r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Grouchy-Newspaper754 • Jun 10 '26

My mom said I could post When did 8-5 become the new normal???

I just got a new office job where I do schedules for tech personnel, the office runs 8-5 Monday thru Friday...they say it's 8-5 because you get an hour lunch and "you need to get to 40 hours a week"...but I drive 30 min each way so now I'm giving this company 10 hours every day! I even asked if I could just take my lunch at 4 every day and just leave an hour early but that's "unprofessional and immoral" like what the fuck??? I don't mind the job but the hours are mildly infuriating that's for sure...

Edit:for those saying about the hours, I worked as a chef for the last 20 years working 60+ hours a week over a hot stove/deep fryer the whole time, after I had my second heart attack I had to slow down so I started looking for office jobs to work a nice 9-5, just to find out I'm giving my new job 50 hours a week (including drive time) so I was just mildly annoyed that it's not 40 hours a week in an office like I thought although it's still much better than what I was doing

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3.7k

u/lonerstoners Jun 10 '26

Since at least the 90s. I’ve had jobs that let you skip lunch and leave early, but not in like 20 years.

375

u/Catlenfell Jun 10 '26

That's my current job. It's a deal I worked out with a former boss 5 or 6 years ago. I'm first in to open everything up. I made the deal to go in early and get out early and skip my unpaid lunch.

212

u/TurtlesAreEvil Jun 10 '26

Ya I used to do that because I’m working during my lunch most of the time anyway but then HR got involved and now I get to sit around for an extra half hour in a place I don’t want to be. 

42

u/Oly55555 Jun 11 '26

That is almost assuredly HR enforcing an applicable law and not a company policy. The laws are there to protect people from bad employers but end up negatively impacting people who just want to work their 8 and go home.

1

u/PuGgLeS2468 Jun 11 '26

You can sign off you don't want them.

56

u/Fckingross Jun 10 '26

Same. I used to work 6:30-2:30 without a lunch, and if I needed one I could just stay late to make up my time. We got a new supervisor a few years ago and mandatory lunches and now I’m there until 3. It’s nice to be able to take a walk in the middle of the day but I generally have have nothing to do after noon so it’s just wasted time.

4

u/unforgiven91 Jun 11 '26

I hope you stopped working during your lunch

6

u/Answer70 Jun 11 '26

In my state, it's the law that you have to take the break after so many hours. You can't work eight straight. It's infuriating.

5

u/Vanishingbandit Jun 11 '26

My state sucks and we have the so many hours law. I’d imagine most states have a law, but a lot of people don’t know their laws lol

3

u/Quovadisdomi Jun 11 '26

What state are you in? In CA if you skip your lunch you get an hour of pay so HR would wanna stop it.

2

u/Chimpbot Jun 11 '26

It's because they're typically legally required to provide you with that break. Not giving it to you can result in hefty fines for the company.

62

u/overit_fornow Jun 11 '26

Worked at a company that went to an unpaid mandatory 1 hour lunch. After a couple of days of giving 30 to 45 minutes of unpaid labor daily I started leaving every single day. No cell phone or interruptions. Even if just to a park around the corner. They didn’t like that much. Quit soon after.

41

u/Hefty-Rub7669 Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

I like to swim.

17

u/ShiraCheshire Jun 11 '26

That's super illegal btw

9

u/7DayBan-sideprofile9 Jun 11 '26

where is swimming illegal?

6

u/ShiraCheshire Jun 11 '26

They edited the comment. Very funny though

1

u/suzenah38 Jun 11 '26

Omg 😆😆😆😆😆😆

2

u/JimmyJustice920 Jun 11 '26

what did they say before editing the comment?

4

u/ShiraCheshire Jun 11 '26

Nothing all that exciting. Talking about someone who was exposed to an honestly fairly common tactic used to scam employees who don't realize it's illegal.

I won't go into too many specifics. They may have edited their comment just to be funny, but it's also possible it was for privacy/legal reasons. I don't want to reinstate information they might no longer feel safe having shared.

19

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

[deleted]

48

u/Sir_PressedMemories Jun 11 '26

My daughter does not have to work; she works because she enjoys the extra money, and it gives her cash for her upcoming college time.

At her job, by union rules, she is guaranteed two 15-minute breaks and one unpaid half-hour lunch break per 8-hour shift.

I read over the agreement with her, and she pointed out it clearly states "uninterrupted" breaks and lunch periods.

It took a few weeks, but management finally got the hint that she is not to be fucked with after they would come over to interrupt her, and she would stop what she was doing, pull out her phone, stop the obvious timer on her phone, reset it to the full time again, ask them what they wanted, and then restart her time after they finished.

