Office culture?

[Miri]

Hi I was reading an article about differences in office culture around
the world and I wondered what it is like where you are.

I’m from the UK.
Typically we work 9-5 Monday’s to Friday’s with an hour for lunch
and either tea/coffee breaks. Or instead of drink breaks you can get a drink
whenever you want and drink while working.

There are variations like starting at 8.30 or a 30 min lunch, finishing at
5.30 etc.

Plus some places like mine have flexy hours so I have to be in work
between the core hours of 10am-12 noon and 2pm-3.30. But other
than that providing there is sufficient phone cover I can arrive and leave at
varying times and have between 30 mins to 2 hour lunch.
I do have to get my hours in though we have to put in a 35 hour week (excluding
break times).

By law if you work full time (5 day week) you have 28 days leave. This can include
public holidays but many employers give you 28 days leave plus public holidays.

We get 31 days leave plus public holidays where I work. I work part time though
so for me I get it pro rata.

 

[melita916]

I work Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm with an hour lunch. I usually take my lunch from 1230 to 130 because someone needs to be around to answer the phone.

We’re off 8 holidays. For PTO, I forget how many days we get per working year. I do know we get 3 hrs added with each pay check lol.

 

[Subhumanoidal]

I think it's more varied now, as well. With internet businesses, YouTubers and streaming and home businesses. Not to mention more businesses tend to take a more casual tone than it used to. So i suspect the 9-5 stereotype is less common here than it once was. Though, obviously, some businesses need to maintain it.

I find much of it confusing as i understand certain things have laws (overtime pay, breaks/lunches, vacations) but so many large businesses flatly ignore such things that i wonder how many businesses can be so blatant about it. Some sort of discrepancy somewhere.

 

[zeroturbulence]

Telecommuting for office workers is very popular here in california. I don't know why they call it that since it has nothing to do with telephones or commuting. It just means that people get to work from home one or more days a week instead of coming into the office.

 

[Demi777]

Here u work Monday to Friday 8 or 7 until 6 with a 1.5 to 2 hr lunch break.

 

[cinder]

The M-F 9-5 (or rather 8-5 since your 1 hour lunch is usually unpaid) is a pretty common standard although for some offices those hours may be shifted. 5 - 8 hour days makes up a standard full time 40 hour work week and depending on state law (I think it's state law) I've seen overtime (in my experience 1.5 times the normal payrate) paid out either for all the hours over 40 in a given week or anytime worked over 8 hours in a given day.

Paid time off is usually 10 -20 days per year depending on how long you've been in your current position ( I think I'll be at 10 days per year until I've been at my job for 6 years, then it will go up to 15) as well as "holidays" my company goes by probably the minimum acceptable list of holidays which gives us 6 per year and then they designate another 3 days per year as "floating" holidays (which are sometimes assigned by the company so they can close the office for long weekends, Friday after thanksgiving is always one of those floating holidays, last year Christmas eve was one as well and this year the friday after 4th of July is one). Government employees and institutions get several more holidays off every year (which most of the rest of us only remember when the sale ads come on or the mail doesn't come). Two paid 15 min breaks a day are also mandated by law, in nice weather I use mine to walk laps around the parking lot.

My office is pretty laid back coffee and hot and cold water are provided ( I've had to bring in my own stash of tea bags, Americans still have a definite prejudice that favors coffee over tea) and we have our own stash of snacks available for sale at cost (which can be a great thing for the single who wants a snack cake or a few crackers but doesn't want to buy the whole box or pay the retail markup for individual items at a convenience store).

 

[Solemateleft]

So I'm a Federal Employee and much of what you described is very similar...
I will add, that several folks and a couple branches have the unusual practice of earning and using credit hours in addition to our Flex schedule...
We track 80 hour pay periods, where some people have the flexibility to put in their 80 hours in 9 vs 10 work days (m-f) and take every other Friday off.
Some people do have the luxury of teleworking 1 or a couple days per pay period. Those of us who work with classified information do not have that luxury.
The use of credit hours allows for so much more flexibility, and includes the core hours.
We are allowed to accumulate and carry up to 24 credit hours from pay period to pay period. For example, every hour worked over 80 hours in a pay period is recorded as credit hours. I like to use those credit hours for Dr, dentist, school functions etc, and save my annual leave for holidays or quality time of with my kids...

 

[Oncefallen]

We are allowed to accumulate and carry up to 24 credit hours from pay period to pay period. For example, every hour worked over 80 hours in a pay period is recorded as credit hours. I like to use those credit hours for Dr, dentist, school functions etc, and save my annual leave for holidays or quality time of with my kids...

I always chuckle at the inconsistencies between Federal labor laws that govern employers and how the Federal government almost always exempts itself from them.

That practice actually violates federal labor law. An employer has to pay you for every hour worked in that work period (overtime if over 40 hours in a work week).

 

[Solemateleft]

I always chuckle at the inconsistencies between Federal labor laws that govern employers and how the Federal government almost always exempts itself from them.

That practice actually violates federal labor law. An employer has to pay you for every hour worked in that work period (overtime if over 40 hours in a work week).

