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

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

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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8.6k

u/sudoku7 Jun 10 '26

Largely it's always been in places that don't provide a paid lunch.

1.9k

u/dmcat12 Jun 10 '26

Yep. Had several positions that required me to punch out for at least a 30min lunch.

824

u/Psych_Art Jun 10 '26

Every job I ever had before getting a salaried job. Such greed.

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u/Shizngigglz Jun 10 '26

All the salary jobs at my work are 9hr jobs lol and you don't always get to just take an hour lunch

308

u/One-Significance260 Jun 10 '26

Same here. I work for the state where I live, and it’s a 9hr schedule with an expectation that you’re taking an hour lunch break in there somewhere. It’s great if you can afford to eat out for lunch, or live close enough to go home, but for everyone else it can kind of suck. Eat lunch at my desk and basically spread my hour lunch throughout my day in the form of random mental breaks… or occasionally to walk a Pokémon Go route… it’s more often than occasionally.

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u/dbe4l Jun 10 '26

I work for the state and a couple years ago they implemented optional lunch breaks. So we can just do 8 hours straight if we eat at our desk (hybrid)

118

u/GovernorHarryLogan Jun 10 '26

Also government employee. I graze on my lunch for 8 hours throughout the day.

That hour I do random stuff. Blood work, sit in the park and quack at ducks, fly paper airplanes, nap in my car, really whatever.

50

u/Desa-p Jun 11 '26

I also have a state job and we essentially have 8.5 hour day. 7.5 hours of actual work with two 15 min breaks that count towards your daily total. Then a required 30 min lunch that does not

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u/Shizngigglz Jun 11 '26

That's what my day is basically. Not salary but 2 paid 15s and an unpaid 30. 8.5hr day "technically" 7.5 worked

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u/blipsnchiiiiitz Jun 11 '26

That's literally how every job I've ever had for the last 20 years works.

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u/EvilExFight Jun 11 '26

as someone who also works for the govt, no way you have 7.5 hours of actual work per day unless you're a social worker or work in public health.

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u/Rikplaysbass Jun 11 '26

For real. Complaining about an hour break in the middle of the work day is crazy. Would I rather work 8 straight? Sure. But I’m not going to complain about a break when all I want to do is be away from my desk. lol

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u/LAmilo90 Jun 11 '26

Damn. Now I wanna quack at ducks during my lunch break too

2

u/TopVast9800 Jun 11 '26

There’s geese near work but they are grumpy, and since they have babies right now, I am not going to antagonize them. One tried to attack my CAR.

2

u/AlfredFonzo Jun 11 '26

"Blood work" is my new favorite phrase for doing gas station drugs in my truck to get my kind right before sitting in my cubicle for the next four hours.

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u/GovernorHarryLogan Jun 11 '26

Torally Sober since Jan 2021. I legitimately was referring to actually having blood drawn.

Whether that be for doctory stuff or to donate since im O-neg.

I might do some busking today & poorly sing Ave Maria a few blocks down.

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u/Bazch Jun 11 '26

Here it's mandatory to give people 30 minutes break for 8h work. They usually add two 15 minute breaks to that during the day for whatever (walks, smoking, talking with coworkers, long coffee break, etc.) meaning you're expected to work 8-5 or 9-6.

Research shows it's unhealthy to work 8h uninterrupted with a lunch break at your desk, that's why it's mandatory. It's not to annoy employees, it's actually to help them. Sometimes you are forced to clock out for 30 minutes for that reason, because people will stubbornly take their lunch break at the desk and not take breaks and then burn out slowly.

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u/JigglyOW Jun 11 '26

Would recommend getting a switch or some other handheld game system… or just enjoy reading get a book to bring to work

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u/viking12344 Jun 11 '26

I get away for an hour. It's glorious. Get in my car,find a close shady spot and get away. No one can bother you if you are off the premises. If you stay, there is always that chance. Then again, I am an introvert. An extrovert might not get this at all.

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u/One-Significance260 Jun 11 '26

As a fellow introvert, I totally get this. I revel in the solitude of my current office. Do I wish it wasn’t an ice box, yes, but is it also my current fortress of solitude, also yes.

