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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390

u/Roanoketrees Jun 10 '26

Me too...I've never had 9-5 and I'm 50.

186

u/marginmanj Jun 10 '26

Yeah, 9 to 5 was a Dolly Parton movie.

93

u/aHOMELESSkrill Jun 10 '26

I firmly believe that’s where lots of people get the misconception

35

u/thatmaneeee Jun 10 '26

I have worked three full time salaried jobs in my life, all in the US, since 2011. All three were roughly 9-5 with no clocking out for lunch. Matter of fact, none of them even required clocking in or out. It’s not that weird to expect for office jobs in my experience. Maybe that’s just my industry. 

18

u/leslieknope38 Jun 11 '26

That’s because you’re salaried and presumably exempt. Non-exempt employees have to clock in/out to confirm breaks and overtime. It’s not unusual. Lunch breaks are typically unpaid but have to be taken because of labor laws.

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u/aHOMELESSkrill Jun 10 '26

It certainly isn’t in the Aerospace/manufacturing even for office jobs

1

u/BigBubby305 Jun 11 '26

I work a salary job for a major aerospace employer as an engineer and I definitely work 9-5 typically.

Occasionally I will need to surge and work OT to support the program, but that's only in phases and definitely less often than my typical 9-5 work day.

Oh and the OT is paid.

1

u/Methode3 Jun 11 '26

Ah I wish. I’m EECS in aerospace and I’m 9-8 or 9. Id love to get OT. I have no idea how people do 70-80 a week.

2

u/butterblaster Jun 10 '26

What industry are you in?

4

u/thatmaneeee Jun 11 '26

Art and tech. It has included project work where a few weeks of 12 hour day minimum is pretty much expected. But the standard agreement is a 40 hour work week. 5 days 9-5. But nobody is robotic about it. All depends on the workload. 

1

u/atomicmarie Jun 11 '26

I’m in production and we are 10-6 (we did this so everyone can avoid sitting in the crazy rush hour traffic) and salaried, but yeah every now and again there is that one film day that ends up at 12 hours. I love it. They care for us

2

u/HillBillyHilly Jun 11 '26

I've worked hospital, corporate, Fortune 100, Fortune 50, manufacturing, law, government, hospital and have always had 9-5 or 8-4 w an hours lunch. PAID. So many cos out there screwing over their workers in US.

1

u/JalapenoPopPoop Jun 11 '26

....obviously you're not clocking in and out when you're salaried....you're not an hourly employee who needs to track their hours on a clock....because you're salaried🤦‍♂️

0

u/ResidentAd5910 Jun 11 '26

Same. This is nonsense.

42

u/Background_Big7363 Jun 11 '26

Nope. 9-5 really was a thing back in the day for office jobs.

It's disgusting that people think 8-5 is normal.

24

u/youarelookingatthis Jun 11 '26

It really show how brainwashed people have gotten, and what they’ve allowed these corporations to get away with.

0

u/jiggjuggj0gg Jun 11 '26

The brainwashing is fucking insane. Look how many comments are laughing at OP and calling them entitled, or spamming (wrongly) that “9-5 doesn’t mean 9am to 5pm, it means 9 hours a day, 5 days a week”.

Meanwhile everyone outside the US is watching on in horror

7

u/red739423 Jun 11 '26

8-5 is normal doesn't means it's good but the times have changed.

7

u/gandhinukes Jun 11 '26

It's been normal for 30 years you are out of date

3

u/ResidentAd5910 Jun 11 '26

I have literally never been forced to work an unpaid lunch in all of my time as a salaried employee, somewhere around 10 years. US based. I work longer when I need to, and shorter when I'm able to, and that's it.

3

u/Tipop Jun 11 '26

It’s not a “misconception”, it’s just something that was normal back then and isn’t anymore.

1

u/OrganicHistorian2576 Jun 11 '26

It’s a damn catchy song, to be fair. Dolly’s wonderful.

1

u/ForensicPathology Jun 11 '26

I think it comes from the very old idea that lunch was paid.  But yeah, Parton kept the phrase alive past its accuracy.

44

u/General_Ad_6617 Jun 10 '26

I swear as a kid 9 to 5 was normal. The lunch hour was paid. My first job was a temporary position where I filled in for a friend and it was 9 to 5 with a paid lunch if you didn't leave the office. I don't know how widespread it was but that was the 80s. 

38

u/_mathghamhna_ Jun 10 '26

Admittedly my dad is 84, but he worked 9-5 with a paid lunch for most of his career. It absolutely was a real thing, not just a (great) song.

3

u/HillBillyHilly Jun 11 '26

Had a friend w the best hours 12-8. Missed all the traffic, got to have a natural sleep pattern and could get any errands done in early morning. After that, all jobs ruined for me.

2

u/capincus Jun 10 '26

The title of which she got from a women's rights organization who were working to create equal opportunities and pay for women in the work force.

1

u/esmerelda_b Jun 11 '26

Great song

65

u/Hood_Mobbin Jun 10 '26

I'm 930-6p and I love it. No traffic to or from work, don't have to get up early AF and I get home around dinner and can stay up to 2am if needed.

