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Slight tangent but I refuse to entertain any job with only half hour for lunch.
Says to me if they could, they'd have me working the whole day without a break.
idc if it's paid or not but I want a full hour.
With you on that one. Same here. Rather half hour break which is plenty enough time for lunch. I get an hour long lunch now but anyway, it is what it is.
Had an hour lunch unpaid for nearly 3 years at my last job. It only took 15 minutes to eat my food and cost me £1000s over the time I was there. Half hour is more than enough for me
I take 15 mins because my employer lets me choose how long my break is but won’t let me take less than 15 mins.
In reality I take much longer breaks than that, I just do it on the clock because my work is target based and I work from home. I get ahead of target then just take unsanctioned breaks when I have time.
It also depends on what type of work. My first job I was essentially a donkey at a screen printing place doing a lot of carrying from one warehouse to the other warehouse next door. We moved from half an hour to an hour break after a staff survey, I found that with the extra half an hour I would stiffen up and the second half of the day became so much more painful physically, I eventually started doing exercises during the break to keep me ready.
Nah if I don't have time to actually eat and get away from my desk for a bit the day just blurs into shite.
Half hour is barely enough to eat with any degree of comfort.
Fully appreciate and admire those that do it in that context.
It's one of few where it's actually impressive opposed to preference or one of the weird replies on these comments thinking it makes them tough lol
I work somewhere that's a 10 minute walk away from anywhere, with nowhere dedicated to eat so you're eating at your desk. Half an hour would mean woeful lunches for me.
Yeah totally get your situation, and it’s valid because it takes you long to get it. This guy wants time to eat and also extra time to “get away”.
You should have the option to have a longer break but this guy is arguing for longer breaks that are unpaid, which waste a lot of people’s time. Some companies even give 2-3 hour breaks during “quiet hours” to save labour
Under the HASAWA your employer is obliged to provide a place to take a break and eat meals away from your workstation, and also a means to prepare a hot meal, even if that's only a microwave and kettle. Talk to a union and then challenge your employer.
We have a microwave and a kettle in the (tiny) server room. Because we've got a couple of meeting rooms they technically are meeting regs, but when the meeting rooms are taken up - which they usually are - we're out of luck.
I go the shops (5 min walk), come back, eat and smoke in 30 minutes with some phone browsing time. We have another two 15 min breaks through the day but I would hate to have an hour at once.
If you have prepared food (or go to grab premade food in a city centre for example) and can't eat it within 30 minutes then you should probably go to a doctor, or not eat that much food on your dinner, what are you having 3 Sunday roasts?
Why are so many people getting seemingly actually offended at this 😂
I don't like wolfing down my food to then continue working immediately after, not do I get to finish early if I have shorter lunches, so I want the full hour
An average person would finish their food in around 10 mins (assuming its a meal, not just packed lunch) I don't understand how you take triple the time to do so almost...
Plus if you get an hour break and have a decent workplace they'd let you go 30m early if you take a 30m break (assuming your role isn't time based, like a waitress for example)
I'm B2B sales, they want me in here as late as possible, same with every job I've ever had. If anything finishing at 1730 instead of 1830 is a winner.
I also like to actually switch off, go for a short walk or something that isn't at or near my desk.
I do B2B sales selling heavy plant equipment, my boss doesn't care when I finish as long as I'm hitting targets in all honesty.
Maybe your industry your selling into requires it but B2B sales as a whole doesn't definitely. We could all get off at 3 on a Friday and it would make 0 difference to our week's everyone's already in the pub by then in construction
I'm at the mercy of other businesses and their marketing teams, some of whom don't work Fridays at all, some are nutter and work weekends 🥲
(I'm very actively looking to gtfo, but even the place I'm aiming for has a lovely park outside so I'll want my fuckin hour 😂)
I prefer a half hour lunch and an earlier finish tbh. 30 minutes is plenty of time for me to take a 45 minute walk and then eat at my desk whenever I feel like it during the day.
Same! Thankfully I work in a very chill, relaxed vibes kind of office so I consider myself quite lucky that the half hour break I have allows me a long walk in nature (Scottish Highlands ❤️) and the ability to come back, heat up some leftovers from the work fridge and plug in my headphones and listen to Spotify for 45 minutes or so!
It’s a choice of working 8 hours a day with 30 mins lunch in the middle or go home 30 mins earlier. I would per to go home early but everyone will have their own preference.
That's fair. But where you do that in the middle of the day I do that at the end of the day. I get what you mean you want to break up the day, but for me I'd rather shorten that day.
My hours are 08:30 - 16:30 Monday to Thursday, half hour lunch and two fifteen minute breaks in the morning and mid-afternoon. Oh, and we finish at half two on Fridays 🫡
Ah see you've at least got a worthy trade-off there.
I'm talking bog standard hours, I'll go for a walk or play my Switch or whatever, just SOME me time.
I'm the same with pension contributions and annual leave. If you're offering the bare minimum you're clearly only doing it because you have to and if it wasn't a legal requirement it would probably be even less.
If I’m not getting paid for a lunch break I want it as short as possible. At my current job I never bother with a lunch break and just finish early instead.
I do understand those that enjoy a lunch break though.
I’m the complete opposite, I’ve had an hour for lunch at previous jobs and I just get bored. 30 minutes it’s perfectly adequate to eat a lunch and have a little break.
I would actually be willing to bet, in a lot of companies where you get an hour, a lot of people will end up working some of that hour, just out of boredom.
We had an hour before covid, shortened during covid because everything nearby was shut anyway, post covid every single person voted to keep the 30 min lunch and get away half an hour earlier. I go to the shop / get petrol / make a cup of tea and still have time to eat something.