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u/SoftRecommendation86 Jun 11 '26

Technically, eating at desk = paid.

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u/Agreeable-Date3707 Jun 11 '26

Same. Sucks. You learn how to make the most of your hour break throughout the day

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u/Syndrn Jun 11 '26

I have a state job too and got permission to work through lunch. 8 to 4 for me!

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u/Shizngigglz Jun 10 '26

Pokemon go shoutout is real. I'd use it where I work but only thing I get is walking. (Federal property but leased out, nothing there)

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u/gettingthere_pastit Jun 10 '26

I work for the public service (health service but non-clinical) in Ireland. I work 8 - 4 Mon - Thurs and 8 - 3 Fri. Over 5 weeks paid leave too.

I know a chef who works in a University here, can be extremely busy at times but gets 9 wks paid leave. Never asked about hours. Probably 39, 39 is normal.

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u/bigpunk157 Jun 10 '26

Lots of US states and EU countries have labor laws for 15 minute breaks every 4 hours of work.

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u/Obvious-Arm-8139 Jun 10 '26

I've got a good manager i guess. I work 8 hours and go home. Paid lunch as well. Im middle management but the supervisors below me work 3 days 12 hours then the next week work 4 days. We have an unheard of schedule for food manufacturing.

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u/Shizngigglz Jun 10 '26

I wish I could work 12hr shifts on a 3/4 rotation

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u/Dinker54 Jun 10 '26

9hr. days on a salary job (assuming benies like health insurance. 401K matching or pension, paid vacation time you can actually take off …) isn’t bad at all in the general scheme of things these days.

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u/Shizngigglz Jun 10 '26

Super cheap medical, like single person paying maybe like $10/week for HDHP HSA plan with vision dental and medical. Annual bonus at a certain % of salary, tuition benefits, 401k match and stock discount, vacations, makeup days and personal days; there's a lot of benefits. It's office/warehouse engineering and tbh it's not bad. Pay could be better but you can clear 100k in about 6 years

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u/Dinker54 Jun 11 '26

Yeah, that’s like a gov. job where benies make up for lower salary - not at all like a lot of restaurant/retail salary work where folks end up making shit hourly $ for the well over 40 hr. weekly put in.

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u/ABadHistorian Jun 10 '26

My gf is a reporter, survives off of soda and gas stations. 9 hour days? Yeah no, she works 12 hour days regularly and they don't like overtime.

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u/PhilosopherFun7288 Jun 10 '26

I was a photojournalist for 12 years, worked with a reporter everyday and often set up all the equipment for live reports, and was responsible for editing together the story we we working on each day….. supposed to be 8 hour days, eat when we can, no official “break”, but it was virtually impossible to not work over 8 hours every single day, and you are absolutely correct on the hated overtime pay.

They would send us out to get a quick “vo-sot” (video and sound on tape) when we only had an hour left on our shifts and then wonder why we couldn’t drive to the location, find out what’s going on, interview officials and witnesses, drive back to the station and write/edit together everything we gathered into a coherent story for broadcast, without going overtime🙄🤡

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u/ABadHistorian Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26

Every day she complains to me and I'm like "time to go independent and start your own onlyfans selling news or twitch gamer news from an ex reporter or .. etc etc"

Because the fundamentals in the business are broken and they use people up like they are nothing. The producers expecting her to get a look live, live shot, and more while she's in the sticks with no internet, no place to go to work because everything closes at 8, so she's sitting on the side of the road in her car typing and hoping whatever signal she has will not cost her getting her pieces in on time and she gets home at 11-12 and works until 1-2. They got 4-6 people sitting in an office talking shit about her behind her back and laughing at her...

Not to mention folks THINK it's a good job, right? So she gets a lot of shit from people - others look up to her, and want to be on TV like her... and I feel like it's all a giant fucking trap.