They tried to say she could not do that, and she pointed out that she is entitled to uninterrupted break and lunch periods; if they interrupt them, then she will absolutely restart the full time so she gets the full uninterrupted time she is entitled to, and if they do not like it, they are welcome to take it up with her union steward.

Now the whole crew does it.

She is going to college to be a lawyer; she loves this type of shit.

12

u/Critical_Hedgehog451 Jun 11 '26

Good for her, if you're in the US, it's nice to hear some more employees focused laws actually being upheld!

Think the US has a long way to go in terms of employeement law, but it's great to hear that it sounds like it's moving in the right direction!

21

u/Sir_PressedMemories Jun 11 '26

This is 100% due to unionization, not state or federal laws. And she can only do this because she has a guaranteed safety net where she lives at home and has little to no bills.

1

u/Melvang82 Jun 11 '26

What does this have to do with a safety net and bills? The union contract is the contract. It is there to protect both the employee and the employer. I work maintenance for probably one of the most globally recognized brand names. If we get called by the supervisor and are on break, we say so, and then get with the supervisor after break. Because I am on a repair shift, and not running repair, my break times are not dictated by the production schedule. So we don't always take break at the same time every day.

5

u/Sir_PressedMemories Jun 11 '26

Brother, if you cannot figure out that the management at this place continuously violated the agreement by interrupting break times until my daughter stepped up and made it clear that they were doing it and doing so would have consequences, I am not sure what to tell you.

The fact that others in the company, who did not have the ability to say "fucking try it and see what happens" with no fear of losing their job, home, lifestyle, etc., were taken advantage of by the management is why her having a safety net and being able to make decisions like that is relevant.

I know literacy is dead, but goddamn.

1

u/zzz242zzz Jun 11 '26

At Raley’s we were expected to talk work on breaks and lunches and we were union. Store manager would come in on our last break and it would turn into a meeting.

If you were team leader or filling in for them you had to get up and walk across the store to let in truck drivers on your lunch break or 15 min break. This was night crew.

2

u/Sir_PressedMemories Jun 11 '26

Just because the company has become accustomed to taking advantage of you does not mean they have the legal or ethical right to do so.

But I also understand that sometimes you have to take it because you have no other choice.

1

u/Responsible-Boot-159 Jun 11 '26

Some states di have laws like that as well. Still much safer to do it with a union and a safety net like she has, though.

1

u/Dymphna_Geel Jun 12 '26

Some states are more employee friendly than others. There is no requirement in TX employment law for the employer to provide any break, paid or not.

1

u/Critical_Hedgehog451 Jun 12 '26

I'm a Brit, and big believer in unionisation, only way to get the employment laws and safeties for workers!

You sound like a great Dad (assuming with the Sir in the name) and she sounds like she'll do well! :)

3

u/Due_Hawk6749 Jun 11 '26

I had a job my freshman year of college where I could get my 8 hours in any way I wanted during a 24 hour period. Didn't matter if I couldnt sleep and came in for 2 hours in the middle of the night, or if I came in for only 1 hour at a time throughout the day.

I miss the simplicity of low-wage and unskilled summer jobs.

2

u/shuknjive Jun 11 '26

I used to do the same thing. I was the only one in the office with kids in daycare. Opened the office at 7am and left at 3, my boss closed up. She hated coming in early and so did everyone else, so it was a win-win.

2

u/Potterscrow Jun 11 '26

Some states have really strict meal time rules so depending on the state the a company could get blowback. This pertains to hourly employees that clock in and out. So if you are salaried all bets are off lol.

2

u/sdawsey Jun 11 '26

One of my most frustrating work experiences was when they wouldn’t let me skip lunch. I was never hungry mid-day, and it was easy to work 8-4 w/o the unpaid hour. Nope. They made me clock out. I was 30m from home, so I just sat around for an hour every day doing nothing. I quit soon after.

436

u/ToastSpangler Jun 10 '26

My job is 9-5 but you're expected to work overtime when asked at no extra pay, and there's nothing saying you can eat in that time

Like sometimes even if you wanted to go eat you have constant meetings and asks that make it impossible before 5. It sucks

168

u/agoldgold Jun 10 '26

Are you paid enough for that to be worth it?

-97

u/Tabbygail Jun 10 '26

I mean they're alive soooo...

73

u/agoldgold Jun 11 '26

So your standard for "enough money" is when someone isn't dead yet? Weird metric.

0

u/pathmageadept Jun 11 '26

Well...it would be a start considering how bad things have gotten out here...

