Are UK work hours really long?
Posted by TheArabella@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 224 comments
I read a lot of books from the UK, and in those it seems common that people are working until 6 or 7pm in office type jobs. Is this actually the case? Or is it just for the novel?
I work for the Australian Public Service and personally go home at 4pm.
chains_enjoyer@reddit
In kitchens I worked anywhere from 30 to 60 hours a week (although that’s pretty chill by kitchen standards). In the NHS I worked 9-5 Monday-Friday, plus maybe 4-8 hours overtime.
TheDawiWhisperer@reddit
5pm is fuck this shit o'clock.
Although sometimes it's also 4pm and there are days when I'm asleep on the sofa at 3pm
MilkMyCats@reddit
On my WFH days I get up at 8am, run a batch file to open up everything I need to indicate in online, but to wait there minutes first whilst the laptop takes ages to took up tor the VPN, then 60 seconds before mapping the drive, etc etc put a 100g weight on a key on the keyboard with a rich text file open... And fuck off back to bed for 2 hours.
My dog likes to sleep to at least 10am so I go back in and cuddle up to her asap.
They don't live long enough, Labradors. And she deserves my time more than my dickhead of a boss.
Flat_News_2000@reddit
Same lol unless I have a morning meeting. Put my large nail clipper on my spacebar and go back to bed for an hour until my adderall kicks in.
uniguy31@reddit
Agreed
Mental_Body_5496@reddit
Living the dream!
wardyms@reddit
Office jobs are still thought of as 9-5. Although 8-4 is probably more common. I don’t think anyone doing a standard job is working until 7pm without either overtime pay or extreme responsibility.
MojoMomma76@reddit
Most London jobs don’t start at 8am
Ramsden_12@reddit
Yeah London jobs are either 9-5.30 or 9-6. Starting at 8 is so early.
Gullible-Hose4180@reddit
I was taken by surprise when I came to London and a full time job was suddenly 9-6 instead of standard 9-5. Was a shit company though. After joining another financial services giant I was back to 9-5
Ramsden_12@reddit
I've worked outside of London too - Hertfordshire, York, Brighton, and I've never seen lower than 9 to 5.30. One of those in a village outside of York was even 8.30 to 5.30! I think 9 to 5 is very rare.
Kian-Tremayne@reddit
Depends. I work for a bank’s technology department. We don’t have set start and end hours, but because we have a lot of colleagues in India we tend to start early to have more overlap with their working hours. I will be in the office at 7:45 on some days and won’t be the first one there.
BasisOk4268@reddit
I work in advertising and with work life balance in the best shape it’s been in years, my days are often 830-6 lol. I know many colleagues who regularly work until 8 as well.
hungryhippo53@reddit
I left advertising and web to the Civil Service because of the work-life balance. I was sick of working 8-6 then entertaining clients in the evening as well
GreatChaosFudge@reddit
I worked in market research for ten years. Regularly had to run focus groups in the evening, twice a week. Finishing at 10pm, once you’d got back to your hotel and written up your notes. Occasional weekend fieldwork too. This was *all* unpaid overtime.
ADamnGoodShot@reddit
cries in film industry.
New-Variation-4191@reddit
Cries in architecture, all nighters all too common
SpunkSacks@reddit
I walked away at 55 after 33 years. Love the job. Despise the hours.
TarcFalastur@reddit
I've worked several jobs where I was working until 7pm regularky without overtime pay. They were the sort of jobs people would complain about bitterly and I eventually left those jobs because of the conditions, but I still did it. It happens more commonly than people might think.
CharlemagneKidding@reddit
Junior engineers (civil, mechanical, electrical etc.) all work to 7pm and beyond regularly without overtime pay, sad state of the industry in the UK
paulmclaughlin@reddit
No they don't
boringfantasy@reddit
Never heard of this. Why would they do that?
Hillbert@reddit
I work in an engineering firm, and ours certainly don't.
Occasionally everyone chips in to get something over the line before a deadline, but that's the exception.
CharlemagneKidding@reddit
Exploited because they are passionate about their work
esspeebee@reddit
I work until 7 quite regularly, but that's because I usually start at 11.
Riverside2420@reddit
I work evenings aalllll the time and I work in the charity sector. It seems quite common.
JakeBees@reddit
An 8 hours work day is pretty standard with a 30 min unpaid lunch. Some employers, especially American companies, seem to have 8.5 hr days with 30 min unpaid lunch .
Some jobs especially in more traditional companies with also have a 30min payed break in there.
Start times are where it really varies. 9-5 is standard but 10-6 and 8-4 are not uncommon
notemark@reddit
I work in an engineering office and typically it's 08:30-17:00 with a 45 minute lunch.
We can work extra if we wish, overtime isn't paid as we're salaried and reasonable overtime is contracted in but it's usually offered as time in lieu if it's asked of you.
Brilliant_Growth_196@reddit
I do 9-5, some people in my office do 9:30-5:30. A few more senior people will work until 6 and then some will do a 4 day week and spread the hours of the 5th day across the rest of the week meaning they will work later or start earlier.
fishybanana12@reddit
Worked in corporate London for 5 years and I and everyone else was doing way over my 40 contracted hours a week. 8-6 was pretty standard, very common to log back on for a few hours in the evening and over the weekend, and unpaid lunch hour could never be taken because you’d either have meetings straight through lunch or it was your only free time all day between meetings to actually do your work. I didn’t even work in an important industry, just FMCG shit. I now work in aus and work 7-3.30 daily with a half hour for lunch which I always take in full. If I do work a bit late because of a problem/ call I make up the time another day no problem.
azlan121@reddit
I work in live events, where the hours can be brutally long, a standard working day for most technicians is about 12 hours, with 14-16 hour days not being too unusual, and 20+ hour days not being too irregular. The start/finish times can also be pretty much anytime on a given day, doing 14-30 days straight without any days off also happens in the busy seasons
On the flip side, we probably also take a lot more time off than most, I take most of August, half of December, and almost the whole of January off, as well as a smattering of 3/4 day weekends and random days off in the week
It's a mixture of practical considerations, budgets, and the high proportion of us being freelancers who charge day rates rather than salaried/hourly employees.
