How many hours in a normal day do you work? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2014, 02:41:38 pm
content: I was wondering what a normal working day in different countries looks like.In the past I heard "wild" stories about South Korean working hours and also about other countries like the US and Australia.Now to be honest please fill in a normal working day, not the exemption days.We all are proffesionalls and have long hour days when a customer is waiting (or the boss is yelling) but whatdo the 80% of your working days look like?Do not count the travel time! Just the time you spent in the office on a normal day.Time for coffee break and/or lunch are in hours where 30 minutes = 0.50 hours and 45 minutes = 0.75 hoursThe template I came up with you can copy/paste, suggestions/additions are welcome:Location (country or continent):Employed or own business*Normal start of work time: x.xx AMNormal end of work time: x.xx PMEstimation of time of small coffee breaks (unpaid or paid*)Lunch or dinner time (unpaid or paid*)Total working time spent in the office in hours a day (this includes the paid time above):Paid working time in hours a day (hours in your contract):* delete which is not appropriate so is this time paid or on your own time?Thanks, I am looking forward to see how this differs in reality among countries/continents/companies.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2014, 02:41:56 pm
content: Let me start with my normal working day.Location: The NetherlandsEmployed.Normal start of work time: 8.15 AMNormal end of work time: 6.00 PMEstimation of time of small (coffee breaks) (paid): 0.5 hoursLunch or dinner time (unpaid ): 0.5 hoursTotal working time spent in the office in hours a day : 9 hoursPaid working time in hours a day (hours in your contract): 8 hours

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2014, 02:49:03 pm
content: I work for myself, from home.On the one hand, I'm always at home.On the other hand, I'm always at work.

author: Excavatoree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2014, 02:55:56 pm
content: Location: <Dave's USA voice> The United States of AmericaEmployed.Normal start of work time: 7.30 AMNormal end of work time: 5.30 PMEstimation of time of small (coffee breaks) (paid): 0.5 hoursLunch or dinner time (unpaid ): 1 hourAdditional time (unpaid, difference between arrival and start of work, and stop of work and leaving)0-1 hour (varies)Total working time spent in the office in hours a day : 8-9 hoursPaid working time in hours a day (hours in your contract): 8 hours (EDIT: Richard Crowley is correct. I'm salary, so the correct answer is "N/A" or, as some people look at it, I'm paid to work 24/7 and am lucky they let me go home at all.)I get 13 paid holidays per year, and I have four weeks (20 days) of vacation. (Fourth week was after 15 years with the company.)I worked one place that required 3 years before you got the traditional (in US) two weeks.My co-worker spent a year in Japan. They generally work 9-6, with an hour lunch, but often spend much longer. (staying late)Most importantly, they have to make up holidays by working on Saturday. When they take a week long holiday, they work a month and a day of Saturdays. So, actually, they get no holidays at all.

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2014, 02:57:59 pm
content: Location: USAEmployment: large, multi-national high-tech companyNormal start: ~8:30 amNormal end: 7:00 ~ 8:00 pmPaid breaks: probably, but I don't take them except maybe randomly and informallyMeal break: 1 hourAverage working time: 9~10 hours/dayPaid time: n/a (exempt, salaried worker)It is quite common at my company for people to come in early and leave late.A combination of: driven employees, lots of work to do, corporate climate and peer expectations.Along with the fact that we operate 7x24/365 so we have to interface with people both locallyand around the planet at various time around the clock.Vacation time: 3 weeks/year, but I rarely take all of itHolidays: 10/year, but many people work over holidays, especially since they don't align across countries.