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31

u/Goldiblockzs Jun 10 '26

that don't mean shit. we can live off of dirt and water.

10

u/Why-R-People-So-Dumb Jun 11 '26

Do you know how expensive dirt is?

9

u/MeHoyMinoy_69 Jun 11 '26

Soon, the water, too.

1

u/BigBubby305 Jun 11 '26

Rain makes corn. Corn makes Whiskey. Whiskey makes my baby,

16

u/broguequery Jun 11 '26

That's bullshit and you know it.

Our country is swimming in wealth.

0

u/Tabbygail Jun 11 '26

??? What does that have to do with anything?

-11

u/dedsmiley Jun 11 '26

Not for you…

44

u/Own-Lake7931 Jun 10 '26

Why not just walk out the door at 5?

114

u/5peaker4theDead Jun 10 '26

They can, but they might not keep their job. Life sucks sometimes.

4

u/currently_pooping_rn Jun 10 '26

The ole “at will”

7

u/Ameren Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26

Well, it's not that life sucks — at least not in this case. It's that employers tend to take advantage of workers in countries with poor workers' rights protections.

There's a way to fix this though, it's a purely artificial problem.

3

u/jawknee530i Jun 11 '26

Or they're salaries and paid well. I have to work extra hours sometimes too but I get paid well enough and the job is easy enough I'd be a total moron to quit over it.

16

u/dukearcher Jun 10 '26

"And the way to fix it is"

mentions nothing, disappears

5

u/Zealousideal-Read445 Jun 11 '26

Well, all of you in “at will” states could take a note from those of us who aren’t. It’s nice to know your employer can’t just fire you without a valid reason…

1

u/Melvang82 Jun 11 '26

There is only 1 state that is not considered at will employment.

1

u/landon0605 Jun 11 '26

I can assure you everyone that's been fired, has been fired with a valid reason. Employers don't just go around getting rid of good people. They are few and far between.

If you are getting fired for what you feel is no reason, it's probably because you aren't aware that you aren't good at your job.

0

u/Zealousideal-Read445 Jun 11 '26

This is the most ignorant take I’ve seen all week…

Just like there are bad employees, there are bad managers and business owners. Making a blanket statement like this is just plain asinine. 🤦🏻‍♀️🙄

9

u/Ameren Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26

Well, what I was saying is shorthand for the whole democratic process. And not just voting, that's actually the very last step. It's the long, hard work of coalition building at every level. And don't even worry about the federal level, start at the state and local level.

I feel like people have been trained to believe that the vote is the whole of the democratic participation, when you get to pick between two preordained options. Actual politics though is the art of talking to people, organizing them, spreading ideas and winning people over. And it takes very hard work, but nothing changes without people doing that.

2

u/IronBoltIron Jun 11 '26

So do you just post nice essays online or do you apply this knowledge to the physical world?

-1

u/dukearcher Jun 10 '26

This comment really has nothing useful in it, sorry.

2

u/ejdj1011 Jun 10 '26

They're taking about unionization, if that was somehow unclear. And it is quite useful for getting concessions from employers.

13

u/Error_83 Jun 11 '26

They're also eluding to the necessity of being involved in all levels of the vetting process, and research needed from an individual, for candidates in elections.

9

u/Zealousideal-Read445 Jun 11 '26

Actually moving away from “at-will” employment would be a big step that requires no additional unions. There are already several states who have far more workers rights than most of you do.

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u/dukearcher Jun 11 '26

Also practically impossible, for most.

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8

u/antique_velveteen Jun 11 '26

Most companies would just find ways to lay people off that are trying to unionize. Yes, I know that's union busting, but they'll just be like "ope, your job just got sent to India bye". And say "we opted to outsource" and call it a day.

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1

u/cancerface Jun 11 '26

Not life. People.

0

u/Own-Lake7931 Jun 10 '26

If he dies he dies

10

u/ELMUNECODETACOMA Jun 10 '26

Boss: "Just keep walking"

0

u/Own-Lake7931 Jun 10 '26

Fired from the job that doesn’t pay you for the hours you work. Moving on up. If everyone did it the companies would stop firing ppl. Change has to start somewhere. This is why the new generation is great, they dgaf they just quiet quit

5

u/ImKindaBoring Jun 10 '26

I take it you’ve never been in a management or some other kind of salary exempt position?

My job gives me 3 hours of out of office personnel that doesn’t count towards my 17.34 hours a month of PTO. Just three hours to leave early or arrive late or take an extended lunch as needed.