It's also an industry you get into because you love it, and it's a lifestyle as much as a career
quartersessions@reddit
Really depends on what sort of job you're in. If you're a Magic Circle law firm, or working for one of the Big Four accountancy firms, you'll absolutely be working a lot of hours - particularly when you're young.
If you're working for Tiddlesshire County Council, you'll be out the door less than a millisecond after 5pm.
No_Concept4683@reddit
You can add London “high finance” jobs to that list. Not a huge industry but it has outsized cultural recognition (e.g. the Industry TV show). Used to work at an investment bank in London, never once did i leave before 7pm except occasionally on a slower Friday.
Microchi@reddit
What's mad about this is I work for an investment bank but in Glasgow. The culture just now is if you work past finish( 5 for me) consistently then you are doing something wrong.
No_Concept4683@reddit
Different line of work probably? I was specifically referring to M&A teams - never heard of anyone working 9/5 in that function, even in smaller regional offices.
Microchi@reddit
Oh aye m&a is mad.
When I first started in 2014 in ops it was expected of you to do and extra 30 mins at the very least. Now your getting chased out the door.
peppermint_aero@reddit
Out of curiosity, what time were you expected to arrive?
No_Concept4683@reddit
Eh, reasonably flexible if you didn’t have a meeting or call in the morning. Between 9.30 and 10.30 the most common. Occasionally people would come in at 11 or later if they’d clocked off at 4-6am (not uncommon)…
Musashi1596@reddit
Good to know they're freely flouting employment law
No_Concept4683@reddit
You waive yourself from the 48hr max work week when starting. The pay is also excellent, everyone chooses rather than is forced to work there.
Musashi1596@reddit
I was more concerned about the lack of an 11 hour break between shifts.
No_Concept4683@reddit
Think we fell under “unmeasured hours” or 24 hour work exemptions. Certainly never heard anything about a mandated break!
Musashi1596@reddit
An 11 hour rest period between shift is mandated by the Working Time Regulations act of 1998. There are exceptions for certain fields, which you may well fall under, but that should mainly be public services like the police and fire brigade.
peppermint_aero@reddit
Interesting, thanks!
Vireosolitarius@reddit
Years ago when I was a corporate lawyer and working on a deal with a London merchant bank one of their juniors took a half day’s holiday to watch the Champions League final (8pm kick off). He still missed the first half.
ViacNitu@reddit
Oddly specific
TheArabella@reddit (OP)
I googled Tiddlesshire just in case it was a real place. The top result was this post
Superspark76@reddit
He is right about the councils, I worked in management for one and overtime was frowned upon, if you had to work overtime it would have to be explained to your line manager and would then usually be paid or given in lieu (depending on the reason). The council believed more in a work life balance than any other employer I've ever seen
fgspq@reddit
I started a council job a few months ago. I had a hospital appointment the other day and was just waved off. No third degree, no guilt tripping, it was great.
Great-Ad-632@reddit
Best move I ever made was from working to the NHS to my local council! They absolutely put staff first, the NHS would rather you drop dead before calling in sick
fgspq@reddit
Yeah, I left teaching for a safeguarding role. It's night and day in terms of work-life balance
KiwiNo2638@reddit
Teaching is horrendous. I trained, never qualified as the hours killed me. It isn't 9-3:30 with 13 weeks of holiday. As a student teacher, I was finishing the teaching day, going home, writing lesson plans, marking, writing reviews, writing essays. Going to bed in small hours. Walking up hours before the school day to finish what I hadn't the night before. Occasionally I'd eat.
I'm sure there is a sweet spot as a NQT where all that extra work isn't required, but you still need to write reports, update lesson plans for the inevitable Ofsted inspection, mark work etc. The kind of stuff that you would get time in the working day to do, other tasks get out back. You can't exactly cancel your year 10 chemistry class because you've got lesson planning to do.
fgspq@reddit
Honestly, I loved it for nearly a decade, despite waves hand everything. Some of my last words to my head of department on why I was leaving were "the curriculum has become a joyless slog through content".
I remember (I was an English teacher) and felt like I was doing something subversive when I did a fun little starter like "roast sir with an inventive simile" in the last few months.
I also hated the creeping AI use, not just by students, but by teachers as well. I was constantly being told to use dog shit resources in the name of "consistency" and would spend most of my lesson time pointing out why it was horseshit.
KiwiNo2638@reddit
I trained in the 90s, before all the Gove stuff. It was becoming less "teaching learning and exploring" and more "regurgitation"even then. I don't remember any training on alternative provision. The furthest it went on that score was some people learn best through seeing, some through listening, some through doing. Some of the training was useful when it came to having to train staff in other jobs though, so even though I sighed a bullet, it wasn't a waste.
Logical_Strain_6165@reddit
I've come from the private sector. NHS sick pay is very generous if you are very ill, although if unlucky enough to get multiple small bugs over a 12 month period can seem harsh. I'm out the door at 16.00 and weekend overtime is paid 1.5 hourly.
