the 8 hour work day

[LSK]

Does that include lunch or does not include lunch where you work?

[monktonman]

1. We get paid for lunch but....

Some weeks we work seven days.
Thanks for the free lunch.

[TahitiNut]

2. "WORK"!?!??!

[China_cat]

5. Dirty 4 letter word ending in 'k'.

[Bluzmann57]

3. 12 Hour shifts

paid lunch, but only work three or four days a week, depending on which week it is.

[China_cat]

4. What 8 hours?

My husband works from 6pm to 4am at the office and then is expected to cover the phone until 6:30am. (Specially programmed cell that he has to carry.)

[tjwash]

6. Technically, we get an hour unpaid for lunch. 8-5 with a lunch at noon.

But I work out of my house house when I'm not traveling, so basically my working hours are when I start to when I finish. Some days I put in 16 to 18 hours, others I don't do squat, so it evens out.

[Warpy]

7. 12 hour shifts, unpaid half hour for "lunch ,"

which we had to eat on the floor and usually on the fly.

I've never had a job with a paid lunch hour. I was lucky to have jobs where we had an hour and we actually got to eat lunch.

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

8. IT Salary position

I end up working about 45-50 a week but get to do a good deal of that at home..

I find in past jobs that Lunch was not paid but breaks were..

[peace13]

9. Other- Self employed

I can't tell when I am being paid and when I'm not! LOL! When we had employees it was an 8-5 workday including an hour for lunch. At times we had flex time and some would work through lunch to cut out an hour early early. Peace, Kim

[skater314159]

10. Other...

... when you're a Chaplain, there aren't "8 hour shifts" and "lunch" is whatever you can grab and eat on the way to something or after something... kinda like bathroom breaks. Also, you always carry a pager, 'cause crisis doesn't have "8 hour shifts" either.

[alarimer]

11. Mine is 8-5 and we are not allowed to skip lunch to leave early

That directive came down from Headquarters but is routinely ignored by everyone.

I also work out on the water or in the field a lot. Those days I do not take lunch breaks; I eat on the run if at all (because I would rather get done and get home instead of wasting an hour sitting around). Those days 8-5 is 9 hours, rather than 8. So the headquarters' directive is unrealistic, given our work patterns.

[nashville_brook]

12. the 9-5 day is gone.

[toadzilla]

13. i work 8 hours, but get paid for 7, sincei technically have a 1 hour lunch.

sometimes i can take it, sometimes i cant.

[B Calm]

14. I'm a truck driver, 8 hour work day, you kidding?

[focusfan]

15. I work 12 to 14 hours a day

I get lunch if I get the time

[fascisthunter]

18. What Do You Do?

Not healthy to be busting ass like that, but can understand why some do work that hard.


one word: DEBT

[focusfan]

24. I am self employed and work by myself

Insurance and fuel keeps going up so it just takes more to make end meet.

[fascisthunter]

25. I Hear Ya Man..... Stay Healthy

although I have to ask... the question was posed for those who usually work for someone else. Do you disapprove of people wanting payed lunches?

[recoveringrepublican]

16. I think 40 hours is too much

I really don't understand how many women do it. I'm working 40hrs right now after being a SAHM, and no way. Granted I'm pregnant and this time it's really showing me how old my body is, but it's too much with everything else to do in my homelife. I'm happy I'm having another baby, and a big reason is now I will stay home again. Kudos to men and women who do it all, but it's too much with a family, probably even without one. Though I could take 3 12-hour shifts if offered. I will never again work anything but part time unless I absolutely have to. My husband works 6 days a week, he helps out as much as he can, but there is still a lot to do.

[Skittles]

49. LOL - 40 hours

last week I worked 60!

[fascisthunter]

17. Notice How Little Americans Get from their Employers

Yet work more for so little?

[LSK]

21. yes that is obvious

I wonder how this poll would have turned out 30 years ago or if it was on a European messageboard.

[fascisthunter]

26. Thirty Years Ago?

Heck, ask them now. My brother lives in Germany and gets ten times more benefits than I do.

[LSK]

27. 30 years ago in America

They even made a movie called "9 to 5".