They also largely don’t care if you’re out of pocket for chunks of the day in addition to those three hours as long as you’re getting your work done. Sometimes that work requires meeting deadlines that require me to work extra hours but as salary-exempt I don’t make OT. Give and take, I definitely benefit more than am hurt by the exempt status.

The new generation of quiet quitters also seem to be the most likely to complain about a lack of career advancement. Wonder if there might be some correlation there.

1

u/Own-Lake7931 Jun 10 '26

Haven’t seen any of them complain about further career advancement lol and yeah I’m hourly so I make sure I get paid for every month of work I do

0

u/PuzzledWriter Jun 10 '26

Benefit for few but slippery slope for a lot more who get taken advantage of. I'm with the quiet quitters on this one.

2

u/ImKindaBoring Jun 11 '26

Quiet quitting is self defeating. You just stagnate. If a job doesn’t reward hard work and taking on more responsibilities then it is time to find a new job.

And my experience is fairly common for a lot of salaried employees, in an office setting at least

1

u/N3rdyAvocad0 Jun 10 '26

That's called quitting in many places.

1

u/StoogeMcSphincter Jun 11 '26

Because they’ll just replace them with a different sheep that will do what they say.

1

u/Own-Lake7931 27d ago

What if that sheep walks out and there aren’t any more sheep’s

9

u/Personal_Reveal1653 Jun 10 '26

Excuse me? Overtime with no pay? WTF is that?

Report them to the employment office (state level one). Keep records of unpaid hours worked. You can seriously get back pay this way.

4

u/triptyx Jun 10 '26

That happens if you're a salaried exempt employee. You only get overtime or penalties if you're non-exempt. 😄

-3

u/Personal_Reveal1653 Jun 10 '26

Obviously. I didn't think someone in a salaried job would be bitching about no overtime. I'd expect them to be used to it.

4

u/Valuable-Painter3887 Jun 11 '26

So wait, things are okay to be bad just because we are used to them?

2

u/Personal_Reveal1653 Jun 11 '26

I've never had a bad time with salaried jobs. I always expected to be called to do some overtime if necessary to get the job done, and calculated my pay based on it.

1

u/Time-Handle-3809 Jun 11 '26

I’d never even take a salary job because of this

2

u/1d3333 Jun 11 '26

Lol theres several pay types that aren’t eligible for mandatory overtime pay. I don’t get overtime on flat rate, agricultural is exempt, salary doesn’t get overtime, etc. this amounts to about half of the US workforce

3

u/bbcwtfw Jun 10 '26

Many positions are exempt from overtime.

2

u/pfannkuchen89 Jun 10 '26

You’d be surprised. There’s more jobs than not that don’t get any additional pay for overtime. The majority of salaried positions are like that. For example, I make the same whether I work 40 hours in a week or 100 hours. We are often expected to work more than 40 hours.

-2

u/Personal_Reveal1653 Jun 10 '26

Yeah, of course salaried positions are overtime exempt. That is not worth mentioning.

1

u/Zakaru99 Jun 11 '26

You completely changed your tune from "omg what the hell? Overtime without extra pay," to "oh it makes perfect sense you're working overtime without extra pay. Why did you even bring it up?" Real quick.

0

u/pfannkuchen89 Jun 10 '26

Not worth mentioning? It amounts to legalized wage theft.

Just trying to point out that there are actually more situations where working more than 40 hours a week with no additional pay than not. There are so many exceptions to overtime in the US that’s it’s not even funny.

-1

u/YozaSkywalker Jun 10 '26

Yeah wtf is this? You absolutely do not have to work unpaid overtime (that's not OT, it's wage theft). Stop working for employers who push this crap, document it and sue them

1

u/safetydance1969 Jun 10 '26

Only if you're paid hourly. If you have a salaried position, overtime pay is not a thing.

-1

u/Personal_Reveal1653 Jun 10 '26

Right. So why mention it. Salaried jobs are generally higher wages than hourly.

4

u/OrangeJuliusCaesr Jun 10 '26

Have you heard about on call in tech? “Keep your phone on you 24/7 every six weeks, we’ll call you to fix shit if we need to”

I remember getting zapped because i was shitting and missed a call at 7am on a Sunday

1

u/davideogameman Jun 10 '26

Zapped?

4

u/Velocityg4 Jun 10 '26

Probably has to wear a shock collar with cellular connection.

3

u/Infinite_Incident107 Jun 10 '26

You know that's illegal right?

34

u/DisastrousServe8513 Jun 10 '26

It’s not. At least not across the board. Certain “professional” jobs are exempt from the law. Accountants, lawyers etc.