Its such a big organisation though, so it must change a lot depending where you work. But IT in my trust is a nice job.
BoopingBurrito@reddit
Medical staff are in such short supply they tend to face extreme pressure to go to work, regardless of how ill they are.
Mr_Emile_heskey@reddit
Eh depends on your department and how good your leads are. My department very much prioritises patients health and well being but other departments, not so much.
Independent-Win-6661@reddit
Very flexible isn’t it? I work flexible time and anything I do in evenings or weekends I get lieu time so works really well for me. Also I’m lucky as work in a team that is supportive so never any problem with drs appointments etc as long as you dont take advantage.
cev2002@reddit
The councils also really don't have the budget for paying you overtime.
peppermint_aero@reddit
That's the real reason. You are expected to stick to your contract hours because overtime will be paid and they don't want to pay it.
Diem-Perdidi@reddit
It's not the 'real reason'. Councils still need people to work antisocial or long hours sometimes, but they're focused on service delivery, not some material output that increases the more hours you spend on it. It still 'pays' for those hours, it just pays it back in the same currency, i.e. time. The public sector is just different to the private, and naturally has a different system of incentives.
Shot_Net3794@reddit
Because the councils often have a very close relationship with the unions which includes other things such as the real living wage, as all reasonably sized companies should be
bigonebitey99@reddit
I work at a big4 and outside of about 3 months of the year I work 9–5/6
acripaul@reddit
Yeh, but what were the hours when you were cannon fodder, I mean, a student?
I know of folks that literally had their kid sleeping under their desk at mid night whilst finishing audit files in the office. Whilst also preparing for exams.
bigonebitey99@reddit
It was 9-6 outside of the 3 months of busy season
Terrible-Group-9602@reddit
Ah but that council flexitime
Flashy_Error_7989@reddit
There’s no flexitime- I work for the council in social care and regularly work stupid hours- end up having to work my leave etc
Terrible-Group-9602@reddit
Of course social care is different and social work, but you'll see them clocking off in parking, planning and environmental.
DigbyDoesDallas@reddit
And the amount of people who work in a magic circle firm or one of the big four is relatively tiny so chances are you’ll work a 9-5 generally speaking
Soniq268@reddit
Big 4 is only really intense as an accounting grad when you’re also doing exams, audit is only around half of the business so loads of people aren’t stuck in the auditing busy season madness.
I joined as an experienced hire and rarely work late, whether I’m in the London office or a regional one, the floor is basically empty by 5pm the majority of the time.
anunkneemouse@reddit
not even magic circle firms - my wife is a solicitor at a small-medium size firm and is regularly working deep in the night.
DryArugula6108@reddit
6 isn't unusual. 7 I'd expect the person to be quite senior or in one of the more demanding professions.
When I was a PhD student, we were 'encouraged' (expected) to work 9am-10pm, for six if not seven days a week, for a stipend of 13k.
BumblebeeMission411@reddit
Entirely depends on the job.
Anything related to social services/health care, emergency call jobs etc, office hours can be long. The service could even be 24 hours, so you could work in 6/8/10/12 hour shifts.
Most offices are only open about 9-5, so maximum workday would be 8-6.
City of London, high pressure type jobs, maybe you'd be expected to stay later as well.
But your basic office job is most likely 9-5 or 8-4 Monday-Friday.
SuuperD@reddit
8-4 construction sites.
Numerous_Green4962@reddit
If I'm in the office, it's normally 6:30 to 15:00 or 15:30ish if I'm WFH 5:00 to the same sort of time. Either way I'll try to get quarter or half an hour for lunch. Unfortunately, where I work our contracts require us to do as many hours as are required to get the work done without overtime payments, so we keep cutting staff as they know the rest of us have to pick it up or get pilloried by the press.
Capable_Tip7815@reddit
I do Mon to Thurs 8-4, 30 mins ish lunch. Fri is an early finish most weeks.
Bret_Riverboat@reddit
I’m contracted to 45 hours in catering but now we’ve moved to a clocking in and out system we are told off if we don’t hit 45 hours and we must take hour long breaks. It feels like we are being squeezed more and more. Back in the day it used to be 6 shifts (3 day, 3 night, one of which was a double). In order to hit 45 i looks like I need to do 5 ten hour shifts with an hour break taken out.
Golden_Liechi@reddit
*Cries in a public service job involving 12 hour night shifts*
XCinnamonbun@reddit
Emergency services by any chance? I volunteer with emergency services and whenever I’ve been crazy enough to do a night shift I’m dead for days after. Absolutely no idea how anyone does that on the regular
spanakopita555@reddit
I've had several jobs.
As a teacher I worked 7.30-6 and sometimes more in the evening, plus at least 4 hours at the weekend.
In one office job I worked 9.30-6, occasionally staying later at peak times.
In my current office job I work 9-5 and basically never have to work late.
forzafoggia85@reddit
Lucky fuck
VolcanicBear@reddit
Are you one of those "I love being exploited for free" types?
forzafoggia85@reddit
I was specifically commenting on current job 9-5 and no staying late. Not sure how that means i love being exploited
VolcanicBear@reddit
Hahaha seems I'm illiterate, my apologies.
VolcanicBear@reddit
So you consider someone a lazy fuck for doing their contacted hours?
After I commented I came to the conclusion that it must've been sarcasm I was missing, but I guess not lmfao.
spanakopita555@reddit
The flipside is that my current job isn't well paid and is incredibly boring.
parameters@reddit
A lot of teachers at my school (secondary state) are moving to 0.8 or so FTE as 1.0 with statutory minimum PPA is 60 hr/wk during term time once you include working time at home. If the mortgage was lower I would join them.