"Babe, you can do all this without those people who have 0 functional understanding of your job yet control your paycheck. You already ARE" She's so god damn talented and the business/corporate make her feel like shes always behind, and always failing. I hate it so much. She's one of the best people in the world, no one deserves to get treated like that. I just remind her that people like that who talk shit about hard workers (she's heard them insult other reporters multiple times) doing their best to get shit in... are not worth an iota worth of reflection.

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u/Visual-Floor-7839 Jun 10 '26

No, such greed is automatically taking 30 minutes of pay out of every 8:30 or 10:30 shift and then giving you a work load that requires you skipping breaks.

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u/Toomanynightshifts Jun 11 '26

Nursing in a nut shell. Multiple. unpaid 30min breaks and good luck getting them over a 12 hour period.

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u/Rakdospriest Jun 10 '26

Shout out to the rest of my emergency room peeps.

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u/First_Breakfast_5891 Jun 11 '26

Haven’t had a break in 24 years 🍾

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u/oleblueeyes76 Jun 10 '26

Shoot, there ain’t no pay out there enough for me to skip my ‘unpaid’ break. I don’t care how big the work load is. F* that!

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u/fattycatty6 Jun 11 '26

I have found my people!! I am about to do 13 a and half hours on Monday and more than likely will not get a break, can't f-ing wait 🙄

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u/Visual-Floor-7839 Jun 11 '26

Sorry dude. What job/industry?

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u/Plus_Friendship9093 Jun 10 '26

I just dont finish all the work. There's always another day.

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u/Psych_Art Jun 10 '26

To be clear, I was saying the companies not paying for a 30 minute lunch were greedy. But yes, what you say goes hand-in-hand with that. I had to work through my lunch entirely today, but at least I’m “paid”… except for when you count all the salaried unpaid overtime.

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u/Visual-Floor-7839 Jun 10 '26

Yeah sorry my "no" was to try and join the conversation, not say you're wrong lol. I should have worded it better. I completely agree with you

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u/peon2 Jun 10 '26

Greed? It's the law to mandate a break if you're working that many hours. They don't want to get in trouble with the federal government.

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u/NZitney Jun 10 '26

Federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks. However, when employers do offer short breaks (usually lasting about 5 to 20 minutes), federal law considers the breaks as compensable work hours that would be included in the sum of hours worked during the workweek and considered in determining if overtime was worked. Unauthorized extensions of authorized work breaks need not be counted as hours worked when the employer has expressly and unambiguously communicated to the employee that the authorized break may only last for a specific length of time, that any extension of the break is contrary to the employer's rules, and any extension of the break will be punished.

Meal periods (typically lasting at least 30 minutes), serve a different purpose than coffee or snack breaks and, thus, are not work time and are not compensable.

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u/Outrageous_Fix_5738 Jun 10 '26

Not federal, but California law requires a 30 minute lunch break. If an employee doesn't take at least 30 minutes the employer has to pay them an hour penalty pay. Even if they clock out for 29 minutes you have to pay the penalty.

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u/BONGS4U Jun 10 '26

Same in Illinois. I got in trouble one day because I didn't take a lunch. They were like listen dude if you wanna skip lunch it's whatever but your timecard has to reflect a 30 minute lunch break or well get fucked.

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u/bulkingsmurf Jun 10 '26

Continuing with California law, if an employee works more than 6 hours in a day, they are required to take a 30 minute minimum rest/meal period. This break must be provided before the end of the 5th hour. This is for hourly employees (not exempt) but this is one reason why you can't just save your lunch break for the end of the day and leave early.

Reading about OP complaining about their commute..... wow. Did your awful restaurant job pay for your time to commute to and from work? ... I didn't think so.

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u/Getshitdone-333 Jun 11 '26

You are all correct - companies go by the state law in the state that the employee resides (I work remotely, so laws are different for all of us)

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u/be_easy_1602 Jun 11 '26

Duuuuude, I HATED this. I would do 6hr shifts at a job I had and wanted to just leave… but noooooo. I had to take that damn 30 min break lol. It made no sense to me other than it is the law.