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2014, 03:00:23 pm
content: Interesting point by Excavatoree. While we get proper paid holidays and vacation, the workload doesn't take holidays or vacation, so many people feel penalized for taking time off because of the work that piled up while you were gone.

author: ctz
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2014, 03:48:07 pm
content: Location: UKEmployedNormal start of work time: 9.00 AMNormal end of work time: 5.30 PMEstimation of time of small (coffee breaks) (paid): 0.5 hoursLunch or dinner time (paid): 0.5 hoursTotal working time spent in the office in hours a day : 8.5 hoursPaid working time in hours a day (hours in your contract): 8 hours27 paid days off per year

author: con-f-use
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 14, 2014, 05:33:58 pm
content: Location: AustriaEmployedNormal start of work time: 9.00 AMNormal end of work time: 5.30 PMEstimation of time of small (coffee breaks) (paid): 0 hoursLunch or dinner time (paid): 1 hoursTotal working time spent in the office in hours a day : 7.5 hoursPaid working time in hours a day (hours in your contract): 6 hours30 paid days off per year plus a load of national holidays plus some strange extra days that you need to turn in documents for (2 days per year if you moved, additional 2 days per year for funerals in the family, additional 2 days per year for doctor appointmens and similar), sick days are fully payed up to 6 weeks a year, after that your health ensurance pays (usually less)Even compared to Germany that is very good.

author: retrolefty
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2014, 05:43:50 pm
content: Retired now, but when I left:Location: USAEmployment: large, multi-national oil companyNormal start: 6 amNormal end: 4:30 PMPaid breaks: informal for salaried workers.Meal break: 1/2 hourAverage working time: 10 hours/day four days a week, so three day weekendPaid time: n/a (exempt, salaried worker)Vacation time: Up to 5 weeks/year, start with 2 weeks, determined by years of serviceHolidays: 13/year, one of which was a 'floating holiday' to take as one wishes.Plant operators (union pay scale) worked a rotating shift as plants run 7/24/365. They had 12 hour shifts and a staggered schedule that resulting in one 7 day a month off shift. It was a confusing schedule but what the union bargained for. Maintenance people (also union) worked the same 4 day/ 10 hour shift as salaried exempt people.One nice thing that the refinery had was a local policy of time off for working extra hours worked for exempt people, although scheduling of such time off was subject to group needs.

author: Terabyte2007
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2014, 05:51:26 pm
content: Location (country or continent):USAEmployed or own business* -EmployedNormal start of work time:9:00 AMNormal end of work time:6:00 PMEstimation of time of small coffee breaks (unpaid or paid*)30 minsLunch or dinner time (unpaid or paid*)1 HrTotal working time spent in the office in hours a day (this includes the paid time above):Work from Home, Rarely in the corporate office.Paid working time in hours a day (hours in your contract):8* delete which is not appropriate so is this time paid or on your own time?Salary, paid 8 Hrs a day, 5 days a week.Thanks, I am looking forward to see how this differs in reality among countries/continents/companies.

author: Radio Tech
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2014, 07:28:56 pm
content: Location (country or continent): USAEmployed or own business* - EmployedNormal start of work time: 5:00 AMNormal end of work time: 3:30 PMEstimation of time of small coffee breaks (unpaid or paid*) 55 minsLunch or dinner time (unpaid* or paid) 30 minNormally 4 10 hour days

author: 1xrtt
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2014, 11:16:52 pm
content: Location (country or continent): BrazilEmployed or own business*: EmployedNormal start of work time: 08:30 AMNormal end of work time: 5:30 PM ("Official", but hardly "normal" - It's 8:15 PM now and I'm siting on a customer waiting for authorization to do some off-hour work)Estimation of time of small coffee breaks (unpaid or paid*) No control hereLunch or dinner time (unpaid or paid*) 1 hourTotal working time spent in the office in hours a day (this includes the paid time above): Doesn't work in the office, either at home or customer'sPaid working time in hours a day (hours in your contract): 8 hoursVacation: 30 days, but I can exchange up to 10 days for money (seems good, but not really worth)

author: 1xrtt
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 14, 2014, 11:22:05 pm
content: Quote from: Richard Crowley on August 14, 2014, 03:00:23 pmWork will pile up whether I take vacation or not, so I don't feel sorry/penalized at all. "Vacation on -> Cell phone off"

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 14, 2014, 11:38:31 pm
content: Quote from: Richard Crowley on August 14, 2014, 03:00:23 pmI never cared about that, because that's what managers are hired to manage.