Prestigious-Slide-73@reddit
How did you escape teaching? What did you go into? Did you take a pay cut?
spanakopita555@reddit
I don't want to give full career history so as not to doxx myself, but yes, I took a cut from 36k to 27k moving into another role. It took me a long time (about 5 years) to get back to 36. However, saving my mental and physical health was much more important to me and worth the cost.
welsh_cthulhu@reddit
No. Hardly anyone in a normal office job in the UK works to 7pm.
RBisoldandtired@reddit
Some offices will have later shifts but they’ll have started later. 10-6. 12-8 etc.
Red-Stahli@reddit
What? I’ve never heard of an office worker doing a 12 - 8 shift.
lankymjc@reddit
One of the offices I worked in (Shazam), my manager did 11-7. She liked to sleep in, and the hours were super flexible.
This meant that she didn't see our team coming in at 8 or 9, so when we left at five every day she bollocked us for "leaving early". Fuck Shazam.
adi_mrok@reddit
I do 10-6 due to exactly the same reason as your manager
RBisoldandtired@reddit
Was lucky to have flexi at one job. As long as my hours added up at the end of the week I could, to an extent, work hours that worked for me. As long as I had x amount of early or x amount of late I could choose. This was during Covid so we had free rein to start and work any times between 8am and 6pm. Could do the full day if wanted to build up flexi and start as late as half 1 on a late or finish as early as 12 on an early. As long as our hours added up. Could also build up credit and use them as and when you wanted.
Everyone finished early on a Friday 😂
adi_mrok@reddit
I do have flexi too!
lankymjc@reddit
I work in a school and I am jealous.
TravellingMackem@reddit
I do 7-3 for the same but opposite reasons. And allows me to avoid the traffic at rush hours both going in and out
peppermint_aero@reddit
Call centre staff would absolutely do that kind of shift.
Successful_Buy3825@reddit
I've definitely seen it in my old firm - people working on the US desk would slowly filter in from 11am
UniquePotato@reddit
I used to work 10.00 - 19.00. Was brilliant, rarely had traffic jams and could have a steady morning before setting off.
Used to manage stock allocations for a supermarket chain so the longer we left it, the more of the days sales were captured making a more accurate allocation for the next day
venuscans@reddit
Half my office does that exact shift. It might blow your mind to learn some of them do a 3 to 11pm shift too!
Intothechaos@reddit
I have a friend thay does almost exactly that, working with the Americans.
RBisoldandtired@reddit
Not all offices are doing admin tasks. Some offices provide support to end users/customers/members of the public
Economy-Judgment-754@reddit
So wrong, half the office Jon's in the country and customer service and every one Ives worked in was open until 8pm.
YourTwenties@reddit
Sad news for Jons everywhere
CanWeNapPlease@reddit
My first job (tech) I worked 40 hours, 9-6pm with an hour lunch, 50 min commute each way so I'd get home about 7pm. It sucked as the rest of my team were 37.5 hours for some reason so they finished at 5:30pm. The company's argument was that all new employees would be on 40h which was bull as I knew of plenty that started after me but were only offered 37.5 hours with a nice rounded salary advertised so clearly there was no calculation done to lower their salary.
Had to go a year without even inflation pay rise so I could drop my hours to match them... Even though older employees never had their lower hours affect their salary offers.
I left the company a couple years later as it was clear they just picked and chose who got the better end of the sticks.
lovesorangesoda636@reddit
Most office jobs are 9-5 with a hour for lunch so similar to what you're working.
Some jobs have a culture where you're expected to stay late because they're just piss poor at planning and refuse to hire an adequate number of staff.
In salaried jobs there's also often something in your contract which says you're expected to do overtime "if required" but that you get the time back later on.
Obvious_Bat4093@reddit
when i worked in south east asia for a bit , there was alot of office workers doing 8am to 9 pm shifts, feel like we are heading that way here
Responsible-Type-595@reddit
Depends what you do, civil services is similar from what I’m told by friends, 8-9am start, 4-5pm finish. I personally work in engineering and construction, but I do 8:30-8:45 start and finish at like 5-6:30pm depending what I have on. It’s flexibility, but if I have stuff I need to finish, I’ll work longer.
Objective_Mousse7216@reddit
Join the UK public sector, no long hours there. Private sector the hours are fucking long.
SkengmanFy@reddit
I work in the head office for one of the 'Big 5' banks in the UK. They try to push a culture of working til late but theyve been pushing and squeezing their staff for so long that everybody has actually started leaving at 4-5. The days of staying inthe office til 6 or 7 are long gone. They have recently had senior 'leaders' hold employee-wide conference calls to tell us that, despite removing flexible working options and mandating 60-75% of our time being in the office, they expect us to be available between the hours of 8am-6pm Monday-Friday. We're only contracted for 35 hours a week.
TLDR: Management expect people do work those long office hours out of generosity but people dont because theyre already overworked/squeezed.
Illustrious-Entry129@reddit
Potentially but not for the reason you might think. At my office in the UK you can start any time between 7am-10am, you just work your 8 hours and then you can go home. Some people also choose to take an hour lunch break (not included in hours) so could be staying until 6pm/7pm. Starting at 8 is more unusual in the UK, I start at this time and am normally one of the first in the office. But perks are leaving at 4:30pm!
alexllew@reddit
I my experience 09:00-17:30 with a 1 h break is the most common work pattern.
pastie_b@reddit
If i'm in the office i'll usually work 9 hours, if i'm on site I can be working 12-14+ hours as my boss stacks jobs then denies overtime or toil to get free work.