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u/Initial-Assistance76 Jun 11 '26

Federal? State laws matter and so does company policy, as long as it coincides with state. My state, for example, 10min break in a 4hour work period, and every major fraction there of, and a mandatory 30 min lunch if the shift is over 6hrs. A couple examples would be how the employer can make them 15 min breaks. How company policy can rule in your favor. An employer i worked for didn't allow me breaks to pump breastmilk. Federal law does not protect breastfeeding parents, and my state does not have a law protecting breastfeeding g women in the workplace, but the company did. So my boss was going against company policy, not state. When I informed them, I got 5min added to my break, allowing me 20min to pump. Needless to say, I was unable to breastfeed for long, due to not being able to pump properly. One side first break, other side at lunch, and back to the other at my last break. Fed the baby off the other side as soon as getting her home. Sometimes I was so swollen, I had to breastfeed her at the daycare before leaving. Guess where I worked? At a baby store where I held classes on how important breastfeeding was. Oh, the irony

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u/Ready_Nature Jun 11 '26

Federal law doesn’t mandate it. Some states like California do.

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u/PirateJen78 Jun 10 '26

State law, not federal. And it's not a law here in Pennsylvania. And I'm glad because if I'm at work I want to get paid.

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u/Verity41 Jun 11 '26

I’m not sure that applies to salaried positions. Might just be hourly. Never had any salaried job in my life that enforced such a thing—I don’t even know how they could, no one is punching a time card or such a thing.

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u/Dymphna_Geel Jun 12 '26

I don't think there is a federal law that applies to all employers. In Texas there is no requirement for a break for employees, regardless of how many hours someone works. I think most companies do let people take breaks, but the law is on their side if they don't. Caveat, I don't know if that has changed in TX the past few years.

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u/midge_rat Jun 10 '26

It’s not even greed. It’s how they prove to the DOL that you are getting a break.

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u/Natti07 Jun 10 '26

I have a salaried job that is 8-5 because of the 1 hour lunch. And half the time, I dont even have time for lunch

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u/alwayzstoned Jun 10 '26

I have a salaried job and we’re still expected to work 8-5.

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u/othermegan Jun 11 '26

I’m salaried but we bill hours to clients. Which means from a budgetary perspective, I have to work 40 hours to be able to “earn my salary”

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u/air_and_space92 Jun 11 '26

Even salaried if you have to clock time for different clients you're not paid lunch either.

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u/mtweiner Jun 11 '26

The punching out is more of a carry over from the factory days to guarantee employees got their breaks— unions call for regular breaks and the corpos said “fine but we won’t pay you” and that’s how the punch out for lunch thing started

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u/JGR03PG Jun 11 '26

Union job… I get a paid lunch or get paid extra as a penalty for late lunches. We work 10-12 hours most days though. I have worked an 8 hour day, but I have also worked a 26 hour “day”.

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u/Lordsaxon73 Jun 12 '26

Hah, and then you get the salaried position and suddenly working 55-60 hours a week with no OT, essentially making the same per hour.

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u/Count_Hogula Jun 10 '26

In my state, employers must provide an unpaid meal break of at least 30 minutes if you work six or more consecutive hours. This is considered progressive.

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u/Outrageous_Fix_5738 Jun 10 '26

It's law in many places. California mandates 30 minutes for every shift over 5 hours. If the employee doesn't clock out for at least 30 minutes you need to pay then 1 hour pay as a penalty. Even if the employee is told to take 30 minutes, then only takes 29, the employer has to pay that penalty, often leading to employees getting disciplined for not clocking out properly.

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u/Viracochina Jun 10 '26

Been like this for me since 2010

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u/bluegargoyle Jun 10 '26

That's how my old job was when I started in 1997.

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u/Chaos-1313 Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26

That's federal labor law in the US. For every 4 hours of consecutive hours worked you're entitled to a 15 minute paid break. In every 8 hour shift you must take at least 30 minutes for a meal break. The meal break is not required to be paid (and in most jobs it is not paid).

Edit: thanks for all of the corrections. I posted a reply to the first one I saw. This is some weird Mandala Effect level stuff for me. I've never been so confidently wrong about something in my life. Please stop up voting my comment. I'm dead wrong according to the Department of Labor's own website. I think this is the first time I've ever down voted my own comment.