author: dr.diesel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2014, 12:05:59 am
content: First 15 years of my lifeLocation (country or continent): USAEmployed or own business: Employed, major electronics, utilityNormal start of work time: 5:30AMNormal end of work time: 5PMEstimation of time of small coffee breaks (unpaid or paid*) < 30 min, salaryLunch or dinner time (unpaid or paid*) Included in the aboveCurrentlyLocation (country or continent): USAEmployed or own business: self employedNormal work week, ~10 hours

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2014, 08:31:07 am
content: Location : Australia NSWEmployed or own business: Employed In a small niche electronics repair workshopNormal start of work time: 8:00 AMNormal end of work time: 4:16 PM (It makes it perfectly line up for a 5 day, 38 hour week with lunch brakes)Estimation of time of small coffee breaks: 10 minutes paidLunch or dinner time: 40 minutes unpaidTotal working time spent in the office in hours a day : 7:50Paid working time in hours a day: 7:36Vacations: 4 Weeks per year + Public holidays + 2 Sick Days + 2 Compassionate Leave Days,Like a large number of businesses we do have a constant work flow, and there is the stigma that things will pile up, but it never actually happens, the other workers start extending turn around times in the week leading up which in general means things are turned over faster per worker as there is less pressure for any particular job, (An irony as i see it)

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2014, 09:08:52 am
content: Location : Chicago ILSalary work.Start time: 10:00 AMEnd time: 6:00 PMBreaks (paid): 0.5 hour/day probably less but i like to stretch my legs around the office. Maybe the average it's more like 15 minutes per day, not sure.Lunch: 0 (bring food to work and eat while working)Time at work per day: ~8 hoursPaid work time per week: ~40 hoursVacation: unsure since the company keeps throwing a couple of extra weeks off per year. But without that it's about 40 days a year including sick time, paid vacation and time off. I'm really not sure because it varies.We do have crunch time when the company pays for dinner and then I work around 10 hours a day, but I'm there just for support to my peers, since I've never been late on my estimates, but that only happens about one month per year or 2 years average.I do love my job so it doesn't matter if I work extra just for a free meal, but even that doesn't come to play often, once or twice a year depending on the project.BTW I do love my job and company

author: con-f-use
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 15, 2014, 09:11:28 am
content: Quote from: mojo-chan on August 15, 2014, 08:01:40 amI agree. If nothing else technology is supposed to do work for us.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2014, 10:26:18 am
content: Location (country or continent): BelgiumEmployedNormal start of work time: 9 AMNormal end of work time: 6 PMEstimation of time of small coffee breaks paid: 0-8 HoursLunch or dinner time unpaid: 1 HourTotal working time spent in the office in hours a day (this includes the paid time above): 1 HourPaid working time in hours a day (hours in your contract): 8 HoursThe law said: Work 38 hours a week, or get 12 days off a year if you work 40.I get to work 40 and get no 12 days off.Vacation: 20 day + If a holiday is on weekend. Double salary for vacations.Holidays: 12ish a year

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2014, 11:00:54 am
content: Location UKSelf employedNormal start time 9amNormal finish time 5pm, except that I'll respond to emails up until bedtime.An hour for lunch, and slightly more coffee than I should.Working time is very flexible, I usually do more on a Sunday afternoon than on a Friday afternoon. It also depends on what shifts the girlfriend is working, so if she's on night shifts then I'll often work late into an evening.When contracting, as many hours as I can stay awake and interested for. I've averaged 10 hours a day at most places, and about 6 a day at the worst place I worked, but there i had nothing to do and got very very bored for 7 months.