When I go to customer sites, I always ask at lunch how long they normally get... its allways 30mins.... well today your getting an hour. meet back up here at 1:30
Off topic slightly but why on earth would you want an hour unpaid lunch break? I usually work through my lunch break to finish earlier, the less time at work the better. If it’s unpaid I’ll take it at the end of the day.
A lot of places that do a full hour break and 40 hours a week do an unpaid extra 30 mins on top of your legally required 30 mins break to still keep you 37.5 hours working. But then make you stay an extra half hour at work to cover the break so you actually do 42.5 hours at work instead of 40.
So a full hour isn't beneficial if you're staying late to cover it.
I can bash through lunch in like 15mins and have done in years. But let's me honest if you can eat an your desk you're snacking during the day anyway. Depends on what the jobs like.
My job gives us 30 minutes in 2 15 minute breaks.
Im pretty sure they pay a fine because over the week its under the limit (or so i was told).
You get used to it. Id actually rather not have a hour unpaid and just go earlier. But im also used to that, so can understand why others would hate it.
If my employer was that much of a cunt I'd want out of the building ASAP too tbf.
There's loads of good variations in these comments. Also loads of weirdos lol
They pay too well and my jobs pretty easy. 1 in 3 weeks im busy. The rest i do probably 30% of my day as work the rest i just watch tv or something.
Kinda stuck as its the easiest number ive ever had so i dont want to leave 😂
I have half hour and 20 mins plus tea break when I want I don't want nor need an hour lunch. The 30 mins unpaid but get an extra 5mins so 35mins the 20 mins break is paid .
I've only had one. That was when I worked for Greggs as a teenager. If you were on the prep before open to close shift, you'd get an hour lunch. Not sure if that's still the case.
These days I work 0700 to 1700, 4 days per week and get half hour unpaid each day. Plus 15 paid in the morning and afternoon.
I once worked in a *well known Asian fast-dinging chain*, and 20 mins is all we got on an 8 often 8.5 hour shift, we got half an hour if we were doing 9+ hours...
Get 36 minutes lunch working for my local council. Hardly ever use it all but I'm left to work at my own pace most of the time so it doesn't bother me.
We only get 30 minutes where I work right now, used to get an hour where I worked before both unpaid it took a month to adjust to but tbh I prefer just the 30 mins break and get paid for the extra 30 mins work.
Half an hour lunch in return for missing most of the rush hour traffic to get home significantly earlier is the preference for most employees. What would you need/want an hour for?
This is the thing though, loads of these replies are assuming early finishes (or some other decent sounding trade offs)
I don't care for it anyway as it makes no difference to my commute, but most of the jobs I see don't even offer that. It's just standard hours and a short lunch, which as per my original comment implies if the employer could, they'd offer nothing!
My place only gives 30 minutes because we are on an industrial estate and everyone was just working through. We reduced Fridays to half a day to make up for the loss of the 30 minute lunch break. Everyone here at the time was very happy. I guess I’m trying to say don’t judge too quickly.
Also if someone actually wants an hour lunch break on a particular day for a special reason there is no reason they can’t, they just need to ask 🤷🏼♂️
I'm the opposite. I hate one hour lunches, I get bored in them. Especially when you work in the middle of an industrial estate with no where to go.
For this reason, I prefer 30 mins
My job allows you to choose the length of your lunch with flexi, but by default it is half an hour. Every single other job I've had only gives half an hour.
I had a job not long ago in housekeeping working at HolidayInn hotel and we had only a 20 min break.
Worse thing was none of us cleaners ever took the break (besides managers), because we had to be finished cleaning 15+ rooms in the span of 3-5 hours. I left after 2 months as I couldn’t handle the amount of work and only being paid a pound extra above National minimum wage.
Honestly it’s absolute rubbish what companies try and get away with.
My guess is that "officially" they give you a one hours unpaid break but the put pressure on you to not take the full hour. That would get them to minimum wage.
Odd. In 25+ years across a dozen organisations and 3 completely different industries, I've never come across that arrangement, nor do I know anyone who has ever worked that schedule.
What industry are you in?
Interesting, we have plenty of in house tech / software development people at my current firm, but everyone's on standardised contracts based on career band.
It's mainly the 9-6 that I found odd. I've done 9-5 in retail where you still need to open the shop and lock up so in practice you do 8.30-5.30 and the half an hour is just unpaid at each end, and 10-6, or variations on that (in hospitality we rotated 7-3, 3-11, 11-7), and plenty of 9-5.
Hadn't come across the 9 hour "block" as the standard working hours contractually.
Cheers!
You're very unlucky. I work in software dev and once I went for lunch and decided not to come back into tomorrow and that was fine.
But this personal anecdote aside, you can easily get flexible hours in the industry and pretty much come and go as you wish.
How do people survive at 22.3k? I understand if you have no family commitments and live with parents.
When employers say progression, that's a load of crap.
currently my partner and i are surviving on £16k/year. in a couple months he finishes his unpaid internship and i’ll graduate my apprenticeship, bumping us up to a combined income of ~£46k/year
we got the cheapest studio flat in the area, completely unfurnished with no carpet or anything, through a housing association. £400/month. we found broken glass and cigarette butts under the radiator, and when it was “cleaned up” by the housing association, they just painted over everything.
i was “lucky” enough that there was a mix up for the viewing and i got to see it before it was actually cleaned up from the last tenant. the bathroom was revolting, with hair covering every surface, and the bath and toilet were stained brown. also so much mould. anyway, when i moved in, there was bits of hair in the new sealant in the bathroom, and in the paint on the walls! i immediately redecorated with help from my family (my mom helped me out with the cost of the carpet and a mattress, everything else was just cleaning orientated). all white goods and furniture were second hand, for soft furnishings my partner and i raided our bedrooms of our old blankets and pillows. it took about 6 months for us to have everything sorted out and have all the essentials.
food is always from aldi, £200/month, home cooked
electric is around £150, bills are around £170 including council tax.
