Is 7am to 5pm too long a day?

[Crazyindiechick]

I've been wfh as a freelancer during lockdown - I also did a masters degree during lockdown. Applied for staff jobs last autumn and have been offered one with working hours of 7am to 4pm but have been told most staff stay till 5pm.
I've never worked a day as long as this. Not even in the early years of my career - and I did find working 8 hours a day with a lunch hour. To get into work (office) for 7am I have get up between 4.30 and 5am.

I do 8-6 4 days a week so compressed hours. I'm supposed to take 1hr 15 for lunch but I generally work through. Come 3.30 I'm brain dead. My job is quite mentally demanding. I slow right down from 4pm as calls tail off. My output at that point is equivalent to a full day

It depends on the role and sector. I’ve spent 20yrs in investment banking where ‘core’ hours are 7-7, but frequently 7-8 or 9 and when you have a big trade about to close, 7-midnight. Obviously the pay makes up tor it.

What do they mean “most staff stay til 5” - are they expecting you to work this hour for free? What is the salary - is it huge enough to warrant working for free for an extra hour?

How many days a week? This would be OK four days a week (40 hours in total) but a 50 hour week sounds a bit much!

6 then 4 off

I wouldn't do a job that involved me getting up at 4:30. Others will be fine with it. Depends on your situation.

Nope. I would never do these hours.

how long will you spend traveling?

depends if you’re an early bird or a late owl usually?

That exceeds the Working Time Directive doesn't it...

I would not.

I agree depends on role, sector and pay.

Also think its a red flag them telling you most staff stay an hour longer!

You don't have to do it, op. I don't mind working that length of time but would do it as a later start/finish. Getting up ay 4.30am every day wouldn't be good for me.

No. They are already telling you that the long hours they stipulate aren't enough to do the job by saying most people stay an extra hour. It wouldn't be the right culture for me.

I'd be more worried by the expectation that you're expected to work longer hours than contracted for.

The company is getting 1hr free from their employees. What else will they expect?

I currently work from 8-4 at home, with a long lunch to go for a run so no chance I’d take those hours unless it was for a life changing salary or job title, ie, something I could do for a couple years and know I’d be set to achieve really good work life balance afterwards. For me, it’d have to be about $300k and several hundred thousand in stock (I have contemplated this scenario working for Amazon, although I think that commute might kill off even that), ie, enough to pay off our mortgage and sock away enough to take 6 months off after going through that hell. But life changing is different for everyone. We are very comfortable so the money would have to be very significant to make it worth missing my DC growing up, enough to know I would get a huge amount of time with DC in future. Even then… not sure id do it.

Also agree with PP that those expectations sound like the company has terrible work/life balance which isn’t for me.

Not the day I would choose u less it's a 3 or 4 day week

I work 12hr shifts (that often turn into 14hr shifts) and if I’m lucky get a 30min unpaid break !

Is it over 4 days or 5? I wouldn't be doing 7-5 5 days a week if I had any other options. 7-4 I would consider but I have just turned down 8-6 4 days a week in favour of a pay cut and working 8-5 4 days a week instead. It's fine to say it should be possible, but that doesn't mean it's desirable and I would be twitchy about places that have those expectations if it's over 5 days.

I can only think of 1 place I have been to where the hours were 7-4 but most staff stayed til 5 (it was in East Anglia so PM me if you want a name of the business) and no one could have paid me enough to work there.

I do 5 days 7.30am - 5.30pm as a teacher, then a couple of hours marking etc. in the evening, 7-9pm. Love the job but yes it's too much. Watch tv for 1h 9-10pm then collapse into bed and repeat. Short commute however thank goodness.

I previously worked two jobs over five days. One of the jobs was two days working 7am to 6pm and it was a physical on your feet job. It was knackering but I enjoyed it.

I'd be a bit concerned at the comment that "most staff stay until 5pm".

Like others, I don't think more hours makes you more effective. It's the opposite. There is also a very slow creep to work more and more hours and it's not healthy. I'm working far too many hours at the moment due to workload and stupid expectations but I am planning on getting out shortly. I need a life!

Most companies ask you to sign a waiver

I wouldn't OP. It'd be different if you were being paid to work those hours but they've been very clear you are not

That's too long. No work life balance with hours like that.

I think it depends. As a teacher a long working day is normal in term time. But we get half terms & decent hols rest of year. So it balances out. I think those hours would be long if you only had 25 days/year hols.

I've done ten hour days before (not everyday, but once or twice a week) and they were horrendous.

I used to work 6am-4pm in retail, which meant getting up at 5am, leaving home at 5.30 and getting home at 4.30pm. My feet were killing by the end of the day and I was way too tired to do anything except shower, eat and crash afterwards.

I'd never sign up for a job like that again. I currently work six hour days as a dog walker and earn more than I did working those horrendous days in a supermarket!

I wouldn't do it, not if it was 5 days a week.