author: Maxlor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2014, 12:11:07 pm
content: Bob: You see, what we're actually trying to do here is, we're trying to get a feel for how people spend their day at work... so, if you would, would you walk us through a typical day, for you?Peter: Yeah.Bob: Great.Peter: Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, ah, I use the side door - that way Lumbergh can't see me, heh heh - and, uh, after that I just sorta space out for about an hour.Bob: Da-uh? Space out?Peter: Yeah, I just stare at my desk; but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 15, 2014, 01:27:44 pm
content: Location: USAEmployed as a remote field service technician for a large multinational company.Normal start/finish time: nothing really normal hereOur customers are open typically from 8-5 or 8:30-5:30. I typically monitor my company phone from 7:30 to 6:00. Sometimes I have to do after hours remote fixes. I get paid for 8 hours of work. Electronic timesheets account only for hours worked not start/end times, etc.How much do I actually work? Again, that's a loaded question. Our regional manager says we don't get paid to work, we get paid to hit the ground running. The morning administrivia (emails and such) typically takes a few minutes or up to several hours if we have any type of company compliance testing to complete. Remote/phone fixes are usually quick, rarely taking more than a 1/2 hour. If I actually have to leave the house to run a service call, round trip travel in my area only can be a significant part of the day if I have multiple calls plus the repair time on site. I would say that a typical "real" work week is about 20 hours or so. There are days I have had 5-6 onsite service calls and then there are days like yesterday, where I did my few minutes of morning administrivia and some additional time looking at emails throughout the day, no services calls at all. Real work time- about 10 minutes, hanging out on the internet and enjoying time with my dogs-7 hours 50 minutes. That's what I like about my job. I never know what the day is going to bring, sometimes it's exciting, sometimes it's boring. I have a comfortable home office where I have other distractions, like my ham "shack" if I get bored waiting to do real work.Four weeks PTO-personal time off-to cover vacations/sick days. As I almost never get sick. it's all vacation. I also get the standard state paid holidays off as the gov't offices are closed then I have nothing to do.

author: IanJ
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 15, 2014, 02:25:22 pm
content: Location: ScotlandContractor (using own Ltd. company)Normal start of work time: 6.45 AMNormal end of work time: 4.00 PMEstimation of time of small (coffee breaks) (paid): 0.25 hoursLunch or dinner time (unpaid ): 0.5 hoursTotal working time spent in the office in hours a day : 9 hours 15minsPaid working time in hours a day (hours in your contract): 8 hours 45minsAm paid a daily rate, I just have to do my hours for the week. Usually means I can leave early on a Friday.Just had first 2 weeks off in one stretch for over 15 years......I usually just take a week twice a year.

author: Phaedrus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2014, 07:19:26 pm
content: Location: Southern CaliforniaEmployedNormal start of work time: 8:30 AMNormal end of work time: 5:30 PMEstimation of time of small coffee breaks (paid): 30mLunch or dinner time (unpaid): 1hrTotal working time spent in the office in hours a day (this includes the paid time above): 8-9hrPaid working time in hours a day (hours in your contract): 8hrRarely I'll get 1-2hrs of overtime paid at 1.5x the normal rate.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2014, 07:36:27 pm
content: Quote from: mojo-chan on August 15, 2014, 08:01:40 amAnd you want to move to Japan?On topic: When employed: usually 8:30 to 17:00 with 24 to 30 days of paid holidays.Nowadays I'm self employed and I work when I have projects. Otherwise I'd be tinkering with electronics anyway...

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2014, 09:55:23 pm
content: Location (country or continent): Netherlands / North regionEmployed or own business: Employed; small firm with large market share in their sector; acquired by international firmNormal start of work time: 8.00 AMNormal end of work time: 5.30 PMEstimation of time of small coffee breaks (unpaid): 1hourLunch or dinner time (unpaid) 0.5hourTotal working time spent in the office in hours a day (this includes the paid time above): 9.5Paid working time in hours a day (hours in your contract): 8This is about average where I work. We take long (coffee) breaks; 2x 0,5 hour a day. By tradition we have a coffee break gathering in the canteen, which is quite unusual for offices I guess.I will often skip breaks in terms of sitting still, unless there is an interesting discussion going on.We do have some large variation and also a large degree of part-timers IMO. Some have a bachelor/masters study, some have their own private business to worry about and some people have so many vacation hours left from peak seasons they are working 1 day/week less in low seasons (extended periods).The office is also open on saturdays for support/service, and some minor works. I am usually not in at saturdays; unless I want to get some stuff done and don't want to be interrupted that much (I would typically trade a day in that case)

