# Workin' 9 to 5...or 8 to 4? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 22, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workin-9-to-5-or-8-to-4/537043 "2010-04-22T23:05:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![alexandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@alexandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexandra)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workin-9-to-5-or-8-to-4/537043/101 "2010-04-25T08:15:50Z")
9.30/10-5/5.30, in a good week. My contract is 35 hours, not including lunch, but I need only take half an hour lunch. Or say that I have, anyway. We have timesheets at work because we can take flexi time every so often. I usually do about 37-40 hours a week. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workin-9-to-5-or-8-to-4/537043/102 "2010-04-25T08:18:10Z")
On paper, I work 7-3:30. However, as long as I put in 40 hours a week, I can set my own schedule. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workin-9-to-5-or-8-to-4/537043/103 "2010-04-25T16:37:04Z")
8-5, but I’m usually between 10 and 30 minutes late most mornings. :smack: I make up my time in the evenings or by staying through lunch. When I started my job I worked 9-6 which was better in some ways but not in others. The extra time in the evening is worth crawling out of bed half asleep in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workin-9-to-5-or-8-to-4/537043/104 "2010-04-25T21:05:45Z")
Monday - Thursday 7 am - 5 pm, with an hour of lunch Every other Friday I’m either off, or I work 7am - 4pm. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workin-9-to-5-or-8-to-4/537043/105 "2010-04-26T04:21:30Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > A lot of jobs, like mine, pay you for 7.5 hours a day, and you have a required 30 minute unpaid lunch. googling “work 37.5 hours” gets you over 400,000 hits and "“full time 37.5 hours” is almost a million and a half, so it’s not too uncommon. Come to think of it I’ve had jobs like that, but most of my more recent jobs have been 7-4 or 8-5, etc., with an hour off for lunch. I’ve usually been on salary so it’s not like the hour was paid or not paid, but it’s the amount of time that was supposed to be available to you. Less than an hour for lunch isn’t enough time, really; I’d rather have a longer workday in order to be able to take that hour. OTOH, if it’s the kind of office where lunch breaks are a myth like the Yeti or the Sasquatch, then, please, bring on the shorter schedule and shorter mythical lunch break. ---
**Author:** ![Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silence_of_the_clams)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workin-9-to-5-or-8-to-4/537043/106 "2010-04-26T09:46:25Z")
From 8-16 in wintertime, and from 8-15 in summertime. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workin-9-to-5-or-8-to-4/537043/107 "2010-04-26T17:55:06Z")
Technically it’s 9-5:30, but I choose to ignore my breaks so I can leave at 5. I don’t really count 5 minutes to read a thread or two on the Dope every couple of hours as formal breaks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workin-9-to-5-or-8-to-4/537043.md?page=5)