Yep, Agreed... we've had several exchanges with the Comptroller to ensure our compliance...
Our dilemma is that the burden is being imposed upon the Employee to perform the requisite hours to perform their duties to accomplish the Higher HQ Mission...
Make no mistake - every half hour worked over an 8 hour day is mission dependant... Not just sitting around searching the internet...
As I mentioned - this is an unusual practice... Unfortunately, the highest level supervisor in this organization does not have a pulse on Time & Resources...
I often make the case that whether it is Overtime (which is frowned upon) or Credit Hours BOTH are means of acknowledging and/or justifying that this organization may require additional personnel to accomplish the HQ Mission in the Time Allotted...

 

[Deade]

My last full time job I was salaried and not paid hourly. I was a mainframe computer programmer. Talk about a gravy train. I had to wear a suit and tie everyday, a long ways from driving a truck like I did before that. We god paid for sick days as long as there weren't more than 30 per year. If we left early, it was never deducted. Anything over 8 hours in a day and or 5 days in a week were considered extra (overtime paid at X 1 1/2). We were really coddled, I guess they didn't want other companies stealing their help.

Before that I drove a truck, an 18 wheeler. We worked strictly on commission. A percentage of what the load paid. They watched our hours very closely to make sure we got enough rest. That was done via log book. You had to keep track of everywhere you went and record breaks.

 

[Miri]

We use to get time and a half overtime evenings and double time
weekends. Now all overtime is paid as single time regardless, so many refuse to do it.
especially those who have to travel some distance to get into work.

They also tell us we must work 37 hours a week (less lunch breaks). But when
overtime is calculated it’s calculated as if we work a 42 hour week (ie with an
hour for lunch). So they don’t have to pay as much overtime per the hourly rate.

 

[Miri]

My last full time job I was salaried and not paid hourly. I was a mainframe computer programmer. Talk about a gravy train. I had to wear a suit and tie everyday, a long ways from driving a truck like I did before that. We god paid for sick days as long as there weren't more than 30 per year. If we left early, it was never deducted. Anything over 8 hours in a day and or 5 days in a week were considered extra (overtime paid at X 1 1/2). We were really coddled, I guess they didn't want other companies stealing their help.

Before that I drove a truck, an 18 wheeler. We worked strictly on commission. A percentage of what the load paid. They watched our hours very closely to make sure we got enough rest. That was done via log book. You had to keep track of everywhere you went and record breaks.

I’m the one who would regulate your driving hours to make sure you
don’t drive tired. Lol

 

[Deade]

I’m the one who would regulate your driving hours to make sure you
don’t drive tired. Lol

Some of the companies used what were called tattle-tales: little paper wheels that fit into a clock devise. I never drove with one but I did manage some in California that had those. We had some drivers that worked without a local supervisor that ran the cakes and cookies up and down the West coast. By California law they had to have tattle-tales. We bought 6 new trucks for the 4 positions of these coastal runs. We used two locally, ran without the wheels in them, for local runs until maintenance was due on the coastals then we had one to switch out. The main thing we had to watch on those was the speed which was recorded. The runs were already laid out so the breaks were pretty much built in.

 

[Miri]

Some of the companies used what were called tattle-tales: little paper wheels that fit into a clock devise. I never drove with one but I did manage some in California that had those. We had some drivers that worked without a local supervisor that ran the cakes and cookies up and down the West coast. By California law they had to have tattle-tales. We bought 6 new trucks for the 4 positions of these coastal runs. We used two locally, ran without the wheels in them, for local runs until maintenance was due on the coastals then we had one to switch out. The main thing we had to watch on those was the speed which was recorded. The runs were already laid out so the breaks were pretty much built in.

We call them tachographs. Now though there are digital ones so no need for
the paper disc any more.

 

[zeroturbulence]

Speaking of truck drivers, about once a month I'd see this line of semi's on the shoulder of the freeway on my way to work. A highway patrol officer on a motorcycle near the end of the line was motioning every other one to pull into the line. There were cops at the other end of the line as well. I assume they were checking their log books or something like that.

 

[Deade]

Speaking of truck drivers, about once a month I'd see this line of semi's on the shoulder of the freeway on my way to work. A highway patrol officer on a motorcycle near the end of the line was motioning every other one to pull into the line. There were cops at the other end of the line as well. I assume they were checking their log books or something like that.

There are areas in California where this is common. Most drivers know where the strict points are. Like the scales near Oceanside used to be a choke point for older trucks that have numerous defects, like smoking too much, too many leaks, etc.

 

[Hamarr]

My hours have always been a bit weird since I have been in this job I have now. I am a contractor and paid hourly but we support engineers that are salary and several offices around the world.

I generally work 10-6, but have to have some flexibility to cover later or earlier hours if needed. If overtime isn’t available, I’ll sometimes stay in the office for 6 or so hours and be “on call” the rest of my time in case something comes up. I usually work remotely when that happens.

What I do will also depend a lot on what the current needs are. If things are slow, I have a lot more time to code and work on projects. Other days I am mostly doing internal support.

I have to write down a lunch break on my time card but our time is tracked by total hours and not when you actually worked.