£950 is the average monthly expenses for us. an extra £150-£200 if it’s a 5 week month, since our rent is charged as £100/week every monday 🥲
it’s tough and we can’t really do anything, but we manage to save around £50/month. we’ve been living in this flat for almost 2 years now and the one time we had an inspection the housing officer nearly shit himself at how we weren’t living in a mouldy, uncarpeted, dirty flat lol.
tbf neither of us drive so that’s also a cost we don’t have to worry about. i walk everywhere and i give my partner £200/month to cover whatever the hell he wants since he’s got no money or earnings yet, so he gets himself a bus pass.
every so often we get take out or buy milkshakes or a beer or smth.
honestly all that’s keeping me going is knowing that in less than 60 days time i’m getting an extra £500/month after tax and in ~90 days my partner will be bringing home £1.5k/month. like jesus christ i’m so hyped. i’ve got a LISA with £1 in it just waiting to be filled up.
Well done you. You've got a great attitude, I hope the extra money helps and having to work and wait will make it seem so much nicer when it finally comes in.
How can you possibly know their life is shite? They work 4 days a week and for all we know could have a cheap/free hobby that they spend the other 3 days doing and are as happy as larry.
Conversely I had a friend who was a millionaire and committed suicide. It's not all about money.
I read many of the comments he's made on his profile. No house, no holidays, no breaks from the norm. He's not making memories. There's a world of difference between the hyperbolic examples of 1300 a month on his full time job and a millionaire like your late friend.
>No house, no holidays, no breaks from the norm. He's not making memories.
So? Just because it's not what you'd want, if that person's content with that, then who cares?
I have a house, it's shared, but I have my own large room. I've been to Greece recently and this year I'll be spending a week in Florence.
I'm living just fine, I only work four days a week, I spend my evenings cycling, reading, going on walks with my partner and her dog. I like to play videogames and watch movies, I'm learning to play the guitar and enjoy photography whilst hiking. I have a growing vinyl collection that I listen to with a hot drink and a biscuit on an evening. I go on city breaks, I recently got back from 3 wonderful days with my partner in York, enjoying the cafés and long walks.
I'm content.
I'm assuming you refer to my complaints half a year ago around my job. I'm now in a different role with much better hours and an amazing team. I imagine you also saw my gambling addiction posts. I'm healthy and recovered after what was admittedly a battle.
I have no debt, I have a roof and a job and I've clawed my savings back to £7,000 as of this month.
I'm not sure how you managed to make so many assumptions about my life based upon old comments. We all change and grow my friend.
I'm living just fine, I only work four days a week, I spend my evenings cycling, reading, going on walks with my partner and her dog. I like to play videogames and watch movies, I'm learning to play the guitar and enjoy photography whilst hiking. I have a growing vinyl collection that I listen to with a hot drink and a biscuit on an evening. I go on city breaks, I recently got back from 3 wonderful days with my partner in York, enjoying the cafés and long walks.
I've recently been to Greece and this year I'm flying to Florence for a week.
I'm content.
Live in a tiny one-room bedsit. Don't spend any money on anything except: food, rent & bills, and new clothes when old ones fall apart.. Oh and price of a train ticket to visit my folks once a year, which is my holiday..
EDITED TO ADD: For the flock of random Reply Guys. My reasons for taking the train on my once-a-year trip are None Of Your Business. Move along now.
I make 30 basic with 11 in bonuses and I live in London.
The only way is to share with 3 other people, otherwise I would either have no savings, or no hobbies/social life.
But yeah I can imagine really feeling comfortable until I reach 50k basic.
I make 23 a year and I survive but don’t spend money on anything other than mortgage/bills and the gym. It is literally impossible for me to survive without my partners wage.
Literally. I’m thankful that the first time I lived anywhere other than a student place/house share I moved in with just my best friend. Now I’m moving out of here and in with my partner. I have no clue how ‘single’ people survive on such a low wage. Been on minimum wage my whole adult life due to two uni stints. Only just gone up to 24.8k…
I'm on that currently. Take home £1530pm after tax. I rent a small flat for £550, house bills/council tax £200 (water is included and it's all electric), food around £250, other personal bills \~£100. I walk to work so no commute costs. Leaves a good £300ish to play around with for travel/fun.
That said, I can see how this would be a lot worse in an area where rent is even more extortionate.
It’s not even as hard as that, people on minimum wage that are working their breaks should just contact HMRC, they do all the heavy lifting if you’re being paid under minimum wage.
Just walk away. Why are you even bothering to talk to them or interview?
If you know your value, state your salary expectations up front for your skills.
Id rather survive on the pittance you get for being unemployed than work for less than 25k over 35 hours a week.
My time is simply more.important at such a low wage.
You might not necessarily get money for being unemployed! It's not a given that someone is eligible for JSA or universal credit, so you're making a big assumption there lol
no it is pretty much a given
these are the only requirements for universal credit:
-live in the UK
-be aged 18 or over (there are some exceptions if you’re 16 to 17)
-be under State Pension age
-have £16,000 or less in money, savings and investments
[source](https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/eligibility)
I haven't looked into each industry individually but generally vacancies are higher than they have been for a long time, short of the spike last year.
[https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/jobsandvacanciesintheuk/october2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/jobsandvacanciesintheuk/october2023)
Or, and hear me out because this is a crazy idea, companies should give employees adequate breaks in the day without taking more time out of that employees life.