[fascisthunter]

28. In America... Sorry About That

I thought you meant Europe. SO true LSK.... I was a kid when that movie came out. Unbelievable and a great point.

[Echo In Light]

56. Notice how few are willing to do anything about it?

[kath]

61. yep - I was wondering -- Do those pinko commie Yurpeens get a paid lunch hour??

[krispos42]

19. unpaid lunch, but a paid 10-minute break

When we work longer than 8 hours, we get a second paid 10-minute break.

[Sanctified]

20. I usually only work 3-4 hours a day, but I have worked 12 hour days.

I love being self employed.

[silverweb]

22. I get paid for what I produce. Period.

There is a window of set hours within which I'm free to arrange my own time with regard to meals, breaks, etc.

The computer logs my hours, my production, and my rate of production, from which my pay is calculated.

I like it.

[pitohui]

23. my husband is paid by the hour, NO, no one is paid for eating lunch

no hourly employee i've ever heard of is paid for eating lunch, that is for "salary" employees who do nothing useful except "manage," the people who do the real work of the world, every minute of their time must be accounted for if they expect to get paid for

nor do they have the option to skip lunch and work straight through to get home earlier in case you wwere wondering that, if you want to get paid 8 hours, you've got to spend 8 hours working plus take the scheduled company work break
(but it's only 1/2 hour not a full hour so it doesn't drag out the workday so much longer)

[Romulox]

29. Salaried employees get paid to eat lunch? Is this a joke?

You don't understand how the FLSA works. Salaried employees are typically worked 50-80 hours in most places. You better believe that hourly employees account for every minute they've worked. Because they are paid extra for working more, unlike salaried employees.

Which makes your claim that salaried employees are "paid to eat lunch" a bit silly.

[B Calm]

32. Salary employees get paid the same amount no matter how many

hours they put in. This is why they are so anxious to hurry production and run the hourly employees out the door before they get their eight hours in. They get to go home early for the same amount of pay and also get a pat on the back for saving the company money.

[Romulox]

37. Repeat that again: "Salary (sic) employees get paid the same amount no matter how many..."

Now ask yourself if it is possible that "getting paid the same amount no matter how many hours they put in," might cut more than one way? :think:

[B Calm]

67. Not always. Especially when they're overpaid to begin with!

[WillowTree]

38. You really don't have a clue, do you?

I'm salaried and I'm not management. And I have to get my 40 hours in AND take at least a 20-minute unpaid lunch break. That's every week, unless I take vacation time or, of course, we're in a crunch and I need to work MORE than 40 hours...for the same amount of pay. Right now our department (IT) is really slow because we worked really hard and long hours before and just after the holidays to clear the decks for a new line of business we're going to be taking on. That will be coming out of development in the next couple of weeks and we'll be working 50-hour weeks some of the time for several months to get it up and running on schedule. And we won't be paid overtime for those extra hours, either.

And by the way, I don't know what the law is in Indiana, but in Illinois a lunch break of at least 20 minutes, whether paid or not, is mandated by law. My manager allows us to work through lunch once in awhile if we need to, but we can't make a habit of it because taking a lunch break is the law. Personally, I think it's stupid that the State finds it appropriate to decide for adults that we must take a lunch break in lieu of getting our hours in and leaving a little earlier whether we want to or not, but that's the way it is.

Edited to add:

And part of the reason I'm not in management anymore is that I've reached a stage in my life where having a bit of personal time is more important to me and I was worn-out from working six days a week and putting in 60 hours/week in at the office and still bringing work home with me. I learned the hard way which side of the fence really does have the greener grass, at least for me.

[sandnsea]

57. *sigh*

Have you heard of the employees on manufacturing lines who have to wear diapers because they can't even get time off to pee? Have you heard of the young people dying in China because they're run raggged, 12-14 hours a day, with no breaks or meals? That's why we have meal and break laws, and most states require 30 minutes.

[WillowTree]

63. I don't have any problem at all with...

....requiring employers to allow lunch breaks. I just think it would be nice if people were allowed to decide for themselves if they want to avail themselves of that or not so long as the employer agrees. Half the time I'd just as soon nibble while working and leave 20 minutes earlier and my manager would be just fine with that were it not for the law.

