Current Events > i don't understand what americans mean by "9 to 5"

(+) Yeah! (+)

9 to 5 would be 8 hours
so if you take any amount of time for lunch break, that's under 8 hours
do americans not work 40 hour weeks? have they secretly been working less than us this whole time?

I heard someone explain it more as - nine hours a day, five days a week.

and a lot of people tend to work from 8-5, with 30 minutes to an hour of lunch off.

My schedule usually has me on for 9 hours. They take that extra hour for my lunch, so Im only working 8 hours.
5 days a week, 8 hours a day. So yeah, I get my 40 hours in.

What a way to make a living.

Standard 40 hour work week has 30min lunch each day, making your paid work 37,5 hour/week.

I work about 7 hours after factoring in lunch. But occasionally I have to do stuff off hours. Deployments, travel, testing etc. so imo it balances out.

I've heard they used to pay you for lunch and include that toward your eight. So 9-12, lunch, 1-5, for example.

But if that ever really was a thing, I've never seen it. I've always eaten at my desk or skipped lunch or divided it up into a couple of those breaks that are short enough that you don't have to count them so I could go home sooner. The one exception was a job I had where I had mandatory unpaid lunch. That was awful.

boxoto posted...

I heard someone explain it more as - nine hours a day, five days a week.

and a lot of people tend to work from 8-5, with 30 minutes to an hour of lunch off.

No, anyone who told you that was trying to rationalize. "9 to 5" definitely means 9 AM to 5 PM.

"Lunch break"

Lmao so many of us don't actually get those.

Besides breaks should be considered hours worked. If I am not free to go for the remainder of the day its still work and not compensating me for it is evil. Allowing your workers to eat and rest is just basic fucking common sense. Not allowing it or seething about it is like refusing to change a delivery trucks oil and screaming at the check oil light for daring to flash. Properly maintain your goddamn workers and equipment.

I'm scheduled 10pm to 6:30am... That extra 30 minutes is on the schedule to still have 8 hours even including when I clock out for lunch...

I have a 37.5 week job, I get two 15 minute breaks that are off clock, and an hour of paid lunch. I eat my lunch on my break and take my lunch at the end of the day so I leave "an hour early."

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

No, anyone who told you that was trying to rationalize. "9 to 5" definitely means 9 AM to 5 PM.

I'm just saying, I didn't come up with it myself.

I did some digging. I wasn't sure if the saying was famous before her song. I guess it was. SOmeone did a post on /r/askhistorians that digs into it. The saying was back from when we worked a 48 hour work week./ 6 days a week.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/id2cfp/dolly_parton_had_a_famous_song_9_to_5_yet_every/

Most jobs I've had only have an unpaid lunch, where I have to clock out, eat lunch, and then clock back in. So essentially, you're at work for more than 8 hours.

It's become a slang

It was very painful to be told about the 9 to 5 growing up, only to be rugpulled that it's actually 8 to 5.

Choco posted...

9 to 5 would be 8 hours
so if you take any amount of time for lunch break, that's under 8 hours
do americans not work 40 hour weeks? have they secretly been working less than us this whole time?

The only reason we don't work more than 40 hours is they do not want to pay us overtime. Some jobs wants us to work MORE than that.

The job I work has an unpaid lunch and 2 paid breaks. The unpaid lunch does not count toward the work time.

I work 8 hour shifts and don't get a break or lunch. Though, you usually have free time so it's not a problem, but sometimes you just have to go without.

MI4_REAL posted...

The only reason we don't work more than 40 hours is they do not want to pay us overtime. Some jobs wants us to work MORE than that.

It's not that simple, tbh. Plenty of white collar people are exempt, meaning anything after 40 is completely unpaid.

But the white collar world just works differently. I've only had two jobs that thought they could get free labor out of me this way, and I quit them both within weeks of being told so. On the other hand, I've put in plenty of hours beyond the 40 for nothin' because the need to the business or the project was legitimate and transient.

ReturnOfDevsman posted...

I've heard they used to pay you for lunch and include that toward your eight. So 9-12, lunch, 1-5, for example.

It's this. But that was over 80 years ago when that was common. The term is just a holdover at this point

37.5 is the norm. 830 to 5 if you have an hour lunch.

I only take paid lunch breaks

Well you

tumble out of bed and stumble to the kitchen
pour yourself a cup of ambition
and yawn and stretch and try to come to life
Jump in the shower and the blood starts pumpin.
Out in the street the traffic starts jumpin with folks like you on the job from 9 to 5.

Some places give you the dignity of a 9-5:30 or 8:30-5, so youre not actually getting tricked out of your half hour of pay.

Unions fought to get higher wages for previous generations. We get more breaks and lower pay.

I've never worked a 9-5. My previous jobs were 10pm-7am (minus 1 hour for lunch)
3pm-11pm (minus 30 minutes for lunch)
and 7am-3pm (minus 30 minutes for lunch)

My current job has variable schedules and paid lunch breaks, but we can also work during our breaks if they need us which we'll be compensated for

Payzmaykr posted...

Some places give you the dignity of a 9-5:30 or 8:30-5, so youre not actually getting tricked out of your half hour of pay.

Unions fought to get higher wages for previous generations. We get more breaks and lower pay.

Yeah but they give you an hour lunch so your schedule ends up being 37.5 hours instead of 40. Gives them more wiggle room before you get overtime at 40+ in a good state. 40 hours means 8 to 5 which is a drag, did that for a while and it was just eh having to schlep to work that early.

Choco posted...

9 to 5 would be 8 hours
so if you take any amount of time for lunch break, that's under 8 hours
do americans not work 40 hour weeks? have they secretly been working less than us this whole time?

Over 40 hours is usually 1.5x the pay, many employers in the US try to limit hours over 40 to avoid paying extra wages

thanks for all the responses, seems like "9 to 5" is for the most part NOT the typical start and end time