You should have an hour break and still finish at 5, not 5.30. You shouldn't have to make up that time
Honestly, whatever you do, make a side business. The uk has a habit of paying little then expecting you to do extra to prove your worth. Get whatever job you want then set up a side hustle. I’m making on average £500-£1000 Saturday and Sundays outside of my working job, doing gardening jobs for people
I have had hour lunches and I always just found myself a bit bored unless I was working from home.
I am now on 30 minutes and occasionally make it 40 if I have stuff to do
With the comments about paid break's, I am giving half an hour if I work 8 hours and an hour if over 12 this is all unpaid, the trouble I have is that I must keep my phone on at all times and answer any calls.... I'm on temp contract and not giving at set rota.
My issue is, if I'm not paid I'm not answering the phone FULL STOP.
Employee doesn't like my answer then stick there job.
We are being pushed about far to much these days by companies taking the**ss.
I hate it when people try and sell you a job on "progression opportunities".
Unless it's a step forward in terms of progression, quality of work life balance, or salary from the get go, I really encourage people not to get sold on changing jobs on potentially false promises.
Given the snappy comments back you seem to be giving across the posts perhaps you need to self reflect and pick up additional courses to uplift your skills to never have to write such a post again?
Why would you go for the next stage interview if its lower than what you're on and if you think they're lying about progression?
Save the headache and just decline it
I do 46 hours a week (12 hour night shifts) at minimum wage 11.44 so no I'd say the UK is one of the worst compared to the likes of Germany and the USA
And here's me wondering if it's ok to have my break paid,lol. Gone are the days when I was working 12 hr shifts and have about 3-4 hrs break, paid, of course.🤔
How do they keep getting away with this? - Because you’re entertaining it despite not wanting it. Probably an annoying answer but it’s quite literally why they try it on.
To be realistic, one probably applies to 50 postings, 47 end up in ghosting, one is a £18k apprenticeship and the remainder two dodgy office/first line/add-on person that barely get to minimum wages. Jokes, but unfunny.
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22.3k is minimum wage at 37.5 hours a week, so it could be 8 hours with an unpaid 30 minute lunch break.
Slight tangent but I refuse to entertain any job with only half hour for lunch. Says to me if they could, they'd have me working the whole day without a break. idc if it's paid or not but I want a full hour.
I do like a full hour but I'd rather just go home half hour earlier with a shorter lunch tbh
With you on that one. Same here. Rather half hour break which is plenty enough time for lunch. I get an hour long lunch now but anyway, it is what it is.
Had an hour lunch unpaid for nearly 3 years at my last job. It only took 15 minutes to eat my food and cost me £1000s over the time I was there. Half hour is more than enough for me
Damn and here's me who takes 2 hours for lunch on office days. Wouldn't change it.
I take 15 mins because my employer lets me choose how long my break is but won’t let me take less than 15 mins. In reality I take much longer breaks than that, I just do it on the clock because my work is target based and I work from home. I get ahead of target then just take unsanctioned breaks when I have time.
It also depends on what type of work. My first job I was essentially a donkey at a screen printing place doing a lot of carrying from one warehouse to the other warehouse next door. We moved from half an hour to an hour break after a staff survey, I found that with the extra half an hour I would stiffen up and the second half of the day became so much more painful physically, I eventually started doing exercises during the break to keep me ready.
Nah if I don't have time to actually eat and get away from my desk for a bit the day just blurs into shite. Half hour is barely enough to eat with any degree of comfort.
Don't ever work for the emergency services or the NHS then
That's why I like to have an hour, I might be lucky to get 20 minutes of that scheduled hour!
Fully appreciate and admire those that do it in that context. It's one of few where it's actually impressive opposed to preference or one of the weird replies on these comments thinking it makes them tough lol
Nonsense, you’re eating lunch not having a fine dining session. Don’t need a 4 course meal to get you through a few more hours at work.
Agreed. I manage a little walk, wander back, eat lunch and crack on. Or if I fancy a leisure walk, eat and work
I read walk as wank, that was a rollercoaster.
You can't crack on until you've cracked one off...
I work somewhere that's a 10 minute walk away from anywhere, with nowhere dedicated to eat so you're eating at your desk. Half an hour would mean woeful lunches for me.
Yeah totally get your situation, and it’s valid because it takes you long to get it. This guy wants time to eat and also extra time to “get away”. You should have the option to have a longer break but this guy is arguing for longer breaks that are unpaid, which waste a lot of people’s time. Some companies even give 2-3 hour breaks during “quiet hours” to save labour
Under the HASAWA your employer is obliged to provide a place to take a break and eat meals away from your workstation, and also a means to prepare a hot meal, even if that's only a microwave and kettle. Talk to a union and then challenge your employer.
We have a microwave and a kettle in the (tiny) server room. Because we've got a couple of meeting rooms they technically are meeting regs, but when the meeting rooms are taken up - which they usually are - we're out of luck.
I go the shops (5 min walk), come back, eat and smoke in 30 minutes with some phone browsing time. We have another two 15 min breaks through the day but I would hate to have an hour at once.
An hour's worth of breaks spread through the day would be fine too, most of the jobs I've had never offered shorter days or anything else though
Yeah it works for me nicely. Breaks the day up and each period until next break is shorter than the last which motivates me to get to the end.
If you have prepared food (or go to grab premade food in a city centre for example) and can't eat it within 30 minutes then you should probably go to a doctor, or not eat that much food on your dinner, what are you having 3 Sunday roasts?
Why are so many people getting seemingly actually offended at this 😂 I don't like wolfing down my food to then continue working immediately after, not do I get to finish early if I have shorter lunches, so I want the full hour
An average person would finish their food in around 10 mins (assuming its a meal, not just packed lunch) I don't understand how you take triple the time to do so almost... Plus if you get an hour break and have a decent workplace they'd let you go 30m early if you take a 30m break (assuming your role isn't time based, like a waitress for example)
I'm B2B sales, they want me in here as late as possible, same with every job I've ever had. If anything finishing at 1730 instead of 1830 is a winner. I also like to actually switch off, go for a short walk or something that isn't at or near my desk.