Fine_Cress_649@reddit
Doctor. I work 8 30-6 with a 45 minute commute on either side
odkfn@reddit
I hope you get paid well for it!
Fine_Cress_649@reddit
The pay is ok. It was terrible (for the responsibility and hours) when I was a junior doctor.
sixwingsandchipsOK@reddit
Lol
Mental_Body_5496@reddit
No sadly
MaltDizney@reddit
Ironically the hardest I've worked, and the most overtime I've had to do was when i was working minimum wage. Everything since then has been to time and not a second after. I'm in a job now that offers overtime at a premium rate, but I never do it.
Intruder313@reddit
UK Civil Servants usually work for 37h/week with Flexi-time so can start/leave at a range of times. Usually.
Daveddozey@reddit
37.5 hour week outside of lunch is fairly normal, 9-5 with half hour lunch.
I’m on a 35 hour. Some will do 40 hours (so 9-5.30 with half hour)
Daveddozey@reddit
20 years ago I worked in an office on a 5 day week and tended to do 10-18, although for a while I’d drift in around 11 and leave around 19.
Didn’t last long, I’d come off shift work and decided after a few months to move to 10-20 4 days a week instead.
Mermaid654@reddit
Ive worked in office work for years. Always worked 7.5 hours a day, somewhere between 8 and 5 depending on the business attitude to when they want me their in the morning.
Neo-Riamu@reddit
I work in an electrical wholesalers.
My work pattern is:
Monday-Friday 0730-1730
For this i get an additional 2 weeks on top of my 28 days and i get a bonus every year.
Also the working environment is not so bad and it fairly flexible for my needs (child care and medical appointments)
It not the most hours i have worked in a week for a job and it not the shortest but it is very close to home in an industry i like.
9sim9@reddit
It can be for some jobs in London but not anywhere else. Most jobs are either a 37.5 week or a 40 hour week.
ptuk@reddit
Really surprised reading this thread. I’ve never worked a job of less than 45 hours a week full time. I’m a web developer now which I know is super rare to work this many hours but in previous jobs it was always a 9-6.
Electronic-Fennel828@reddit
I work the same hours as you. I work in education but I’m office based, not particularly student facing.
I will occasionally work late if shit had hit the fan with ofsted or supporting with an open evening or whatever, but I get time off in lieu and I’m pretty fastidious about it. My boss knows I’ve got no problem working over and doing what needs to be done. But I’ll be having that time back, or I’ll get paid for it. I don’t mind which.
Mr_Toad1966@reddit
In London, professional salaried jobs come with the expectation that you’ll have control over your hours without having your arrival and departure times tracked, but you will do whatever it takes to deliver. In my team in a strategy consulting group in a Big4 player, typical non-busy hours are 9-6, but teams might regularly work to 7-8, with times past 0100 when up against big deadlines. When I was in an MBB strat house, working until 7-8 or later was the norm. I see some other lazier front line teams plus support staff working 9-5 in my firm, depending on the type of function. In my team, someone who wasn’t delivering key outputs because they’d decided they wanted fewer hours would be out of a job pretty sharpish. Those expectations apply to everyone from junior staff to Partners. People are pretty free to work from home when they want to, since it’s the delivery that matters
lozface86@reddit
Yes although I think it is company-dependent. I work for an international company with offices in Eastern Asia (Tokyo, Seoul etc.) and the USA (California). As we have daily meetings with at least one of those regions, we are expected to be available to work between 8am and 7pm. We can take a longer lunch break and manage our own time but they are LONG work days even if I don't work more than 7.5 hours in total.
badger906@reddit
My missus does 8-4 and she’s home the second she finishes.
Ornery_Pipe_9243@reddit
No. I do Monday - Friday
Week 1 8-4 with a 30 min break Week 2 10-6 with a 30 min break
stuaird1977@reddit
Depends on the company and sector. Retail management absolutely crap pay for the 12 hours a day you will do, now I work in manufacturing in safety, far better pay, well above national.average and home by 3:30 everyday start at 7am
Funky_monkey2026@reddit
9-5 is regular hours. I usually do 8ish to 4ish working from home, but I started at 7:30 today because I woke up early. 8:45am and I'm on my bed, played games for 30 mins on my laptop. Usually work through lunch with a very short break but will probably close my laptop around 3:30-4 if I finish my work early and no meetings pop up.
R_110@reddit
Book just do that for drama or to build some background around that character.
For the average office worker, it'll be either 8-4 or 9-5.
Vimto1@reddit
I'm a coach driver, my contract is 42 hours but my rota is 57. I'm knackered
TheArabella@reddit (OP)
Just what you want in a coach driver
Vimto1@reddit
Nothing screams safety like pushing drivers to the legal limit 🤣
You_moron04@reddit
Avg is 35-40 hours a week. That’s pretty standard compared to the continent
New_Plan_7929@reddit
Not at all. We all go home at 5pm but in reality very little work happens after 3pm.
Putting a meeting in after 4pm is considered a hate crime.
dtrrai@reddit
This reminds me of something that happened at my current job. We had an audit, and come 5:00pm, we closed but I wasn't ready, so I was still at my destination at 6:00pm. My boss was leaving, he saw I was still there and told me to go home - basically, he said we pay you to work 9-5, and that's it. I don't want you staying late, come back tomorrow all fresh and ready to go and you will get it done.