It's not that this particular issue is a big deal to me, I just think it's a bit of the Nanny State syndrome. And the previous poster was complaining about the same thing and I was commenting on it, that's all.

[sandnsea]

64. And watch employees get fired

right and left, for any reason under the sun except that they chose to take a lunch break. It isn't nanny state. You need to learn some history. The very reason you even think you deserve a choice is due to the people who died to fight for labor laws. We let them get away with some of these employee options, and you see what happened at Wal-mart and places like that. They just make you work off the clock. If you want to work 60 hours a week and live in a tenament, keep up with your nanny state nonsense. It does not apply to labor laws.

[WillowTree]

65. Whatever.

Have a pleasant day.

[MrsMatt]

51. I used to manage an hourly worker

while I was salaried. I worked more hours; yet she actually was paid more because she was hourly and received overtime pay. That's the reality of salaried positions - the title is part of your benefit. Subsequently, she was promoted to a salaried position as my boss didn't feel it was fair that she was receiving more money than me.

Frequently, I work through lunch specifically to cover the lunch hour so that the hourly staff can take their lunches when the real world does. And, in a service industry, a large part of the business occurs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. because MOST people do errands during their LUNCH hour. I typically eat at my desk, in order to answer phones and greet people at the door.

But, I suppose that since I'm in a managerial position, I'm really just sitting on my ass and eating bon-bons whilst my staff slaves away doing the real work of the world. You really apply that broad brush, don't you? Get a clue before you post.

[AngryOldDem]

30. People here actually work 8 hours????

I have no doubts that you all work that entire 8 hours; my point is I am shocked that an 8-hour workday still exists because it's beyond my realm of experience now.

I have to work 9 now, just to get the pay I made when I worked 8. No matter how management tries to dress up the turd, it's still a pay cut on a wage that is scarcely above minimum. On top of that, I now have to clock in and out, so God forbid anything that cuts into my work time, say, an emergency or some such. I had such an event happen recently, which took about a good $100 out of my pay (which comes just every two weeks).

Oh, and did I mention that I used to work for management who recognized our low-pay situation and would work with those of us who had financial difficulties, but now it's nothing more than a big FUCK YOU to a staff that goes above and beyond the call every-single-fucking shift??? And God forbid anybody pulls any kind of overtime. Management practically has a fucking hemmorhage when that happens, despite the fact that we are down about three people to have our shift filled completely, competently, and safely, and management is taking its sweet time hiring people to bring us up to full staff.

And did I mention that this place is a non-profit CHARITY organization? To say that charity begins at home is cruelly ironic, and would be laughable if so many of my fellow co-workers weren't hurting. If we so much take a fucking loaf of bread out of the place, we can get reprimanded, despite the fact that most of it will end up in the Dumpster anyway.

Did I mention that I have had my fill and am actively looking for another job?

(Oh, and to answer the question, back in the day when I was on salary and worked 8 hours, lunch hours were not factored in. Those were the days...)

Rant off. Even if nobody reads this, at least it's off my chest.

[dysfunctional press]

42. you work for a "non-profit CHARITY organization" and you wonder why they don't like to pay overtime?

:eyes:...sheesh

[AngryOldDem]

58. Sheesh, is right.

If you actually comprehended my post, you would have understood that at one time the organization DID treat us pretty fairly. It understood that the pay it gave us sucked, so that they allowed us "perks" such as taking extra food home and such, as well as giving those of us who were in financial straits help, with no expectation of payback or any other obligation. The organization used to have a heart, used to have a soul, and inspired its employees to return that in the work that we did.

Now, that's not the case. We are being asked to do more with less, and everyone is at their breaking point. By the way, this is a homeless shelter where we deal with upwards of 200 homeless men, women, and children every night, not all of whom meet the warm and fuzzy picture of the poor, needy homeless person that some people here on DU like to think of when thinking of that population. (Flame away on that. I really, really don't give a shit.) So excuse me if I'm feeling a little burned out right now. It's hard to play case manager/doctor/psychiatrist/psychologist/social worker/mom/dad/you name it and have your management think you're not worth a decent, livable wage, and have them say that to your face, no less.

