What's a working day in an office job?

[Concestor]

This has come up in a work situation where someone gets paid a day rate and logs their hours and I'm curious.

I think a working day in an office job is 7.5 hours, based on the 9-5.30 with a lunch hour. Obviously I know lots of people work different patterns to this these days.

Do you think a working day in an office job is 7.5 hours? Or something else? What hours would you expect from a contractor on a day rate where the hours per day hadn't been clarified/agreed?

I work 0830-1630 with a 30 min unpaid lunch break. 7.5 hr day.

I completely agree. But the situation has arisen and I'm curious as to whether there's a general consensus on what a working office day is in terms of hours.

The contracted day rate is less than the salaried rate for similar roles. The rate is set by the employer/client.

This is madness - who can work productively for 10+ hours per day. I'd rather pay an hourly rate, and have the person work a reasonable number of hours per day.

37.5 hours is standard full time hours though, so you could easily argue that this is what's meant if a different number isn't given.

I do 10-6 with a 40 min paid break. I love it😆

40 hrs a week for professional contractor

@zurala surely the rate should be (significantly) higher than salaried to account for own salary, plus holiday pay, overheads, tax & insurances? That's insane to me.

In this case, I wouldn't expect a full days work out of the contractor each day, based on whatever the standard "office hours" are in this place of work. Obviously they're not being reimbursed as such!!

Completely unnecessary taking a one hour lunch break. Doesn't take one hour to eat a sandwich 🤣

You need one hour lunch break like others on this thread!

My organisation is 35hrs pw, 7hrs per day for permanent staff and contractors.

The same hours apply for contractors and salaried staff . Flexi between 08.00-17.30 to equal 37.5 hours paid.

My office is 7 hour days full time (35 hrs pw).

@LuckOfTheDrawer

In my work it is standard to work approx 8am-5:30pm. Maybe once a week to take a lunch break, rest of time you work through it (eat in meeting!). Then standard at lest 2-3days a week to then log on in evening and do a further 3hours.

Contact is 37.5 a week.

I'm on 37.5 hrs a week in my contract, originating from the 9-5.30 you describe, but always work longer and flex start and finish times to suit work or personal life.

DH is 36 hours per week.

Plenty of people are 40.

I'm paid for 37.5 hours but actually work around 50 a week

Mine is 37.5 hrs a week. 7.5 hrs a day, 30 mins unpaid lunch. 8-4 but we often work later and claim the hours.

I agree! It is a crazy situation. Hence why it's important to clarify what a day is because the contractors are already missing out. The rate hasn't been put up for at least 8 years either...

Our full time staff work 7 hours a day so 35 hours per week.

7hrs and 24 mins after accounting for Lyn can break

In absolutely every full time job I have had my working hours have always been 37.5 hours a week (7.5 hours a day).
35 hours is quite a short working day and not usual IME.

Pretty much everyone in my industry.

Contractors tend to work for 6-12 months and then take a couple of months off though.

It depends: I am in a senior role and work remotely in consultancy, so my days / weeks / months will vary.

I'm employed on the basis of a 40-hr week, but if a big project needs to get over the line, I'll work double that, including evenings and weekends.

At other times, when things are a bit quieter and I'm satisfied I've got most of my 'to-dos' over the line, I'll take slightly longer lunchbreaks or finish up a bit earlier, so could do 30-35 hours a week.

Our industry is very much 'get the work done and we don't care how or when you do it', so ultimately it all balances out. The time I spend at my desk isn't monitored or controlled and I have a lot of control and autonomy over my workload.

Having been an IT contractor myself in a past life, this is pretty common.

A lot of contracts will be short-term - 3/6 months - and certainly the way I used to do it would be to work flat out for that period, then take a few months off before starting another contract.

The work is generally very well-paid and if you work in a fairly niche area, as I did, you tend to have a good and fairly secure network meaning that work is easy to find.

My last 2 jobs have been 8.30-5.30 with unpaid hour lunchbreak. 40hr week. This seems to be increasingly the normal where I am.

It is usually 7.5 hours as the standard sometimes even 7 hours…people working 10 hours is mad how can you still be productive after that many hours .