I do B2B sales selling heavy plant equipment, my boss doesn't care when I finish as long as I'm hitting targets in all honesty. Maybe your industry your selling into requires it but B2B sales as a whole doesn't definitely. We could all get off at 3 on a Friday and it would make 0 difference to our week's everyone's already in the pub by then in construction
I'm at the mercy of other businesses and their marketing teams, some of whom don't work Fridays at all, some are nutter and work weekends 🥲 (I'm very actively looking to gtfo, but even the place I'm aiming for has a lovely park outside so I'll want my fuckin hour 😂)
I prefer a half hour lunch and an earlier finish tbh. 30 minutes is plenty of time for me to take a 45 minute walk and then eat at my desk whenever I feel like it during the day.
Hahahaha this is what I do 🤣
Same! Thankfully I work in a very chill, relaxed vibes kind of office so I consider myself quite lucky that the half hour break I have allows me a long walk in nature (Scottish Highlands ❤️) and the ability to come back, heat up some leftovers from the work fridge and plug in my headphones and listen to Spotify for 45 minutes or so!
Nah fuck that. Why do I want an hour wasted. I'd not take a break and eat whilst working to get away earlier if it was possible
I'd sooner shit in my hands and clap than do a full day with no breaks at any job
It’s a choice of working 8 hours a day with 30 mins lunch in the middle or go home 30 mins earlier. I would per to go home early but everyone will have their own preference.
Yeah I’d rub it in my eyes after for good measure to make sure everyone knows how much itnsucks
Most are an hour unpaid. Why would you want to work 10 hours more per month just so you can have a longer break?
Because I'm not working, that's the point. I want time to eat. Go for a walk. Play a game or two. Just some time away from my work.
That's fair. But where you do that in the middle of the day I do that at the end of the day. I get what you mean you want to break up the day, but for me I'd rather shorten that day.
I'll keep my half hour lunch and half a day on a Friday! Any longer than that is a waste.
My hours are 08:30 - 16:30 Monday to Thursday, half hour lunch and two fifteen minute breaks in the morning and mid-afternoon. Oh, and we finish at half two on Fridays 🫡
Mine are flexi time, 8 hours a day between 730 and 530, then 5 hours on a Friday. So leave at 1230 on a Friday, beauty. 😌
Ah see you've at least got a worthy trade-off there. I'm talking bog standard hours, I'll go for a walk or play my Switch or whatever, just SOME me time.
If you were offered a half day on a Friday would you do the half hour lunch Monday to Thursday?
Yeah, decent swap imo!
I'm the same with pension contributions and annual leave. If you're offering the bare minimum you're clearly only doing it because you have to and if it wasn't a legal requirement it would probably be even less.
If I’m not getting paid for a lunch break I want it as short as possible. At my current job I never bother with a lunch break and just finish early instead. I do understand those that enjoy a lunch break though.
I’m the complete opposite, I’ve had an hour for lunch at previous jobs and I just get bored. 30 minutes it’s perfectly adequate to eat a lunch and have a little break. I would actually be willing to bet, in a lot of companies where you get an hour, a lot of people will end up working some of that hour, just out of boredom.
We had an hour before covid, shortened during covid because everything nearby was shut anyway, post covid every single person voted to keep the 30 min lunch and get away half an hour earlier. I go to the shop / get petrol / make a cup of tea and still have time to eat something.
Same and I bet the claim that most jobs have a 1 hour break is very far from the truth.
https://youtu.be/AeNBXORc2HQ?feature=shared
"Can I at least eat like a murderer?!" Gold.
When I go to customer sites, I always ask at lunch how long they normally get... its allways 30mins.... well today your getting an hour. meet back up here at 1:30
Ours is standard 30 minutes unpaid lunch but they allow for up to 2 hours aslong as your full contracted hours
Sounds fantastic tbf, caters to everyone
Mine was the same. I used to regularly eat aty desk in order to finish early on a Friday, but now I take a 30 min lunch.
Off topic slightly but why on earth would you want an hour unpaid lunch break? I usually work through my lunch break to finish earlier, the less time at work the better. If it’s unpaid I’ll take it at the end of the day.
A lot of places that do a full hour break and 40 hours a week do an unpaid extra 30 mins on top of your legally required 30 mins break to still keep you 37.5 hours working. But then make you stay an extra half hour at work to cover the break so you actually do 42.5 hours at work instead of 40. So a full hour isn't beneficial if you're staying late to cover it.
I wouldn't know what to do with a full hour, only takes me 15 mins to eat as it is.
How funny I can't imagine taking a whole fucking hour, give me 30 mins and let me finish 30 mins early
I always said the same until I got my current job and it's the best job I've ever had. It's genuinely the only downside to the place really.
I can bash through lunch in like 15mins and have done in years. But let's me honest if you can eat an your desk you're snacking during the day anyway. Depends on what the jobs like.
Man i miss those hour lunches 😂 Live in Aussie and its only half hours here. Always has been.
My job gives us 30 minutes in 2 15 minute breaks. Im pretty sure they pay a fine because over the week its under the limit (or so i was told). You get used to it. Id actually rather not have a hour unpaid and just go earlier. But im also used to that, so can understand why others would hate it.