[Skittles]

48. yes - I haven't worked a 8 or 9 hour work day in DECADES

:o

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

31. I gave up working 9 years ago as a bad habit.

Not to mention it's highly overrated as a pastime.

Retired, on my 55th birthday. Undoubtedly, the happiest day of my life.

[dysfunctional press]

43. same here. 9 years out of the grind

but my retirement came a month shy of my 38th birthday.

[Blue_In_AK]

33. I work at home.

I always eat lunch. :) Some days I work four or five hours, some days I work 12-15 or through the night. It depends on deadlines.

[electricmonk]

34. 8 hours no paid lunch

Actually 8.5 hours and they deduct 30 minutes automatically after being clocked in for 6 hours whether you take a lunch or not. The machine operators get two 10 minute breaks also. It's mind numbing, boring work so they have to have the breaks just to stay focused. I used to let them take 15 minutes but kept getting in trouble from the bosses so I had to stop that.

[Gold Metal Flake]

35. * hours does not include lunch but does include two 15 minute breaks.

That's how it is in most places I have worked.

[WillowTree]

36. Other.

We have the choice to opt for either 5 eight-hour days (flexible unpaid lunch, two 15-minute paid breaks) or 4 nine-hour days (same lunch/break options) and a 4 hour shift (no lunch, one break) on Friday. In actual practice, however, my manager doesn't care how you get your 40 hours in so long as you do it. It's a nice set-up for us.

[walldude]

39. 8 hour workday.. Bwhahaha!

What are you kidding me? Check out the life of the roadie:

7am- Breakfast

8am- Loadin & Setup

Noon- Lunch

3pm- Soundcheck

5pm- Dinner

6:30pm- Doors

7:30pm- Show

11pm- Tear Down

2am- on the bus to the next town to start at 7am and do it all over again.

19 hour days- 4-6 days a week Next time you go see a concert, thank a roadie...

[aikoaiko]

45. when do you find time to have sex with all the roadie groupies?

:shrug:

[Balbus]

46. I pay $40+ a ticket not to think about you.

Don't like it? Quit.

[DaveJ]

40. So many "Uniquely American" folks here.

Big business discovered long ago, that more hours at less pay equals greater dividends for the shareholders -- and the shareholders are the only people who matter according to rethugs.

[dysfunctional press]

41. 8 hours included breaks, but not lunch. 8 1/2 hour day.

back when i was doing the whole "job" thing.

i've been retired 9 years- since i was 38.

[aikoaiko]

44. When I worked for an hourly wage, lunch was off time.

Now I just work.

[Skittles]

47. I work 12 hours (more sometimes) and eat at my desk

while on international conference calls - I mute to crunch :o

[CRF450]

50. Well my summer job is a bit different when it comes to hourly work

I clean pools and hot tubs durring the summer. Everyone is given a specific route to stick to durring the summer. Almost everyone in the business including me clean on Saturdays and Sundays. Then we come back on Tuesday and Wednesday for the midweek check, where we just check the chemicals and water level. In terms of hours, we arent given specific hours on which we have to start work, but we do have to be finished by 4pm, and since theirs alot to do on saturdays, I have to start right when the sun rises so I can see what I'm doing. On sundays we're given less to do, usually about half as much as saturdays, so I get up and going about a couple hours later. Now, for the midweek checks, it doesn't take but less than 2 hours to check the saturday pools and spas, and then around an hour to check the sunday ones. But it does vary depending on how low the water level is in the pools, so sometimes I'll have to just sit and relax or just go somewhere and have a little bite to eat and then come back.

The total hours I ended up working would be around 17 hours/week, and making several hundred dollars. I really love the job because of the flexibility I am given for the hours I choose to start, I am doing less than half the work for over twice the pay compaired to past 40hr/week jobs paying $7/hr, but its not something I can make a carear out of because theirs no benefits. But my current job right is welding/assembling work trailers, like the ones you see landscapers use to low their lawn equipment on.

Edit: I forgot to say, we dont get paid by the hour, we get paid by the job, as in how many pools/spas we clean. The pay varies though, because most cottages have both a pool and spa, while some may have, just a single swimming pool, and some will have just a hot tub. So the pay is less for the ones that dont have both a pool and spa.