author: ablacon64
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2014, 11:10:05 pm
content: Location: BrazilBusiness: Electronic repairSelf-employedWork Days: Sunday to Sunday (yep, sort of...)Normal start of work time: ~ 09:00 AMNormal end of work time: N/A (I usually go until my eyes and head get tired)Estimation of time of small coffee breaks: 15 minutes 2 times a day (unpaid)Lunch time: 15 minutes to half an hour (also unpaid, of course)Total working time spent in the office in hours a day: I work at home, so I'm always in.Paid working time in hours a day: Depends on demand.Vacations: what's that? Does it hurt?The law here says:- you don't work, you don't eat.- 4 hours off between work end and work start time is enough if the wallet is empty.I'm always doing something. Sometimes I spend a whole week without new equipments to fix, when that happens I fix old equipment or salvage components from old boards for selling.

author: Strada916
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2014, 11:27:56 pm
content: Location: Western Australia.Employed. By multinational company in mining.Job title: underground Geological technician. FIFO 8 day on 6 days off alternating day/night shift.Normal start time: 05:30Normal end of work 18:00 vise versa on night shift.1hour total break time paid (on salary) (enforce by law but not everyone takes it.)18.75 rostered days on. holidays(paid)8 days sick leave (paid)Plus any government allowed days off for things like bereavement.No public holidays (bank days)ie Christmas, Easter. New years. Yes the mine doesn't stop for those.FIFO = fly in fly out, paid for by employer.If you want to know more feel free to message me.

author: MasterBuilder
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2014, 12:22:32 am
content: Location (country or continent): IrelandAutomationControls EngineeringEmployedSalaryNormal start of work time: 8 AMNormal end of work time: 5 PMEstimation of time of small coffee breaks (or paid) 15 minsLunch or dinner time (unpaid) 30 minsTotal working time spent in the office in hours a day (this includes the paid time above): 8.75Paid working time in hours a day (hours in your contract): 8average productive working time per day5 or 6Holidays: Western European norm.Occasionally work some longer days about once or twice a month to finish projects, etc. average working week winds up about 42HrsOthers work longer hours in an effort to make a good impression, this is what Id call "a mugs game".Cant understand why any salaried employee works more than 45 hours per week, every week. I would seriously be questioning my chosen employment and profession if this was me.

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2014, 12:37:51 am
content: Location: AustraliaEmployed.Normal start of work time: 8.30 AMNormal end of work time: 7.30 PMEstimation of time of small (coffee breaks) (paid): 0 hoursLunch or dinner time (unpaid ): 1.0 hoursTotal working time spent in the office in hours a day : 11.0 hoursPaid working time in hours a day (hours in your contract): 7.5 hoursWeekend work: Occasionally (unpaid, but time off in lieu sometimes)Long hours is not unusual for Australian electronics engineers, especially by those addicted to electronics. Few, if any electronics engineers in Australia are in unions. I know a large company where the technicians are unionised and as a result they earn a lot more income than the engineers who are not unionised.In Australia, we typically get 4 weeks annual leave per year. I once worked for a place that did not honour the annual leave entitlements. They were even paying out engineers and programmers cash in lieu of them taking leave. I could only get about 6 weeks leave total in the 5 years I was there. The root cause was the PRIVATE EQUITY company who bought the place and incurred a $250 million debt the employees in effect had to repay.

author: marshallh
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 16, 2014, 02:18:25 am
content: All of them

author: RobertHolcombe
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2014, 02:40:38 am
content: Location: AustraliaEmployedNormal start of work time: 8.00 AMNormal end of work time: 4.30 PMLunch or dinner time (unpaid) 0.5 hoursTotal working time spent in the office in hours a day (this includes the paid time above): 8.5Paid working time in hours a day (hours in your contract): 8

author: nihilism
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2014, 03:15:31 am
content: Location (country or continent): Australia (not Austria)EmployedNormal start of work time: 7.30 AMNormal end of work time: 4.30 PMEstimation of time of small coffee breaks (unpaid or paid*)Lunch or dinner time (unpaid) 30 minTotal working time spent in the office in hours a day (this includes the paid time above): 8.5Paid working time in hours a day (hours in your contract): 8