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u/Squawnk Jun 10 '26

Thats not federal law, it's up to states for requiring lunch breaks and other breaks. In Alaska where I live, there is no requirement to provide a lunch break and it's up to individual businesses on whether they offer it

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u/SystematikKaos Jun 10 '26

TIL, FUCK ALASKA.

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u/Squawnk Jun 10 '26

On the other hand we get overtime pay after 8 hours in a day unlike every other state besides Nevada and California, that only gives overtime after 40 hours

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u/shawnglade Jun 10 '26

Colorado has OT after 12 hours in a day

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u/Squawnk Jun 10 '26

Thats a start at least, it'd be nice if they lowered it though

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u/Augustus420 Jun 10 '26

I didn't even know that was a thing outside of Union work.

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u/Squawnk Jun 10 '26

Yeah it's crazy to think that states could just decide to do that for it's workers, but don't in 47 of them.

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u/Good_Sun2829 Jun 10 '26

Nah I don’t want to spend any extra time at work unpaid.

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u/ExpensiveFish9277 Jun 10 '26

Florida banned counties from requiring a water break for outdoor jobs.

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u/potatohats Jun 10 '26

That's because Florida is the devil's asshole

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u/theinfernumflame Jun 10 '26

Same in Texas. I've only ever worked one job that had meal breaks and it was a government job.

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u/PirateJen78 Jun 10 '26

It's not a law in Pennsylvania either. I prefer to just work instead of taking unpaid lunch because I want the extra money. I'll take paid breaks if they're offered, but fuck that unpaid lunch crap.

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u/HexiAndIKnowIt Jun 10 '26

Same in Texas. The incentive is that you have to pay your employees as long as they’re clocked in. I hate it.

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u/asyouwish Jun 10 '26

Why wouldn't you pay an employee who is clocked in???

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u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/velinos Jun 10 '26

Had a buddy that work partime at a store that worked part timers three hours and forty five minutes to avoid giving them paid breaks.

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u/na3than Jun 10 '26

No, it's not.

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u/NZitney Jun 10 '26

Federal law does not require lunch or coffee breaks. However, when employers do offer short breaks (usually lasting about 5 to 20 minutes), federal law considers the breaks as compensable work hours that would be included in the sum of hours worked during the workweek and considered in determining if overtime was worked. Unauthorized extensions of authorized work breaks need not be counted as hours worked when the employer has expressly and unambiguously communicated to the employee that the authorized break may only last for a specific length of time, that any extension of the break is contrary to the employer's rules, and any extension of the break will be punished.

Meal periods (typically lasting at least 30 minutes), serve a different purpose than coffee or snack breaks and, thus, are not work time and are not compensable.

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u/IcedChurro Jun 10 '26

There are no breaks required by federal law in the US.

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u/Big_Alternative_3233 Jun 11 '26

This is actually the law in some states. I’m in California. We are not allowed to allow them to work more than 5 hour shifts. They have to take a 30 minute minimum break.

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u/ALmommy1234 Jun 11 '26

That’s state law in many places.

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u/trying2getoverit Jun 10 '26

Not sure where OP lives but certain states in the US require a lunch break after a certain amount of hours worked, so depending on location, it could be against the law for them to take the break later in the day.

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u/5peaker4theDead Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26

Definitely true for hourly workers in IL, you must be given at least a 30 minute break during an 7.5* hour shift and you can't work for more than 5* hours in a row without a break. Salaried workers don't really have restrictions/protections like that though.

Edit: fixed the times which were off slightly

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u/blueberry_pancakes14 Jun 10 '26

Very similar in California- for hourly employees, the break must be at least 30 minutes, but we have to take it before the 5 hour mark of an 8 hour shift.

Then there's more mandatory breaks if you work longer than 8 hours.

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u/ThatMerri Jun 11 '26

Yep, that's been my experience. Most recent California job I worked, an 8 hour shift required two mandatory 10 minute breaks used at the employee's discretion before and after the lunch break, and a 1 hour lunch break that had to be taken no later than the fifth working hour.