[WillowTree]

52. Some of the responses to this thread are really interesting.

I took my first full-time job in 1971. I've worked a lot of different places over the years. Some were huge corporations and some were small operations. Some had a standard 37.5-hour work week and others were 40. Some places I was salaried and others I was "non-exempt".

And not one of those places I've worked in the last 36 years paid people for their lunch time nor did anyone expect to be. Why should they? As it is, most states mandate break time that is usually "on the clock" and most employers give their employees at least two weeks paid vacation time. Someone please explain to me why an employer should pay people for time during the day when they're not working because I honestly don't understand the rationale.

[DaveJ]

55. Well, for one, human beings are not robots...

By that logic, every break, every bathroom visit, every glance away from the computer screen (or whatever machine they work) would be deducted. Would you propose that? I could create a software program for office workers that could literally meld humans with machines. It would be easy. Every time an office worker glances away from the monitor, deduct the time. If someone's eyes begin to strain due to old age, that's their problem. Forget about the value of human intellect, because it's the machine that matters.

Isn't it the humans that matter? Are we trying to build a human world or a big machine??

Basically, even without creative thought, one could still easily deduct that our lives are worse than a few decades ago, because we are working more hours for less pay (inflation adjusted). If one has no ability to think creatively at least reduce it to that.

(BTW, just to be prepared for retorts, plastic gizmos don't count as quality of life enhancements.)

[WillowTree]

62. Now you're just being over dramatic.

But what the heck. We want paid breaks, paid lunches (even if we use that time to run errands and then scarf down a sandwich at our desks when we're back on the clock), paid vacations, paid sick leave, paid holidays, paid maternity leave, paid paternity leave, paid adoption leave.......what did I miss? How much more time when we're not working should they have to pay us for? Perhaps people should just get paid without having to show up at all.

My employer pays me X number of dollars for 40 hours of work per week (or more, when it's necessary to get the job done). I get a certain amount of paid sick/vacation time and 10 paid holidays every year and once in a blue moon we get a few unscheduled hours off with pay, such as when they told us all to just go home after our Christmas luncheon. Other than that, I'm expected to show up and be actually working. Funny, but I can't say I've ever really been resentful of having to actually work for what I'm paid. Then again, maybe I'm just weird. Or a closet Republican.

[DaveJ]

66. Not dramatic, just broader minded...

I really do think that the U.S. runs the danger of putting the machine ahead of human interests.

For example, look at the evolution of the military industrial complex, campaign financing, corporate tactics and hedge funds, the meat industry, etc. All these are well tuned "machines."

"Where we draw the line" is a powerful reaction to my opinions, but I think it draws a false analogy. It implies that people who do not enjoy their work will automatically take advantage of employers' generosity. But it is not difficult for employers to spot those types of people. Their dedication to their work and overall contributions should be reflected on their paychecks. It's not up to a "machine" to make that determination.

I don't think you are a closet Republican, just more of a believer in X style management, whereas I prefer Y to X. (http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/history/xy.html) Maybe X-style is more appropriate for some teens and others without any work ethic, but even in those cases, I think there are workarounds to make them genuinely interested in contributing to the world around them.

[Generic Brad]

53. I work 11-1/2 hours a day

And 5 hours on Saturday. I do not take breaks. Most days I miss lunch.

And I'm much better now than when I was younger. When I was in my twenties I was a workaholic.

[AlienGirl]

54. I work on salary, so usually 10-12 hours a day

Because I'm on salary, I am obliged to work until the work is done, no matter how long it takes. My last timesheet was something like 108 hours for two weeks, and that was not counting time while I was on-call but not actually dealing with an on-call issue. Also, I eat at my desk.

Mind you, I'm not complaining. One of my co-workers has a Ph.D and has told me that the job market is so tough, this entry-level gig was the best he could get. And it still beats retail, by a long shot.

Tucker

[Horse with no Name]

59. I work 12 hours shifts without a designated break

We actual clock in for 12 1/2 hours but never get an actual break.
Oh by the way...we are supposed to get 30 minutes for that 12 hours.

[MrSlayer]

60. Paid break, no paid lunch.

First shift is 7 am to 330 pm.