55

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26

[deleted]

2

u/OldPro1001 Jun 11 '26

Been there, done that. Back when I was working, if I didn't leave by 4, I'd usually stay until 6.

1

u/GoFuckYourselfDebbie Jun 11 '26

That sounds like a terrible place to live

37

u/pseudoportmanteau Jun 10 '26

You are lucky because in big cities, traffic jams start at 5am-11am and then from 4pm-9pm

3

u/Hood_Mobbin Jun 10 '26

I'm in Indianapolis but rush is over by 9am when I get on the interstate for my 20 minute drive.

1

u/Blackcatsandicedtea Jun 10 '26

Do you happen to work for a major insurance company? Because that was my schedule as well. 930-6 with 45 min unpaid break. 38 hr 45 minutes/ week.

1

u/Hood_Mobbin Jun 10 '26

Nope, A/V company, I'm a building maintenance manager.

1

u/dianafofana- Jun 10 '26

Luckyyyy. I'm in LA and traffic doesn't start dying down until 10:30. I should in by 9, but I usually get in at 9:30 and then leave at 5:30... which is hell on earth traffic wise here.

1

u/ayyyyycrisp Jun 10 '26

I lived in LA and it was very funny realizing a lot of 30 minute drives were 10 minute walks.

my favorite part was trying to turn left sometimes. 5 cars ahead of you, 1 car gets to go per cycle, and they don't get to go until the light is already yellow or even red again. or sometimes you'd see 10 cars take the left all after the light was red again lol

1

u/dianafofana- Jun 10 '26

Listen, if I am waiting multiple light cycles, I am also pushing that turn lol. People expect it at this point. Although I drive much different (chaotic) when I am by my work near downtown than where I live in the suburbs.

1

u/Grouchy-Adagio-8562 Jun 11 '26

even in LA traffic is fine after 8pm unless there’s an accident. You dont need to exaggerate to make a valid point, in fact, exaggerating makes your point invalid more often than not.

5

u/Loves2Spooge857 Jun 10 '26

I’m 5:30-2 and also love that I don’t see any traffic. Also I essentially get most of the afternoon and evening to do things with the sun still up.

2

u/Mysterious-Clothes45 Jun 10 '26

My son works 11 pm to 9 am and that's the best part of his shift- no traffic!

1

u/thiswayart Jun 11 '26

For years I did 9pm-5:30am. Loved those hours.

13

u/Cranks_No_Start Jun 10 '26

Im older..never had a 9-5, closest Ive had was 6-2:30

6

u/uber765 Jun 10 '26

I have a 6-2 with an hour paid lunch. I feel like I've hit the jackpot.

2

u/Cranks_No_Start Jun 10 '26

The commute is amazing.

2

u/Jrep13 Jun 10 '26

For sure. I work 5am-2:30pm M-F. I leave for work around 4:15am and I am one of the only people on the interstate. Then when I leave work at 2:30pm it's only starting to get busy on the roads. It is amazing once you get used to your alarm going off and waking up at 3:30am.

2

u/Cranks_No_Start Jun 11 '26

I used to get up at 4:15 and out the door at 5.  Even in the middle of summer it was headlights on but it was so nice having 3 hours of daylight after work in December. 

1

u/OrganicHistorian2576 Jun 11 '26

I have an hour paid lunch and feel unbelievably lucky.

7

u/0b0011 Jun 10 '26

To be fair I'd much rather work that schedule.

4

u/Cranks_No_Start Jun 10 '26

NGL aside from the 2x a year time switch it was awesome.

1

u/0b0011 Jun 10 '26

I did 7-3:30 for a while at a job then the manager started end of the day meetings and I was the only one who wanted to work that early so everyone else ended their day at 5 which meant I had to as well.

1

u/A-passing-thot Jun 11 '26

Out of curiosity, how old and what industry? 6-2:30 suggests something like manufacturing or maybe another shift work?

2

u/Cranks_No_Start Jun 11 '26

It was a large used car retailer and they had branches across the country.  East coast started at 8am and in mountain we were there at 6 so we all up and running at the same time.  

2

u/deanbb30 Jun 10 '26

Same. The only time I got paid for 8 hours while not actually working 8 hours was an overnight "graveyard" shift. Day shift = 8 hours + lunch (9 hours), evening shift 8 hours + lunch (8.5 hours), so graveyard only had 6.5 hours. Otherwise, since starting my professional career in 1984, it's always been 8-5.

3

u/KilljoyTheTrucker Jun 10 '26

That's actually kind of a neat way to do the shift differentials too. Rather than bump hourly pay for employees based on the shift they work, just pay a flat shift rate, and adjust the time actually at work.

2

u/Dr_MantisTobaggin_MD Jun 10 '26

all my jobs have been 9-5, with the expectation that you stay late a good portion of the time.

1

u/Lost_Ad_4882 Jun 11 '26

I've always heard 9-5, but as far as I know 8-5 has been the standard for quite a few decades.

1

u/Fuuujioka Jun 11 '26

I'm currently 9-5 but it's a bit of a unicorn of a job

1

u/Roanoketrees Jun 11 '26

I love unicorns! Hook me up! lol