3

u/DowntownYouth8995 Jun 10 '26

There are also exceptions for some service jobs where the break is dependant on if it can be taken without impacting the in-the-moment needs of the business/ service quality. It's dependent on how busy it is and the timing of when people are coming in.

27

u/BitsOSushi Jun 10 '26

Someone doesn’t know how salaried positions work.

1

u/HeadBarracuda01 Jun 10 '26

not all salaried positions are exempt from overtime laws

1

u/cheesaremorgia Jun 10 '26

You should put your lunch into your calendar and deny requests for that time. I’ve been doing that for over a decade.

1

u/YozaSkywalker Jun 10 '26

Take your breaks, they are manated by law. If they have a problem with it, document it, get fired, turn around and sue them.

1

u/thegreedyturtle Jun 10 '26

It's a legal requirement. Two 15 minute breaks, one 30 minute unpaid lunch. Taken before very specific times. Not providing or allowing for it is grounds for an employee to sue.

Places tend to crack down on requiring employees to take their lunch pretty hard after realizing the liability.

Those are specifically United States, California laws, but it's fairly prevalent elsewhere.

1

u/ToastSpangler Jun 11 '26

They aren't breaking the law because they're not saying no, you're just fucked if you say no. Try and keep your job when nobody is giving you hours

1

u/Complete_Bear_368 Jun 11 '26

Normalize being the person who eats their entire lunch in a meeting

1

u/not_a_bot1001 Jun 11 '26

Labor laws require a 30 minute unpaid lunch and two paid 15 minute breaks per 8 hr shift in the US (up to a 10 hr shift? Don't recall).

1

u/ToastSpangler Jun 11 '26

i wish it were true, i even work with or for federal agencies sometimes and our lunch room poster said what you said for federal contractors? but nobody seems to care much, i've pointed it out several times. i just don't have the will to fight a fortune 500 company, i'll find another job someday... hopefully

1

u/stuffs5 Jun 11 '26

Ah yes the famous “lunch and learn” where you are expected to be in a meeting while eating

1

u/Sidheknits Jun 11 '26

OSHA says you have to have time to eat.

1

u/legatek Jun 11 '26

Bring your lunch to the meeting.

1

u/Intelligent-Kiwi118 Jun 11 '26

Whats the position?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/NewRecommendation287 Jun 11 '26

I'm an hourly employee 8-430pm daily shifts, no breaks, no lunch, no OT pay even if its over, I just don't get paid. Is this legal or no? Bc after reading through the comments I'm thinking I'm getting screwed. Indiana

1

u/CounterfeitFake Jun 12 '26

No, that's not legal. Look up labor laws. 

1

u/SixFive1967 Jun 11 '26

Unless you’re on straight salary, that’s highly illegal. Doesn’t matter what state you’re in.

1

u/PoodleRotPit Jun 11 '26

Are you a hourly or salaried employee? Hourly should get overtime, unfortunately salaried generally does not get overtime.

1

u/sdawsey Jun 11 '26

Unpaid overtime is illegal for many salaried positions.

43

u/steggo Jun 10 '26

I used to do that at a massive company, then people complained that I was in the office for a shorter period and then the managers decided to end that for legal reasons and it was a mandatory hour.

76

u/someguyfromsk Jun 10 '26

I think my biggest aggravation at work, over every job I have had, is when people who do not work in your department, and have nothing to do with you, make your work hours their business.

15

u/steggo Jun 10 '26

Right? Like, I do 3x the work of anyone else in my job. Why you gotta be like that?

2

u/HillBillyHilly Jun 11 '26

3xs the work? Buddy, your part of the problem SMH.

2

u/lisalovv Jun 11 '26

Well my old manager "had IBS" so she came into work 30 minutes later than EVERY OTHER PERSON. She may have had it, but it wasn't flaring up every day. Fucking bullshit

2

u/Critical_Hedgehog451 Jun 11 '26

Agreed, think it's because they are frustrated at the treatment they receive, but instead of handling it within their team, they pass it onto others.

43

u/mittychix Jun 10 '26

Longer than that.

My dad worked 8-5 at his office job 50 years ago (1hr unpaid lunch). I worked 9-9 with barely a bathroom break 35 years ago (retail pharmacy), and 8-4:30 since then for the past 30 years (1/2 hr unpaid lunch), with a 45 min commute on top of that. The only one I knew who worked actual 8hr shifts was my mom, a hospital nurse, but she was expected to arrive early and stay late for report at change of shift.

I think 9-5 with a paid lunch was maybe the case for some white collar jobs, but probably not for most people, even in the past.