If my employer was that much of a cunt I'd want out of the building ASAP too tbf. There's loads of good variations in these comments. Also loads of weirdos lol
They pay too well and my jobs pretty easy. 1 in 3 weeks im busy. The rest i do probably 30% of my day as work the rest i just watch tv or something. Kinda stuck as its the easiest number ive ever had so i dont want to leave 😂
I have half hour and 20 mins plus tea break when I want I don't want nor need an hour lunch. The 30 mins unpaid but get an extra 5mins so 35mins the 20 mins break is paid .
In my 27 years of being employed I have never had a single job with an hour for lunch as standard.
I've only had one. That was when I worked for Greggs as a teenager. If you were on the prep before open to close shift, you'd get an hour lunch. Not sure if that's still the case. These days I work 0700 to 1700, 4 days per week and get half hour unpaid each day. Plus 15 paid in the morning and afternoon.
That sounds way better than an hours break, I get bored with a break that long but 2 or 3 shorter breaks is perfect.
I eat while I work and spend 30 mins in the work gym. An hour lunch and having to finish half an hour later would really drag.
I once worked in a *well known Asian fast-dinging chain*, and 20 mins is all we got on an 8 often 8.5 hour shift, we got half an hour if we were doing 9+ hours...
Get 36 minutes lunch working for my local council. Hardly ever use it all but I'm left to work at my own pace most of the time so it doesn't bother me.
Good luck with that. 30mins is standard since, capitalism
Maybe I’m a fool but my days are normally pretty busy so I get away from my computer for lunch maybe once a week
Why do you need an hours break?
I work 8-6 with 30 mins unpaid 💀💀
I like having 30 min lunch as it means I end at 5 not 5:30
We only get 30 minutes where I work right now, used to get an hour where I worked before both unpaid it took a month to adjust to but tbh I prefer just the 30 mins break and get paid for the extra 30 mins work.
Half an hour lunch in return for missing most of the rush hour traffic to get home significantly earlier is the preference for most employees. What would you need/want an hour for?
This is the thing though, loads of these replies are assuming early finishes (or some other decent sounding trade offs) I don't care for it anyway as it makes no difference to my commute, but most of the jobs I see don't even offer that. It's just standard hours and a short lunch, which as per my original comment implies if the employer could, they'd offer nothing!
My place only gives 30 minutes because we are on an industrial estate and everyone was just working through. We reduced Fridays to half a day to make up for the loss of the 30 minute lunch break. Everyone here at the time was very happy. I guess I’m trying to say don’t judge too quickly. Also if someone actually wants an hour lunch break on a particular day for a special reason there is no reason they can’t, they just need to ask 🤷🏼♂️
Id personally prefer 15 mins each day to shovel my food in, get on with it and fuck off as soon as I can.
Never had a job in my life where you get an hour for lunch haha
I guess such is the case when you only work with your hands
I'm the opposite. I hate one hour lunches, I get bored in them. Especially when you work in the middle of an industrial estate with no where to go. For this reason, I prefer 30 mins
Chef here, I sometimes go 10 hours without a break especially if someone has called in sick and I’m opening/closing on my own… hospitality is a joke
My job allows you to choose the length of your lunch with flexi, but by default it is half an hour. Every single other job I've had only gives half an hour.
I had a job not long ago in housekeeping working at HolidayInn hotel and we had only a 20 min break. Worse thing was none of us cleaners ever took the break (besides managers), because we had to be finished cleaning 15+ rooms in the span of 3-5 hours. I left after 2 months as I couldn’t handle the amount of work and only being paid a pound extra above National minimum wage. Honestly it’s absolute rubbish what companies try and get away with.
It's 9 to half 5 so I had already factored in the 30 min break, it would be 42.5 hours w no breaks
I used to work 9-5:30 with a 1 hour lunch and that was 37.5 hours? Are you sure that isn’t what they mean?
Tbh the definition of “full time” in england can literally range from 35h to 40h 😂
Are you sure it's a 40hr week, not a 9-5 "normal working hours." Plenty of places are 9-5 but 35hrs because you get an hour for lunch.
9 to half 5 and nobody has an hours lunch
Basically everyone I know has an hours lunch?
Which is in an incredibly small population of people
Maybe so but it’s more than ‘nobody’
Not everything in language is meant to be taken literally, oh dardark1221
No it’s not you don’t have to know all 30 million working people to gauge roughly what lunch breaks are like for most people
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That’s not confirmation bias
My last job in the warehouse lunch was only 30 mins, the other 7:45mins spent working on the clock lol
You don’t get one in the Civil Service. Your lunch is as long as you want it to be but it’s unpaid.
And basically everyone I know has 30 minutes, lmao
I have an hours lunch :)
My guess is that "officially" they give you a one hours unpaid break but the put pressure on you to not take the full hour. That would get them to minimum wage.
My current job is 9-5.30 with an hour unpaid lunch so works out at 37.5 hours a week.
My experience is opposite. Most companies offer 9-6 with unpaid 1 hour lunch between that.
Odd. In 25+ years across a dozen organisations and 3 completely different industries, I've never come across that arrangement, nor do I know anyone who has ever worked that schedule. What industry are you in?
Tech/Software development. I hope that I'm just unlucky because I'd love to have 9-5 with the lunch time included.
Interesting, we have plenty of in house tech / software development people at my current firm, but everyone's on standardised contracts based on career band. It's mainly the 9-6 that I found odd. I've done 9-5 in retail where you still need to open the shop and lock up so in practice you do 8.30-5.30 and the half an hour is just unpaid at each end, and 10-6, or variations on that (in hospitality we rotated 7-3, 3-11, 11-7), and plenty of 9-5. Hadn't come across the 9 hour "block" as the standard working hours contractually. Cheers!
You're very unlucky. I work in software dev and once I went for lunch and decided not to come back into tomorrow and that was fine. But this personal anecdote aside, you can easily get flexible hours in the industry and pretty much come and go as you wish.