Considering how bad my last job was for working late, this was night and day and I've stayed at my current job for over 5 years now and I love it! They appreciate me coming in early, but they never let me stay late, miss my lunch hour etc. such a good company to work for
tb5841@reddit
As a teacher I worked 50 - 55 hours per week. It wasn't really enough, so I was still dping the job badly.
Now as a web developer I work 37.5 hours per week.
GooseyDuckDuck@reddit
Absolutely not, most are 37.5 hours a week 8:30 to 5pm ish.
obedevs@reddit
I do about 9-4 on slow days (of which there are fewer and fewer), and average 9am-11pm on busy days. But it pays well and I enjoy the work.
DoorConfident8387@reddit
Not anymore Most office U.K. jobs are nominally 9-5.
Now of no course it really depends on your industry. how much you are being paid, shift patterns etc, some sectors have morphed into 9-6, others have completely different shift patterns, but the 9-5 is still the nominal standard.
Typical_Fisherman_50@reddit
Core hours in the office are 10 to 3 , flexi working outside of this to make up the hours to 37 for the week. The office will be dead by 4:00pm.
no-puedo-encontrar@reddit
I work a fairly senior role at a major global bank and I log on at 09am and I’m logged off at 5pm, 95% of the time.
Other 5% of the time is when something is due and I’ve been waiting on stuff from others and they send it to me at like 4:50pm.
Insomniacbychoice90@reddit
Depends on what sector, I'm in a warehouse doing QA at the moment working nights, we'll generally get to work about 10 minutes before shift to have smoke & chat then we get half hour paid lunch (8 hour shift) which we leave the floor 10 minutes early to get to the canteen so call it 40 minute break, then we'll leave 10 minutes before end of shift to get our bits and wait by the clocking machine.
When I worked for the village parish council I'd finish an hour early every day & get told to hide inside so no-one saw me, we'd also get an hour paid lunch & free full English from the local cafe.
Swings & roundabouts.
37728291827227616148@reddit
Commercial Electrician
7-3.30
TheArabella@reddit (OP)
That's regular tradie hours here too.
rohithimself@reddit
London, some places it can go on till 6,7 pm. Outside London, less chance. But as others said, industry matters.
When I came to the UK, I first worked at a BMW office in Bracknell. I used to be the last one to get out at 5, and the cleaning person used to be staring at me, to motivate me to leave.
After that British Airways, it was common to see good number of people at 6 pm, if a project was needing it.
After that retail banks, surprisingly, I found you can leave at 5 and people wouldn't see it as an affront.
asmiggs@reddit
Most long hours depicted in the UK relate to specific professions such as finance and law, most office workers outside those professions are contracted between 35-40 hours a week.
dodgy_donkey@reddit
I’d say “contracted” does the heavy lifting here. Me and a lot of people I know are technically “contracted” for 35h but work 45-50h on a weekly basis.
OSfrogs@reddit
I am opppsite work like 20-30 hours a week but contracted for 40.
Canipaywithclaps@reddit
Equally, most people I know are contracted 40 hours but genuinely woke about 20, especially those that have the ability to work from home
Pretend-City6652@reddit
Teacher here - we average 50+hrs a week (and work through our holidays)
Imnotlost_youare@reddit
Despite the common views held here, certain professions particularly in London demand much longer hours. We’re talking 9am to 8 or 9pm in a magic rice law firm average. But for reference, I now live in Sydney and it is also typical for me to finish at 7pm. People just don’t see it because they aren’t in those professions. Also people who work those long hours are less likely to have the time to post on Reddit, so your results on Reddit will be skewed.
SauconyAlts@reddit
I work 8 til 4 and cant remember the last time I saw 16.01 on my laptop screen
Sharps43@reddit
Most people at my company either week 0800 - 1700 or 0900 - 1800 (we dont get a choice as to which).
I work a mix of 0900 - 1800 / 0600 - 1500 / 1300 - 2200.
My longest shifts are over the weekends where its 0800 - 2000.
eugene-fraxby@reddit
Mine is typically 40 on the dot but recently I had a 56 and 92 hour weeks. That was not a fun time.
Jolly-Avocado0@reddit
Not really. I've occasionally done an extra hour when I've been really busy or behind. I think you're more likely to work longer when you have a non-office job.
When I did retail I'd have the odd 12 hour shift. My partner works in a builders merchants and does much longer hours than I do. NHS staff, carers etc all have crazy long hours.
JohnCasey3306@reddit
I (senior software engineer) work 9 - 17:30 ... Once or twice a month a late evening may be required.
AnneKnightley@reddit
Normal office jobs are usually 9-5 with many employers being flexible- eg I do 8.30-4.30pm. I wouldn’t dream of working later than that.
Asher-D@reddit
What time do you start? I work 2pm until 10pm, with 1 hour paid break. I may start very late but I work in a warehouse and work 30-40 hours a week depending on if it's busy so we stay an extra hour or if there's not as much work, in that case we leave an hour early. My standard work week is 35 hours of actual work. But there's three shift patterns and some people are finished for the day at 6am and others finish at 2pm, as in they take the first step out the building right on the hour.
Just because you finish quite late doesn't mean you worked long hours, unless you consider 7-8 hours to be long hours?
TheArabella@reddit (OP)
Good point I should have put that in. I work 8-4 with a 30 minute break. I was more thinking of people who start at the regular office time of 8 or 9
NoCold3997@reddit
Well to be fair i was working 12 hours a day in a foundry but anything over 4 days was voluntary overtime...
boscha15@reddit
Lawyer here. The thought of finishing at 5pm is unheard of. Always on and available.