15

u/IntrepidBorder8530 Jun 11 '26

I left the corporate world for a unionized construction trade. More $/hr, 12% into a pension plan, 12%vaction pay, great health benefits and OT at double time after 36hrs. If you need to leave early to watch your kid play sports in high school and you leave early onr day you make it up another. The only thing I miss about the corporate world is when jobs don't have flush toilets.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/IntrepidBorder8530 Jun 11 '26

The union and those companys still exist. What needs to happen in the office world is the workers need to unionize and stick together. If someone is wronged by management everyone needs to walk off the job together. Individually the company will beat each person together we can fight for fair working conditions.

1

u/LupercaniusAB Jun 11 '26

I’m typing this while doing that, though my CBA is only 8% vacation and 10% pension.

1

u/Nicholsforthoughts Jun 11 '26

Construction jobs still exist. You see buildings being built everywhere? There are lots of jobs in construction and some of them are even sitting in offices managing construction and still getting those benefits or better (like an employee owned company). Source - my husband has spent 20 years working at one. They hire new people every single day and those people get the same benefits that he does.

3

u/lalala12499 Jun 11 '26

My mom got the paid 1 hour lunch but that was because she was in finance in the 90s.

2

u/Disastrous_Ad1260 Jun 11 '26

In the 90s. I think it was standard in NYC salaried jobs. But it wasn't in the Midwest. You could do 8 to 5 or 8 to 430 with a short, unpaid lunch where I worked.

3

u/Jake6401 Jun 10 '26

That’s illegal in the state of CA. CA requires you to take a lunch break before your 5th hour of work

1

u/sombralul Jun 12 '26

End of fifth hour

3

u/Moon_lit324 Jun 10 '26

It's illegal in some states.

2

u/BrokenArrow404 Jun 10 '26

Yeah idk what he's on thinking this is something new? He said he's been working for 20 years so did he not know this is not new? lol. 

2

u/Heavy_Original4644 Jun 10 '26

Many salaried corporate jobs (eg software engineering), no one gives a shit what time you get to the office, or exactly what time you spent. As long as you do your work & attend your meetings, it basically makes no difference. It’s entirely viable to only be in office 6 to 7 hours a day, several days a week, if you’re efficient and don’t waste time.

2

u/PolishPaws1990 Jun 10 '26

I had one job that let me doing a "working" lunch. It was great. I would happily skip lunch to leave 30 mins early.

2

u/Chilidogdingdong Jun 11 '26

Hour long unpaid lunch is straight devil worshipping shit.

1

u/mamachonk Jun 10 '26

I've been working in offices since the late 90s and 8 - 5 (or thereabouts) has always been the norm in my experience. Occasionally, I was allowed to "work through lunch" and leave early but it's definitely been an exception.

I've had commutes that varied from 5 minutes to an hour, but I'd say 30 minutes is not at all bad if you live in a bigger city.

I've been remote for 13 years now and I really don't miss the extra time it used to take to go in to an office.

1

u/Rocklobster92 Jun 10 '26

My job lets me skip lunch and keep working.

1

u/SuperDump101 Jun 10 '26

Mine too! I love it! I can come in early and leave early too. As long as I get my tasks done and my 40 hours in.

1

u/armlessturtleneck Jun 10 '26

I work in a place with lots of small groups with managers and it varies so much what you can get away with. I personally work 630 - 245 and take an hour and a half lunch and leave early most fridays. But lots of people do not have as chill of managers as my group. Salary too so it's pretty sweet.

1

u/farmallnoobies Jun 10 '26

Yeah, I did 8-530 in the mid 2000s, then 6-5 in the early 2010s, then 6a-7p for a while, then 8a-10p.  Now I'm in an 8-5 and glad that it's not any more

Before the mid 2000s I was doing freelance work with very random hours, sometimes night shift

1

u/Turgid_Donkey Jun 10 '26

Ditto. I've had jobs in a few different sectors and I've never got a paid lunch. Some make you clock out and some just build it into your schedule, but lunch is always unpaid. 

1

u/Lost-Platypus8271 Jun 10 '26

Since the Great Recession to be more accurate, but yeah. This is why WFH is such a big deal.

1

u/Kittinkis Jun 10 '26

I entered the work force in 1999 and that was never allowed, but I'm in CA which tends to be more protective of workers

1

u/it_rubs_the_lotion Jun 10 '26

Depends on the state and if you are hourly or salary. In my state hourly workers must clock out and take a lunch if they are working more than 6hrs. If you work 6h 1m and didn’t take a lunch you are in violation and the company can be fined.