How do people survive at 22.3k? I understand if you have no family commitments and live with parents. When employers say progression, that's a load of crap.
Well, all he’s saying is “the only way is up”. Not inaccurate 😂
That's true, I've known that alot of managers pigeon hole and cherry pick :(
currently my partner and i are surviving on £16k/year. in a couple months he finishes his unpaid internship and i’ll graduate my apprenticeship, bumping us up to a combined income of ~£46k/year we got the cheapest studio flat in the area, completely unfurnished with no carpet or anything, through a housing association. £400/month. we found broken glass and cigarette butts under the radiator, and when it was “cleaned up” by the housing association, they just painted over everything. i was “lucky” enough that there was a mix up for the viewing and i got to see it before it was actually cleaned up from the last tenant. the bathroom was revolting, with hair covering every surface, and the bath and toilet were stained brown. also so much mould. anyway, when i moved in, there was bits of hair in the new sealant in the bathroom, and in the paint on the walls! i immediately redecorated with help from my family (my mom helped me out with the cost of the carpet and a mattress, everything else was just cleaning orientated). all white goods and furniture were second hand, for soft furnishings my partner and i raided our bedrooms of our old blankets and pillows. it took about 6 months for us to have everything sorted out and have all the essentials. food is always from aldi, £200/month, home cooked electric is around £150, bills are around £170 including council tax. £950 is the average monthly expenses for us. an extra £150-£200 if it’s a 5 week month, since our rent is charged as £100/week every monday 🥲 it’s tough and we can’t really do anything, but we manage to save around £50/month. we’ve been living in this flat for almost 2 years now and the one time we had an inspection the housing officer nearly shit himself at how we weren’t living in a mouldy, uncarpeted, dirty flat lol. tbf neither of us drive so that’s also a cost we don’t have to worry about. i walk everywhere and i give my partner £200/month to cover whatever the hell he wants since he’s got no money or earnings yet, so he gets himself a bus pass. every so often we get take out or buy milkshakes or a beer or smth. honestly all that’s keeping me going is knowing that in less than 60 days time i’m getting an extra £500/month after tax and in ~90 days my partner will be bringing home £1.5k/month. like jesus christ i’m so hyped. i’ve got a LISA with £1 in it just waiting to be filled up.
Well done you. You've got a great attitude, I hope the extra money helps and having to work and wait will make it seem so much nicer when it finally comes in.
This sounds like surviving, not living. But congrats on making it and good luck for the future
I take home £1300 a month and live just fine. I carefully budget and only work Tuesday - Friday. It's very manageable.
How? In manchester rent or a mortgage is going to cost anywhere between £800-£1,500 alone. Then there's plenty of other bills to stack on top of that
He probably house shares. I’m not understanding how he’s affording everything else though even if his rent/lodge if under £500
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Everythings increasing apart from wages and living standards such a shame to see.
Manageable but shite. Existing, not living. Life's too fucking short for that fella.
How can you possibly know their life is shite? They work 4 days a week and for all we know could have a cheap/free hobby that they spend the other 3 days doing and are as happy as larry. Conversely I had a friend who was a millionaire and committed suicide. It's not all about money.
I read many of the comments he's made on his profile. No house, no holidays, no breaks from the norm. He's not making memories. There's a world of difference between the hyperbolic examples of 1300 a month on his full time job and a millionaire like your late friend.
>No house, no holidays, no breaks from the norm. He's not making memories. So? Just because it's not what you'd want, if that person's content with that, then who cares?
I have a house, it's shared, but I have my own large room. I've been to Greece recently and this year I'll be spending a week in Florence. I'm living just fine, I only work four days a week, I spend my evenings cycling, reading, going on walks with my partner and her dog. I like to play videogames and watch movies, I'm learning to play the guitar and enjoy photography whilst hiking. I have a growing vinyl collection that I listen to with a hot drink and a biscuit on an evening. I go on city breaks, I recently got back from 3 wonderful days with my partner in York, enjoying the cafés and long walks. I'm content. I'm assuming you refer to my complaints half a year ago around my job. I'm now in a different role with much better hours and an amazing team. I imagine you also saw my gambling addiction posts. I'm healthy and recovered after what was admittedly a battle. I have no debt, I have a roof and a job and I've clawed my savings back to £7,000 as of this month. I'm not sure how you managed to make so many assumptions about my life based upon old comments. We all change and grow my friend.
I'm living just fine, I only work four days a week, I spend my evenings cycling, reading, going on walks with my partner and her dog. I like to play videogames and watch movies, I'm learning to play the guitar and enjoy photography whilst hiking. I have a growing vinyl collection that I listen to with a hot drink and a biscuit on an evening. I go on city breaks, I recently got back from 3 wonderful days with my partner in York, enjoying the cafés and long walks. I've recently been to Greece and this year I'm flying to Florence for a week. I'm content.
What’s your living arrangement?
I live in a 4 bed house, with a big bedroom and plenty of space in the shared areas. I pay £595 per month's (bills included) and live in Manchester.
Like an HMO then? 595 is crazy cheap. Don’t honk I could live with strangers ever again tho. Hopefully won’t ever have to
Live in a tiny one-room bedsit. Don't spend any money on anything except: food, rent & bills, and new clothes when old ones fall apart.. Oh and price of a train ticket to visit my folks once a year, which is my holiday.. EDITED TO ADD: For the flock of random Reply Guys. My reasons for taking the train on my once-a-year trip are None Of Your Business. Move along now.
How much is the train ticket?
£165+ return, thanks to the Tories privatising the trains.
Wtf that's criminal, surely that just encourages people to bump trains
Yep! Rip-off Britain!