My 20s and a large part of my 30s in the pre-wfh pre-Covid era were spent sat at the office until at least 8/9 pm with fairly regular all nighters.
It’s part of the expectation of the job in a lot of the larger more corporate firms and would be probably fairly typical for your fellow Aussie lawyers at firms like Minter Ellison.
The pay and the promise of the life changing money when/if you hit partnership is what allows for the level of exploitation.
Terrible-Group-9602@reddit
'It seems common' based on what?
TheArabella@reddit (OP)
Read the first part of the sentence
terryturbojr@reddit
I think we're generally longer then Europe but less than the USA and Asia.
Mine have historically been 40-45 hour weeks
So 8 or 9-6 with a lunch hour.
I've always worked in finance though which is known for longer hours and pay to make up for it
Public sector known for less hours and clock watching here too, especially people lower down the earnings
ohnobobbins@reddit
I think they used to be, people were more invested in impressing the boss 20 years ago.
There used to be a social contract that if you worked hard, you got promoted & good pay rises.
These days, with late stage capitalism, selfish board members and shitty suppressed wages, people are more boundaried and wise about it.
It’s a real shame, 30 years ago companies were way more fun to work for. People seem to be treated like drones now.
WGD23@reddit
WFH, 8ish til 5ish, 4 days a week, an hour for lunch, flexi. Lots of colleagues work similar but good luck scheduling anything formal before 9.15 or after 4pm.
Original-Proof-8741@reddit
I work in electronics manufacturing, it’s 9-5…
2c0@reddit
I leave the office at 4. Some people leave later, most earlier.
It depends on if management like you, if you managed to get good terms in your contract and your workload.
Unusual_Lab5318@reddit
Depends. I’m finding work hours in Australia are longer for me and my partner than when we were in the UK. We have gathered people definitely work more here surprisingly.
StarFox1997@reddit
I would differ to a few of these comments and say most corporate jobs in London, the majority of people are working until post 6pm.
HazzwaldThe2nd@reddit
Work for a mid sized tech company, 95% of the time I'm done at 5 on the dot. Occasionally I'll work an extra hour or so to get something finished but then finish an hour earlier another day to make up for it.
PickOpposite1201@reddit
I start when I start and finish when the job is done, between 7-15 hours a day Monday to Friday, 48-50 hours average a week, £45k
Low-Rooster5398@reddit
It depends I think. I've worked in places where everyone sat in the office until 6.30-7 when finisng time was 5.30, there's a toxic culture in some places where you have to be seen to be staying late and I'd regularly do 50+ hour weeks....it was almost expected of you. Other places you could go home at the normal time. I think it just depends on where you work.
forzafoggia85@reddit
The worst I have known is the expectation to stay for 50 hours, even though your role was complete within 36, but somehow your the bad guy
Available_Chapter685@reddit
Depends on what industry. I commonly work 12-14 hour days without breaks in a tech start-up. If you work in the public sector 9-5 with a long lunch and no intensity is normal.
Canipaywithclaps@reddit
Surly that depends what you do in the public sector?
For example I work 8am to 9pm, and regularly don’t get any break at all without high intensity the whole day?
Spiritual-Tip-4086@reddit
If you work in the private sector you will work longer hours. If you work for the public sector you will sit around being unproductive then leave at exactly 5pm
pnlrogue1@reddit
The template in the UK is 9-5 (8 hours a day for 40 hours a week) but the specific implementation varies a lot these days.
One place I worked was 8.30-5.30 with an unpaid lunch break to make it 8 hours.
My current place is flexible - I do 9-5 but colleagues often do 8-4. We 'work' 7.5 hours but 30 minutes is paid break and we take 30 minutes unpaid break to get our full lunch hour.
No-Sandwich-7661@reddit
Factory worker meant to do 22:00 but could be till 23:30 but yeah average between 37 hours to 42
a_strawberrydream@reddit
Depends on the job and the city tbh. A corporate job in London it's pretty much standard to be working to 6/6.30.
Interesting_iidea@reddit
You’re bound to work 8-4, 9-5 and 10-6 some workplaces require an additional 30 minutes but it all works.
Broad-Raspberry1805@reddit
No. 9-5 or 5.30 is a standard office shift.
limpingdba@reddit
Less and less. It wasn't unusual to see people in the office until 6pm before covid. Now it's unheard of.
rklrkl64@reddit
Where I work, the work start (08:00-10:00), lunch (1 hour during 12:00-14:00) and work end (16:00-18:00) all have 2 hour windows. As long as you are at work for scheduled meetings and do your 7 hours of work a day, it's all good. Yes, someone could potentially work a solid 10 hours by skipping lunch, but there's no overtime or time off in lieu if you did that, so no-one does.
plongeronimo@reddit
Only a cunt would work beyond 9-5, and even that's pushing it.
StIvian_17@reddit
Seems reasonable.
Ell2509@reddit
Days have gotten longer in the last few decades.
It is more normal for people to work 8 or 8.30 to 5.30 ir 6pm, now... I would say for full time, 40 to 60 hours a week is probably about average.
StIvian_17@reddit
That’s not how averages work 🤣. And a 60 week is a totally different beast to a 40 hour week. 60 hours is 8-8 5 days a week that’s an absolute slog. 40 hours is a normal contract.
_-id-_@reddit
Common to stay late for jobs with "crunch" periods and lots of deadlines or pressures. But in general no.