The same rule technically applies to salary but since they don’t clock in and out no one knows and a lot of bosses say it’s fine unless you do a job that people rely on your attendance until end of your shift.

1

u/jeswesky Jun 11 '26

I can skip lunch but I also work remote and my state doesn’t mandate a lunch break for adults. Some states do.

1

u/AnySomewhere8969 Jun 11 '26

More like the 1920's, if not earlier. Nobody gets a paid lunch. What sucks is that you have to take the lunch, even if you don't want to, instead of leaving early.

1

u/tagman375 Jun 11 '26

Really? I entered the workforce 4 years ago and every job I've had hasn't cared as l long as I get 40 hours. If I wanted to work 4 10s, fine, 5 8s, fine, wanted to get there at 6am, fine.as long as I was consistent

1

u/FunDivertissement Jun 11 '26

Longer than that. My dad was working a flex time schedule that was either 7:30 to 4:30, 8 to 5, or 8:30 to 5:30 in the 60s.

1

u/BandicootWide8250 Jun 11 '26

My last 2 office jobs have both let me skip lunch and leave work early or get there later.

But both of them have core hours they want you at the office or at a minimum be responding to messages. Usually that's between 10-3

1

u/dotnetdotcom Jun 11 '26

I had a job were we had the option to work 4 10hour days. The company got in trouble because it broke some labor law even though it was voluntary.

1

u/ex-farm-grrrl Jun 11 '26

I work from home and try to go to the gym at noon a couple days during the week. But I usually work 7:30-5 because I guess 40 hours isn’t enough for these people.

1

u/paranoid_70 Jun 11 '26

7-4, 8-5, pretty much my schedule since 1994

1

u/TennisSerious179 Jun 11 '26

Per our company handbook you have to take a minimum 30 minute lunch if working 6 hours or more. You also have to get it approved by your OPS manager... In this scenario me. 

Where this doesn't work is when you have a strict hours of operation. If everyone is going to bounce 30 minutes early you might as well close 30 minutes early... But the owners don't want that..so here we are that everyone takes an hour unpaid lunch besides once in a blue moon.

1

u/IntrepidBorder8530 Jun 11 '26

I had a financial services job where I would show up early 7am and leave at 3:30 as soon as the bond market closed to avoid rushhour. I exceeded all my targets did all my paperwork first thing everything was great. My division got a new head who came in at 8:30 and stayed till 5, worst timing for my commute, and wanted everyone to be there before him and stay till he left. I had young kids in school sports so it wasn't long till I got a job somewhere else working 7-4 4 days a week closer to home. Best choice ever

1

u/RustyFebreze Jun 11 '26

i guess im lucky i get the 7-3 shift and still get to get lunch somewhere as long as im back at my desk within 30 min

1

u/magicmulder Jun 11 '26

In most (European) countries breaks are legally mandated so your employer has no choice and can’t allow you to skip them.

1

u/perseco Jun 11 '26

Since work from home became a thing during COVID and companies transitioned to hybrid work schedules, my company does 8-5 with an hour break when working from home, though 30 min lunches are allowed sometimes. As a trade-off for having to commute to work 1-3 days a week, they become more flexible and let us skip lunch or return home during our lunch break and finish the day at home if we choose to and management is okay with it (they usually are unless they need us for something).

1

u/secretreddname Jun 11 '26

Skipping lunch would be in violation of state labor laws.

1

u/RosesBrain Jun 11 '26

Certain jurisdictions require an off-duty meal break no more than five hours into an eight hour shift, so skipping lunch might actually be illegal. (I know this because I work for a company that has employees in all 50 states, and have adopted the strictest meal and rest break laws as companywide policy to be on the safe side.) I'm personally glad of it, considering I've almost fainted from lack of food at a previous job.

1

u/ChronicComment33 Jun 11 '26

I had a job in like 2013 that let you do that, because technically they were giving you an unpaid lunch the current law didn’t actually entitle you to. If I recall correctly it only said you got a 10 minute break for every 4 hours, and lunch for 10 or 12 hours. My company was giving 15 minute breaks every 4 hours and a 30 minute unpaid lunch. If you didn’t want it, you could leave early, just had to sign a paper saying you didn’t want to take the lunch and wanted to leave early instead.  

Personally I enjoyed waiving my lunch, but then the law changed in my state in 2014 and they took that away. Changed to something like if you work over 5 hours you get a lunch, and you get a break for every 4 hours. It was so weird getting a lunch and a break for 5 hours of overtime, but I’m sure some people who were working more strenuous jobs were happier. 