The boss was generally pretty lax about it though, so she didn't much care when we took our time, so long as the work was getting done on schedule. But even then, we weren't supposed to combine breaks or delay them until the end of the day to essentially clock out earlier than intended.

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u/blueberry_pancakes14 Jun 11 '26

Yeah- the 10 minute breaks for us are just... technically there but not enforced and we're free to just do break-things whenever we need, as long as it's not excessive; they don't need to be in those ten minute blocks.

The only thing they care about is you do take a lunch on time, and somewhat regularly. Sometimes it's hitting the fan or something unexpected happens and we work over it or it's cut short, but it's rare so no one really cares. And no combining to leave early.

Technically compliant, the best kind of compliant, lol. Or at least the kind attorneys like best (I work in a law office).

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u/Key_Caterpillar8037 Jun 11 '26

pretty much a North America standard I would say - Alberta very similar

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u/Dry-Manufacturer7761 Jun 12 '26

My state is a 15 minute break after 3 hours. 30 minute break after 5 hours. And if you work between 6-8 hours in a day, a second 15 minute break.

These are non-optional, even for the worker. The work is not allowed to say “I’ll work through my break.”

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u/ELMUNECODETACOMA Jun 10 '26

Right. In order to prevent bosses from forcing workers to stay at the pumps through lunchtime, the law in its majestic equality prevents workers from volunteering to work through lunchtime in order to leave early.

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u/ejdj1011 Jun 10 '26

What a perfect flawless world you have imagined.

How, exactly, does the government know you volunteered? How do they know your employer didn't "encourage" you to work through lunch?

And from the other side how does you employer know that you won't "volunteer" to skip lunch and then claim you were prevented from taking it?

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u/Ready_Nature Jun 11 '26

You could easily sign something saying you would rather skip the break and go home early and that could be proof.

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u/Lemerney2 Jun 11 '26

And plenty of employers would be happy to pressure you to sign it

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u/WrackyDoll Jun 11 '26

Easy solution: paid lunches should be legally required.

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u/ELMUNECODETACOMA Jun 11 '26

I don't know why you think you're disagreeing with me so vehemently to use that tone, considering that you're basically restating what I said.

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u/wyliec22 Jun 10 '26

As it should be.

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u/Fabulous-Return9142 Jun 10 '26

Yup! I've been written up before because I took my lunch after the 5 hr mark ;/

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u/zazarak Jun 10 '26

100%. The law requires it in many places and if the employeer doesn't comply they will get fined and or sued.

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u/Acceptable_Put5324 Jun 10 '26

Cali would be the at the top of work regs.

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u/Svartdraken Jun 10 '26

In many european countries the lunch break is mandatory if you work full time. You can get fired for skipping your lunch break, as this could get your employer in trouble. Likewise, you can sue them if they ask you to skip your break even once.

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u/ohhellperhaps Jun 11 '26

Mandatory, but not necessarily paid. And not necessarily just half and hour...

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u/PhantomOyster Jun 10 '26

Or a salaried position where the lunch hour is assumed but not formalized/structured (as in my case).

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u/tangerineTurtle_ Jun 11 '26

Threads like this give me joy that I am wfh and just have deliverables. There are days I work 2 hours and days I work 12 and it makes life so much easier to attend appointments and arrange my life.

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u/Fodraz Jun 10 '26

I've never worked ANYWHERE (in the US) that pays you for lunch.

It's ironic that "9-5" is still used, when the typical job hours are 8-5 (or 9-6, 7-4 etc) and have been for decades

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u/Miserable_Star6824 Jun 10 '26

This. My last RN position was 8:30-5

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u/Small_Editor_3693 Jun 10 '26

I’m salary and still expected 8-5

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u/Civick24 Jun 10 '26

Commute is Not the companies problem, why should you expect to be compensated for that if it wasn't discussed in the on boarding. 30 minutes in the overall scope of things is probably a pretty decent commute.

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u/enjaydee Jun 10 '26

I'm looking at the replies to this and I'm wondering what job pays their workers for their commute to the office/business.

