How long do you work a week on average?

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Current Events » How long do you work a week on average?
gu-gohan
10/01/2025
12:08 AM
#1
I've heard that American work culture is pretty fucked up. Am I right in assuming that this is primarily because workers have few rights?
I've also heard that people work incredibly long hours. I thought we in Switzerland already had it bad...

My employment contract stipulates an average working week of 42 hours, which I already consider quite high. For about a year and a half, a small team in which I am a technical leader has been working on a huge project that is slowly coming to its end. Currently, I often work 45-46 hours a week, and I hate it.

Fortunately, everything else about my employment is great: the team, the short commute, the work content, etc. So I'll bite the bullet. But I hope things will be better next year. No one should have to work that many hours for a long period of time. In the end, no one from the higher ups says "thanks" to you. They just take it as granted.
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NO2_Fiend
10/01/2025
12:11 AM
#2
I never worked more than 40 hours when I lived in the US. Where I live in Canada now a work week is considered 44 hours though.
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SaltyWet
10/01/2025
12:14 AM
#3
About 37,
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Glob
10/01/2025
12:14 AM
#4
It depends how you want to work it out.

On an average week based only on the weeks thst I work, probably around 45-40 hours.

But I have so many weeks off that the real average is much lower.
PMarth2002
10/01/2025
12:14 AM
#5
I'm part time, and alternate days with someone else. I work ~21 or 27-28 depending on whether I'm working 3 or 4 days that week.

I live with my mom, and I'm in a small town in TN, and I don't have kids, so my expenses are low compared to most people.
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NoxObscuras
10/01/2025
12:15 AM
#6
I'm an hourly worker, so I work exactly 40 hours a week. People that have salaried jobs can potentially work tons of hours though.
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#7
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archizzy
10/01/2025
12:36 AM
#8
I have a standard 40 hour work week but I earn so much vacation I need to use at least 2 to 3 days a month to keep below my max balance of 432 hours. I also have a separate balance of compensatory time from working overtime where I choose to have time off instead of money. I dont need the money. Id rather have more time off. I have 80 hours on the books there. At any given time I have 500 hours of time off on the books and thats not counting the 18 days of paid sick leave I get each year and there is no max balance on that and it carries over. I have thousands of hours of sick leave.

My days off are Mondays and Tuesdays and since I need to take 2 to 3 days a month off I take the last 2 to 3 Wednesdays off every month. I actually took every Wednesday in October because I love fall and I had some other extra days off where holidays fall on Mondays but since its my day off I get credit for those and get to take extra days off whenever I want.

So about 75% of the time I have a 32 hour work week while being paid for 40. My work environment is great and Im treated very well and get excellent benefits like free insurance and they contribute 200% to my retirement up to a certain amount so its really good. There is a reason Im on year 27 at this job and had no desire to leave despite having offers for more money. The bigger picture goes beyond just the money per hour and I still make decent money for my area.

I love my schedule and environment. We are treated excellent at my job.
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FolkenRawr
10/01/2025
12:40 AM
#9
Right around 42
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Bass
10/01/2025
01:15 AM
#10
American here. 40 hours is almost always how much I work this week. Very rarely I might do a couple hours of overtime on the weekend.
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dummy420
10/01/2025
02:27 AM
#11
Its been so variable throughout my life. Id say about 40 average. Some weeks its 30 hours some its 60 or more. I enjoy the shorter weeks.
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GGuirao13
10/01/2025
03:50 AM
#12
I'm currently unemployed.
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random_man9119
10/01/2025
03:52 AM
#13
I'm guaranteed 40 hours because I'm full time... Sometimes I go under because I leave a little early... During the holidays it tends to hit 50...
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gu-gohan
10/01/2025
05:41 AM
#14
AssultTank posted...
This is part of it, but the other part is that the US is actively hostile towards people who aren't in the 1%, so many of them have to work multiple jobs just to stay alive and not homeless.

But yeah, worker rights in the US are EXTREMELY weak. On a federal level we have no mandated vacation, no mandated maximum shift length, no mandated off days, no mandated sick pay, no mandated rest time between shifts, and no mandated breaks for most jobs.
Thank you for providing some informations.

This is crazy, especially when considering that the USA is easily one of the most influental and rich country of the world. You have practically no worker rights at all. Damn.

For example, this is a legal work week in the state of Georgia.
Monday: 8am-midnight
Tuesday: 12:01am-midnight
Wednesday: 12:01am-8pm
Thursday: 7am-midnight
Friday: 5am-5pm
Saturday: 5pm-midnight
Sunday: midnight-10pm

I personally work about 45 hours a week on average at my job.

At a previous job, 100 hour work weeks were the norm. As were months where I didn't have a single off day.
Unbelievable.

I mean, I totally believe you, but what the hell... O_o

I work on a salary basis. So all extra hours get compensated. I can choose between payout or using them to take some days off. I usually choose the latter because free time > money for me. But I'm still very much looking forward to the point where I don't have to work 45-46 hours a week anymore. It's just too much, especially when it goes on like that for months if not years.
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Ultima_Fury
10/01/2025
05:57 AM
#15
4 x 12-hour shifts a week. For those days, I dont see the sun.
Phanir
10/01/2025
05:58 AM
#16
Usually 47-49 hours by choice. I go in up to 2 hours early every day to get extra work done before other people arrive with additional projects. I'd be exactly 40 otherwise.
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tri-sapphire
10/01/2025
06:03 AM
#17
Ultima_Fury posted...
4 x 12-hour shifts a week. For those days, I dont see the sun.
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Trumble
10/01/2025
06:16 AM
#18
25 hours (excluding unpaid breaks, which is another hour and a half) per week.