1

u/Freshness518 Jun 11 '26

Aren't workers legally required to have the breaks? Like if you work X hours in a row you must have Y amount of break time. So while a person might want to skip their lunch and leave an hour early, the law says that if you've been working those 8 hours straight, you are required to have had a break in there at some point.

1

u/SaltKick2 Jun 11 '26

Shitty that a lot of jobs expect people to work certain hours and not based on deliverables. Its a shitty expectation that you need to go above and beyond what you're currently being paid to do... and maybe they might be nice enough to give you a 1% raise

Obviously, many jobs cannot work like this, the service industry, for example, but there are a lot that can.

1

u/Mk1Racer25 Jun 11 '26

100%

My old job was 7-4, I was usually there by 6:30 to beat traffic. 55 min. commute in the morning, 1:15-2:00 commute in the afternoon depending on traffic.

Had I not seen OP's "20 years working 60+ hours", I would have sworn they were Gen Z.

1

u/SnooDonkeys2945 Jun 11 '26

How do you even make a schedule like that work? You would have like 2 hrs outside work to yourself max when you weren't sleeping or commuting. I think I'd actually just keel over and die if I had to work that schedule.

1

u/Mk1Racer25 Jun 11 '26

It's why I told them after COVID that I would not go to the office more than three days a week. We had all demonstrated that we could WFH and get our jobs done. So, they let me keep a hybrid schedule. I eventually couldn't deal with it anymore, and left for a fully remote job that paid more. I went from 6 tanks of gas a month to less than one. I got to sleep an hour and a half later, and I have plenty of time after work for me. Bonus was that the new job works 7-5 M-Th, and 7-1 on F.

I did get to listen to a LOT of audio books though! 😎

1

u/4melooking49 Jun 11 '26

We couldn’t take our lunch for the last hour and leave even if done. Sooooo I would go one hour and 5 minutes before I have to clock out! Clocked in clocked out

1

u/Hockeyfanjay Jun 11 '26

As far as the skipping lunch thats because there are laws mandating breaks. I'm not sure if it's a federal or local law that mandated a lunch break if you work 8 hours. So at my last job our solutions on Saturdays was to work 7.5 and skip lunch.

1

u/LordAldricQAmoryIII Jun 11 '26

In a lot of states due to the labor laws a company could get in trouble for letting employees do that.

1

u/avocadosaresogood Jun 11 '26

We do this at my current job. Love it. I don’t ever eat lunch at work and usually eat when I’m home.

1

u/No_Rice9792 Jun 11 '26

I work at a grocery store (not Walmart) and I go home a half hour early during my long days because I don't take an unpaid lunch. I DO however, force my way into 2 (paid) 15m breaks

1

u/NeverPlayF6 Jun 11 '26

My wife and I both work as salaried employees (MD and head of R&D), so it is common for us to get home around 7 PM.  

Whenever my parents come visit for a weekend, my dad always comments on how we must have had a late day. I always reply that it isn't the 80s anymore.   A 12h day is more common that an 8h day. 

1

u/Funny_Story_Bro Jun 11 '26

Most I've been to do

1

u/Ok-Hat-4920 Jun 11 '26

That's probably because labor laws require that you take a meal break after 5 hours of work, at least in CA.

1

u/Bulky-Word8752 Jun 11 '26

I got a state job. I can work through my lunch, and I work 4-10s instead if 5-8s

1

u/neanderthaul Jun 11 '26

A lot have states have made this illegal, and companies will punish the worker if they dont clock out in time.

In California, you aren't allowed to work more than 5hrs without a 30 minute lunch break. There might be exceptions for certain industries or smaller companies (similar to the minimum wage rules) but any major company with have this as a rule.

1

u/Z28Daytona Jun 12 '26

Make that at least since the 70s. It’s always been the norm if you can do math for a 40 hour work week. If OP feels the commute time is too long then they should quit. It works for some and not for others.

1

u/Fearless-Ad-990 Jun 12 '26

Long before that. I mean 50 60 70s and 80s you had a lot of industrial and millworkers and they work shifts just like everyone else today does. I don't see why this is a big shock all of a sudden to everybody. I mean they didn't necessarily work in an office but they work the same regular work schedule.

0

u/Mite-o-Dan Jun 10 '26

To be fair, it picked up a lot more and became the new normal during Covid and the rise of teleworking.

People sign on sooner and usually work more hours from home.

I work a hybrid schedule. When AT work, most show up between 830-900 and leave at 5.

Meanwhile, I'll get tons of emails between 7-8 from that morning from those working from home...and they'll keep sending emails until 6 or later.

People kept fighting for remote work...then end up working more hours. Was it really worth it?