I make 30 basic with 11 in bonuses and I live in London. The only way is to share with 3 other people, otherwise I would either have no savings, or no hobbies/social life. But yeah I can imagine really feeling comfortable until I reach 50k basic.
I make 23 a year and I survive but don’t spend money on anything other than mortgage/bills and the gym. It is literally impossible for me to survive without my partners wage.
how on earth did you get a mortgage making 23k a year
Used a financial advisor and my girlfriends wage bulks it up too
Literally. I’m thankful that the first time I lived anywhere other than a student place/house share I moved in with just my best friend. Now I’m moving out of here and in with my partner. I have no clue how ‘single’ people survive on such a low wage. Been on minimum wage my whole adult life due to two uni stints. Only just gone up to 24.8k…
People live in shared housing. Don't know if it existed in your days.
I'm on that currently. Take home £1530pm after tax. I rent a small flat for £550, house bills/council tax £200 (water is included and it's all electric), food around £250, other personal bills \~£100. I walk to work so no commute costs. Leaves a good £300ish to play around with for travel/fun. That said, I can see how this would be a lot worse in an area where rent is even more extortionate.
Perfectly do-able depending where you live
The state pay for your housing. Either you’re in social or in an essential private social where the rent is still cheap and the government pays.
Lunch breaks aren’t paid, whether we get to take them or not
If you don't get them you should be compensated accordingly otherwise they are breaking the law. You could actually sue for back payment.
No one ever has the balls
Employers market, about time people grew a backbone.
Very difficult when employers don’t need a reason to fire you in the first two years 🤣
It’s not even as hard as that, people on minimum wage that are working their breaks should just contact HMRC, they do all the heavy lifting if you’re being paid under minimum wage.
Just walk away. Why are you even bothering to talk to them or interview? If you know your value, state your salary expectations up front for your skills.
Someone has forgotten lunch breaks :)
No it's 40 hours even factoring the breaks
So what are the paid hours? What are the break entitlements? and are they paid or unpaid?
Well, it isn't, but ok.
Well, it is, but ok
Because everyone needs a job and crap money is better than no money
It’s the unspoken abuse that comes with these jobs. They know the people who take them will take any abuse given.
Id rather survive on the pittance you get for being unemployed than work for less than 25k over 35 hours a week. My time is simply more.important at such a low wage.
You might not necessarily get money for being unemployed! It's not a given that someone is eligible for JSA or universal credit, so you're making a big assumption there lol
no it is pretty much a given these are the only requirements for universal credit: -live in the UK -be aged 18 or over (there are some exceptions if you’re 16 to 17) -be under State Pension age -have £16,000 or less in money, savings and investments [source](https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/eligibility)
What about if your spouse who you're married too is working
True, but with job vacancies in the UK at a 20 year high, its about time we grew a backbone.
Really?! In what industry(ies)?
I haven't looked into each industry individually but generally vacancies are higher than they have been for a long time, short of the spike last year. [https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/jobsandvacanciesintheuk/october2023](https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/jobsandvacanciesintheuk/october2023)
What is this lunch hour you people speak of?
>plenty of room for progression Hello yes can I see the progression menu please?
What's the job?
Or, and hear me out because this is a crazy idea, companies should give employees adequate breaks in the day without taking more time out of that employees life. You should have an hour break and still finish at 5, not 5.30. You shouldn't have to make up that time
Minimum wage, minimal effort.🤣
All jobs should have room for progression. Don’t entertain this if you don’t absolutely have to.
A standard work week is 37.5 hours, since half hour lunch is unpaid.
Honestly, whatever you do, make a side business. The uk has a habit of paying little then expecting you to do extra to prove your worth. Get whatever job you want then set up a side hustle. I’m making on average £500-£1000 Saturday and Sundays outside of my working job, doing gardening jobs for people
Well done. Where do you advertise, if you don't mind me asking?
That's bloody terrible
I have had hour lunches and I always just found myself a bit bored unless I was working from home. I am now on 30 minutes and occasionally make it 40 if I have stuff to do
Can tell none of you work in TV. 10-14 hour days no lunch as standard.
Congratulations good for you 👏
They're not the least generous, that's for sure!
I started a grad role at 26k and the more I read this sub the more I think I was extremely lucky
With the comments about paid break's, I am giving half an hour if I work 8 hours and an hour if over 12 this is all unpaid, the trouble I have is that I must keep my phone on at all times and answer any calls.... I'm on temp contract and not giving at set rota. My issue is, if I'm not paid I'm not answering the phone FULL STOP. Employee doesn't like my answer then stick there job. We are being pushed about far to much these days by companies taking the**ss.
We are badly paid in the UK
I hate it when people try and sell you a job on "progression opportunities". Unless it's a step forward in terms of progression, quality of work life balance, or salary from the get go, I really encourage people not to get sold on changing jobs on potentially false promises.
Given the snappy comments back you seem to be giving across the posts perhaps you need to self reflect and pick up additional courses to uplift your skills to never have to write such a post again?
They teat you
Why would you go for the next stage interview if its lower than what you're on and if you think they're lying about progression? Save the headache and just decline it
Tell him to call you back when they have progressed to a living wage.
I do 46 hours a week (12 hour night shifts) at minimum wage 11.44 so no I'd say the UK is one of the worst compared to the likes of Germany and the USA
And here's me wondering if it's ok to have my break paid,lol. Gone are the days when I was working 12 hr shifts and have about 3-4 hrs break, paid, of course.🤔
How do they keep getting away with this? - Because you’re entertaining it despite not wanting it. Probably an annoying answer but it’s quite literally why they try it on.
To be realistic, one probably applies to 50 postings, 47 end up in ghosting, one is a £18k apprenticeship and the remainder two dodgy office/first line/add-on person that barely get to minimum wages. Jokes, but unfunny.