice no employee is going to suggest they opt out of the WT directive, the employer will have it in the contract and will generally expect the employee to agree. And if OP is in finance (which actually it doesn't sound like to me) then they have almost certainly been "asked" to opt out.

Op as someone who has struggled along with jobs honestly just have a think over whether this is for you. It’s nothing on you if it’s not, as you said there’ll be plenty of people snapping at your heels but it’s just it sounds like a lot and you sound like a change might be an idea

The employer can’t. The employee can.

Depends on if the employer has opted out of the European working times directive (if it’s still applicable post brexit)

It sounds as if you are not sure the job is right for you and these working hours expectations are part of that.

In my experience it's rare for your immediate peers to admit they're having a shit time and bricking themselves every day. They may be or they may not be. Newsflash: it is really common in professional jobs to feel like you can't do it at all in the early days.

Do you have a mentor? Someone outside your immediate management structure but who is more senior than you in the same industry - perhaps someone you think looks as if they are doing well?

Email someone like that and say you are looking for a mentor and would they be interested in meeting. Read a bit about what mentoring actually is. Ask your manager if you can have a monthly mentoring meeting during working hours. Have a coffee with them. It sounds as if you could do with some structured support.

Yeah I knew this wasn’t health bc the hours are so short.

Don’t do it if you don’t want to. We’re seeing generational change everywhere - there just isn’t the appetite for this sort of work-life balance anymore. It’s ok if that’s you too.

I had a friend who got on the graduate scheme with a major bank. it was 20 years ago. He was starting in their NY office and had been informed they had sleeping pods in the office.

I remember working 60 hour weeks but this was nursing so not big bucks. At least you have the potential to earn huge amounts of cash some work like that and earn next to nothing. Embrace it and congratulate yourself on stating life near the top of the money food chain.

I think its important to understand that these sorts of grad trainee hours paid off in the 80s and 90s as there was the possibility of fast progression and salaries that meant you could afford to buy a decent house and pay private school fees etc.

That's no longer necessarily the case, especially the housing part yet the employers and older, more senior staff have not yet cottoned on that its perfectly logical for people to be less willing to work so hard for less in return, and still try to expect it.

Be really cautious about what you give up. You won't necessarily get the return your predecessors got for all those hours.

Ha big four is nowhere near that bad in the first couple of years, i did mostly half 9 - to 7 (but less when in college) and never worked weekends!!

I was going to say as a pp said it sounded like aldi. Its known for high starting salary but bloody awful hours.

I wouldn't personally touch retail with a bargepole but know others who've survived it and done well.

The rule is at least 1 day off per week if you have not opted out of the WTD. So you could have Monday off in the first week and Sunday off in the second week meaning that you have worked 12 days continuously.

I have had a long career in finance. Your hours on a daily basis are pretty light compared to what I recall. But a shift pattern is not normal in any finance role I have come across, it generally is Monday to Friday but with some weekend working some times of the year.

You think disclosing a whole industry is going to out you? Of all the ridiculous “don’t want to out myself” posts this has to be the most ridiculous.

@ThisIsACoolUserName Because not everyone has the stones for it, not necessarily in a negative way, some people want to promptly leave the office at 5pm even if they have a full inbox. Others wouldn't think twice before making themselves another coffee at 5pm to go back to their desk to tackle their inbox. I'm in the former camp now but when I started my career I was both feet in the latter group. Not everyone wants to set themselves on fire daily for their job.

I’m doing atrocious at it since starting last month.

OP, a big part of working in a professional role is having to cope with feeling out of your depth. I never feel settled in a new role until I've been there for a year.
One month in, all I'd expect you to be doing is absorbing what information you can about the company and services/products they provide, and meeting key stakeholders to introduce yourself. You certainly shouldn't be expected to be any 'good' or even neccessarily 'capable' at anything yet.

Not meaning to sound harsh but it ain't that bad as long as your not under the minimum wage with all the hours. As you stated it's finance related guess you have already worked that out.
I would be more concerned about why you feel your useless at it.

Why? I've done both and have a great career and have enjoyed it.

Do you know if it's company specific or industry specific?

I'd say this isn't unusual. Depends on the type of job but like other pp, I think every job I've done waives the 48 hour rule.
In hospitality it wasn't unusual to work 10 days without a break.
When I was in education in a more senior residential role, we worked 24/7 and only had 24 hours off, we were often on call overnight (and were woken up and had to deal with issues) straight after doing 24 hours previously. At one point I was working 84 hour weeks, which was 'justified' because we got school holidays.
We just got on with it....and I did that jobs for many years.

I did anything from 45 to 80 hours a week after graduating. Just doing the basic hours was a massive transition from uni it felt just like work, sleep, work, sleep for a while and then I got use to it. But I was doing what I loved (and still do) so for the most part enjoyed the hours and am now very successful in part thanks to them

IMO your 20s are either for mucking about avoiding work for as long as possible, or really putting yourself into work and building a career. Then once you get to your early 30s you either start building a career on turbo speed if you did the former, or reaping the rewards of your success and slowing down if the later

What you need to remember OP is that while this is a good graduate scheme and this working pattern is considered the norm, that doesn't mean you need to suck it up and enjoy it.

I had a 'big job' after finishing uni and despised every minute of it. I left after nine months (and others left before me!). I learned that the sector and that pace of life was not for me. I now work in the public sector. I do get paid less than i would in the private sector. But the pace and lifestyle balance is right for me. And I get the perks of flexibility, relative security and dare I say it my pension.

There is no shame in accepting some roles are not for everyone.

I thought it was 14 days max in a row

I disagree with this. I think you're a mug permanently working 70 hour weeks to prove your worth. It's dangerous and damaging.

The 48 hour maximum per week is averaged over 17 weeks.

I'm contracted for 5/7

Sometimes I end up doing 9/10 days straight, depending on where days off fall

It's very normal imho