Werthead@reddit
Not really, as there's strict regulations which limit how long shifts can be. Most office hours are around 9am - 5.30pm, with some leeway (8.30 - 5pm is becoming more common). It may vary a little on if you have half an hour or an hour for lunch. Call centres might have shifts, so one team does 7am - 3.30pm, another does 9 - 5.30 and another does 12.30 - 9pm or something like that.
Some people might also do the same number of hours in less days, so doing 40 hours in four days rather than five, so you might work 7am - 5.30pm but then have Friday or Monday off.
In some industries, like video games and finance, it might be "expected" for people to do more than their contracted hours to get projects over the line, like crunch with video games, but even that is limited in the UK by law and unions more than in other countries.
Lachiexyz@reddit
I generally get into my office at 8am, have breakfast and read the news and generally start actually working by about 9am.
I head home about 4:30pm most days.
Been doing this for three years and nobody's said anything.
Apsalar28@reddit
It's company dependent. I'm a software engineer and in my current job it's 8:30 to 17:00 ish Monday - Friday with the occasional day starting earlier or finishing later if there's a major issue or something that needs finishing off. Most days I'm working from home.
My previous job was meant to be the same but turned into 8:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday in the office then logging back on at home for another couple of hours and at least one day on the weekend. This is why it's a former job not my current one.
ii_VorTex137@reddit
I do 8:30am-6pm Monday to Friday :) 45 hours per week
aesop_fables@reddit
I’m American living in London. I work a little less than half of what I used to in America.
audigex@reddit
A normal office job in the UK is either 8:30-5 or 9-5:30 with a 1 hour lunch, and a lot of people take a 30 minute lunch instead and arrive later/leave earlier
6-7pm would generally be an occasional thing at a busy time or if things have gone wrong (and I'd take the hours back once the rush was over), or someone who's working a later shift eg in a call centre where they might be open later... but they'll also start later
Nobody I know routinely works until 6-7pm
halbtehalf@reddit
You have jobs that have reasonable hours in the UK for sure but they do not pay as well as similar jobs in Australia. The ones with decent salaries demand longer hours in my experience.
Informal-Intern-8672@reddit
Nah, standard work day is normally 8 hours, most my colleagues finish at 4 or 5, I finished late because I changed to part time and condensed my hours into 3 and a half days.
Pikachu_OnAcid@reddit
My office job is until 8pm.
RavenSaysHi@reddit
Pre covid it wasn’t unusual for everyone to be in the office 8-7:30. Now people largely work 9-5, with working until 6:30 for certain projects as required.
ResultProfessional74@reddit
It depends. I work in a bank where I’m contracted 9-5 but work a lot of overtime. My boyfriend is the same working in a big 4 accountancy firm
Fureniku@reddit
I worked 8am-8:45pm today in an office job.
But I'm a burnt out game dev in peak crunch so take that with a bucket of salt
Under_Pressure_123@reddit
Like everything... It depends. I'm office based on the manufacturing sector and I work 10 hour days, sometimes more (I'm working at home right now), I don't get paid overtime. But I'm salaried and I am happy with the balance between my compensation, my work life balance, and my job satisfaction.
MojoMomma76@reddit
In London, office hours generally are flexible in my industry.
If you’re an early bird, 7.30 to 3.30 is fine, if you’re a later person 10-6 also fine. I had one job I adored I did 10.30-6.30 when I worked an office job in homelessness.
My place is totally hybrid so as long as you get your job done and show your face a couple of times a week, you’re good. I work a 9 day compressed fortnight so am technically around 8-6 ish 9 days each fortnight.
In reality, I work much fewer hours but get the job done, and very very occasionally work 60 hours a week when duty calls but it’s more like 20 really most of the time.
cal90265@reddit
I’d say amongst my friends most are definitely still in the office at 6pm, for many 7 or 8pm. I generally try to leave for 6/6.30pm which is the general expectation in my company. I feel London perhaps is later than other regions of the U.K.
boringfantasy@reddit
That's just Londoners
SomeWomanFromEngland@reddit
I often work until 7pm, but it’s not an office job and I don’t think most offices are open that late.
If you do shift work, your hours can vary by quite a lot and you can get some late finishes. But a late finish comes with a late start, so it’s not actually long.
This-Bread-1130@reddit
I work on the railway. It’s a 35 hour 4 day week. We get paid for our meal breaks and every minute over the 35 hours is paid overtime.
danmalluk@reddit
I worked until 8/9pm regularly when I was a grad until I realised nobody else in my org cares and I was wasting my time. If you're salaried, as I was, anything beyond your contracted working hours is free labour and loses respect, not gains it.
So yes, some people work long hours but no, it's not the norm and it's frowned upon.
Speaking as a knowledge worker in London. Others' experiences will be different.
Ironically, my last manager was based in Australia and worked longer hours than I knew possible. Like she'd be up before the Japanese and join meetings with the Americans. No idea how she's still alive
Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit
8-5 for me.
OpenInteraction3299@reddit
Service jobs won’t work that many hours but there are several jobs that do require it. I hire for trading firms in New York from London and I usually work 10-10 with an hour break for lunch and dinner
CurrencyIll9145@reddit
i work 9-6 with an hour's lunch break
skibbin@reddit
If someone is doing that then they are working late. It's probably the author trying to emphasize how much a person is working
OrangeBeast01@reddit
I've done jobs 8-4 and 9-5. 7pm is an office job wouldn't be efficient unless your output is a solo effort, because there's no one else about to work with.
ShinHayato@reddit
Depends.
I’d say a normal office job is anywhere between 08:30 and 18:00
Timely_Cake_917@reddit
The novel
Total_Rules@reddit
35-40 hour weeks are the norm.
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