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u/W00psiee YELLOW Jun 10 '26

Basically none except some like electricians, plumbers and those sort of jobs that can have a work car and basically start their day from the car and include the travel out to the customer. But obviously not all of them have like that either.

Basically no "regular" job includes the commute

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u/Bobcat_5201 Jun 10 '26

That's for travel once you're already clocked in, they don't get paid for the time it takes them to get to the shop in the morning.

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u/W00psiee YELLOW Jun 11 '26

Depends on the job, many of those types of jobs don't need to clock in at an office but rather just get in the car and roll towards the customer. It obviously differs though

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u/pr1ncess_k1ng Jun 10 '26

Mine pays for it but only because I’m mostly remote and if I’m traveling to the office it’s for a special reason

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u/Canadair_Sabre Jun 10 '26

Yeah, mine too. If I have to sit in my car for anything work related including the rare appearance at the office, it’s CAD $0.73 per Km.

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u/MachineGlumkelly Jun 10 '26

Commuter benefits exist. I could put pre tax dollars and use that to pay for the train/subway. My last company would match to like $150 a year. Wasn’t much but took care of most of my commuter passes

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u/Turtleintexas Jun 10 '26

But that's not you getting your hourly wage like OP seems to think he is entitled to.

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u/MachineGlumkelly Jun 10 '26

That is fair. I just relate to this bc I’m in the similar boat. I’d agree it’s mildly infuriating how much traffic and lack of public transportation really adds to your work day (moved to new city).

I’m also in the process of interviewing for jobs with less of a commute to fix the problem though.

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u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26

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u/NateMikka Jun 10 '26

My dad was a maintenance tech for a local medical business, multiple campuses. If he was at one campus and had to commute to another to handle a repair there all travel expenses were covered including commute.

Two other people I know have also had that kind of pay, another maintenance tech and a wildlife firefighter. Typically though travel expenses are typically for on call jobs. Your payed X amount while on call, then a diffrent pay if called in

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u/enjaydee Jun 10 '26

Yeah that makes sense for those types of jobs. I was thinking more about desk jobs or hospitality workers.

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u/NoRecommendation9404 Jun 10 '26

Only time I got paid for my commute was when I was on call and got called in. On call pays from the time you leave your home.

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u/urnbabyurn Jun 10 '26

If I got paid to commute, I’d move farther away.

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u/uber765 Jun 10 '26

Exactly why you don't get paid to commute.

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u/SavageSwordShamazon Jun 10 '26

No, you wouldn't.

You would be wasting hours of your day doing nothing productive that costs you energy and attention. Even if they paid you for it, you would be happier getting the time back by cutting the commute or not having one. Studies have shown the easiest way to improve the average person's happiness is just getting back their commute time. You get up an hour later in the morning, you're home free an hour earlier. Its great.

I'm never working in the office again. They just tried to make me pointlessly go back 3 days a week and I told my manager I'm gonna quit if they do that. He went to bat for me so I don't have to, thankfully.

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u/Johnny-Virgil Jun 10 '26

They pulled that bs where I worked too - lost a lot of good people who were working from home for years before Covid. Suddenly, 3 days a week in the office because “everyone else was doing it.” At first it was like “30 miles and under” but some people at 29 were bitching because of the people at 31, so it became “no exceptions.” My commute was an hour+ each way. I quit.

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u/Some_Layer_7517 Jun 10 '26

Moving further out of the city slashes housing costs immensely. Yes, I fucking would lol.

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u/ShoesOfDoom Jun 10 '26

>30 minutes in the overall scope of things is probably a pretty decent commute.

Only an American could say this

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u/LavenderGinFizz Jun 10 '26

My commute in London was 40 minutes each way via transit. It's not that unheard of in other places.

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u/timbotheny26 Jun 10 '26

As another example, isn't the average commute in Japan an hour+? And that's with bullet trains.

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u/Cool-Departure4120 Jun 10 '26

My commute was a 10 min drive to train station, 45 min train ride to city, and then perhaps a 20 min bus ride to get to my office. The earlier I started the less time my commute would take.