I'm only part time tho, my partner is the full-time worker.
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Giacomo_Hawkins
10/01/2025
06:33 AM
#19
A 'typical' workweek is 40 hours, but between federal holidays, four weeks paid vacation, and 2.5 weeks sick leave, the average is just under 35.
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hockey7318
10/01/2025
06:41 AM
#20
I'm at 40-42 now, but in my old department handled snow removal, there were some 60+ hour weeks somewhat regularly.
Rai_Jin
10/01/2025
06:42 AM
#21
about 24 hours. But not from America.

Dissident_77
10/01/2025
06:47 AM
#22
NoxObscuras posted...
I'm an hourly worker, so I work exactly 40 hours a week. People that have salaried jobs can potentially work tons of hours though.
Or less than 40. Depends on the workload that week. Most people I know average less than 40.
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EpicMickeyDrew
10/01/2025
07:10 AM
#23
At the minute like, 10 hours lol. Salaried life is pretty sweet
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Mike_Xtreme
10/01/2025
07:13 AM
#24
45-50 between my full-time job and consulting work
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imagine606
10/01/2025
07:37 AM
#25
I work for the American subsidiary of a Swiss company. Im on the hook for 37.5 hours per week, but to keep up I often pull 40-45 hours. I do draw a strict line there, anything past that goes into Ill get to it when I get to it territory.

We are also jealous of the time off and benefits of our Swiss colleagues.
Glob
10/01/2025
07:40 AM
#26
imagine606 posted...
I work for the American subsidiary of a Swiss company. Im on the hook for 37.5 hours per week, but to keep up I often pull 40-45 hours. I do draw a strict line there, anything past that goes into Ill get to it when I get to it territory.

We are also jealous of the time off and benefits of our Swiss colleagues.

I think its crazy how much your nationality can change your working conditions and pay/benefits. Its like a caste system where I work.
tankboy
10/01/2025
07:42 AM
#27
These days I work exactly 40hrs a week, although there's usually a few hours of SL or vacation in there, for adulting. I worked extra hours when I was younger.
Cory898
10/01/2025
07:46 AM
#28
I work in a restaurant where they allow me to go over so Im typically able to get in a few hours of overtime in. 43 is typical for me. Occasionally Ill come in to help on a day off when theyre short staffed which will give it a nice boost.
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Cuticrusader09
10/01/2025
07:49 AM
#29
Im a stay at home mom. Now that the kids are in high school, its very little work actually.

My husband has a pretty sweet job that allows him to work from home. Usually starts his day when he has his first meeting (9:30 or 10 am) and usually finishes up by 4 or 5.

Thermador446
10/01/2025
08:24 AM
#30
As much as possible.
Which is currently zero
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Prismsblade
10/01/2025
08:36 AM
#31
Usually Anywhere from 50-55hrs a week over 5 days. I still find time to go to the gym but anything besides essential's(cooking, showering, chores) can be a pain on work days. And I oftentimes rest for a good chunk of my off day for recovery.

Fortunately I get a good amount of PTO(by American standards). And paid holidays/sick days.
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ReturnOfDevsman
10/01/2025
08:51 AM
#32
Exactly 40 by the clock, which of course turns into 40+ when you count prep, commute, etc.

I have, a handful of times, worked OT but I don't do it for long before I skedaddle.
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#33
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tripleh213
10/01/2025
08:57 AM
#34
Always 40
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Goldenguy
10/01/2025
09:54 AM
#35
In normal times I am a 50+ hour worker but I have had a standard 40 hour week since May, with a few unpaid shutdown weeks.
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Rika_Furude
10/01/2025
09:57 AM
#36
im only salaried for 40 but i end up working ~30-120 minutes overtime a day. i need to learn to stop working when my days up :/
VeggetaX
10/01/2025
09:58 AM
#37
I log in for work for the normal 40 hours a week. The amount of actual work I do is probably 15-20 hours a week.
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PurestProdigy
10/01/2025
11:01 AM
#38
40 hours, technically 42.5 hours because I'm commissioned and don't take breaks (I don't get paid to eat and if I'm stuck in the building anyway, I might as well just work those hours).

It's not the hours a week that are tiring per-se, it's the lack of vacation time. I get 3 days a year I'm allowed to call out, and 2 vacation weeks (10 total days). Our company has a program called "voluntary vacation" where I get an extra 5 days, but my vacation pay for those 5 days gets taken out of my paycheck throughout the entire year so it evens out and doesn't really count as extra pay for taking off like normal vacation time.
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reincarnator07
10/01/2025
12:39 PM
#39
On paper, 40 hrs a week is what I'm contracted. In practice, I get a total of 75 minutes combined break and lunch each day and I take 10 minutes less lunch on my office days so I can leave early and get an earlier bus
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Rharyx211
10/01/2025
12:43 PM
#40
40 paid hours, which adds up to 42.5 hours there if you add the unpaid half hour breaks.
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Current Events » How long do you work a week on average?