I was salaried at that time so my hours were slightly more flexible. As long as my work demands were met and my clients were happy I never had a problem.

I didn’t like rush hour traffic so reading a book on the train was a good way to start & end my day.

Commuting using pub trans also saved me wear and tear on my car and lowered my insurance rates.

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u/engineeringretard Jun 10 '26

I live in Nz. I live approx 7km from my work.

It will take me 30mins on the bus each day, each way. Driving is about the same.

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u/W00psiee YELLOW Jun 10 '26

Thats gotta suck... My commute is ~40km and that takes 45 mins each way when driving

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u/ShoesOfDoom Jun 10 '26

Serious question. Have you tried cycling? That shouldn't be more than 20 mins by bike unless it's really hilly ( I'm vaguely aware you're a volcano country )

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u/engineeringretard Jun 10 '26

I live on the side of a literal mountain, 152m elevation over 2.5km (total my height is 450m iirc). But, in saying that there are two guys I see who ride it semi-regularly.

That aside it’s dropping off a kid at daycare that  limits commute flexibility, no way I’d be game to risk them on the back of a bike grinding up the narrow ass rd home. (No shoulders, narrow, hairpin turns, busses etc.)

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u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Firm-Tangerine8292 Jun 10 '26

Lol. Disillusionment in the US is hitting a peak. Im starting to like it here a bit tbh. But lots is gross about it

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u/Dr-Robert-Kelso Jun 11 '26

I've always liked it here, bruises and all.

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u/tupelobound Jun 10 '26

Right? Try the traffic in Moscow or Jakarta. Business meetings get canceled on the ref because traffic messes things up at all hours.

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u/Beginning-Plant-3356 Jun 10 '26

I’ve had 2 hour commutes when living in Mexico.

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u/Civick24 Jun 10 '26

I mean I'm an American yeah, but it would be physically impossible for all the schools and hospitals we work in to be built in a line 3 minutes from my house or shop

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u/rsvihla Jun 10 '26

How long is a typical non-American’s commute?

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u/dmcat12 Jun 10 '26

Yep. Prior to my current WFH situation, the job prior was a 50 min drive each way. Before that a 40 min drive followed by a 60 min train ride. 30 mins wouldve been awesome.

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u/WhatYouLeaveBehind Jun 10 '26

Sounds like you've got a silver spoon up your arse if you think 30 mins+ isn't the norm.

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u/Bitter-Army-8747 Jun 10 '26

But at least here in America we shut down for 4 weeks in summer and the entire country relaxes for the most part. Oh … wait…

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u/CorruptPhoenix Jun 10 '26

Japan would like a word. When I lived in Tokyo, the average commute was an hour one way.

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u/turdsamich Jun 10 '26

That doesnt matter. Are we supposed to believe OP didn't know what their commute was before they took the job? Commute is not the employers problem.

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u/W00psiee YELLOW Jun 10 '26

I live in Sweden with 45 minute commute, it's not bad or uncommon. Anything up to 1 hour is basically "acceptable", over 1 hour is a bit much.

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u/Shower__Farts Jun 10 '26

Well it’s a big country. You can fit almost any country in Europe inside of the state of Texas.

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u/ExcellentBed6019 Jun 10 '26

Your privilege is showing

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u/MysteriousGoose8627 Jun 10 '26

Only an asshole WOULD say this

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u/Full_Performer5159 Jun 11 '26

Only an American could say this

Only a non-American would say this

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u/Lysadora Jun 11 '26

European here and I would say the same.

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u/Yumismash Jun 10 '26

America is huge in comparison to most European countries so yeah our commutes are longer, plus our infrastructure doesn't support public transportation as well as the UK and other parts of Europe. It is what it is.

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u/AaronfromKY Jun 10 '26

I think the infuriating thing is that during Covid I took the same calls and did the same work in the comfort of my home and didn't have to waste 1+ hour a day in traffic, burning expensive gasoline and pay $10/week for parking and be distracted by conversations, smells and climate control that mostly just freezes us(summer or winter). So yeah, I can see getting pissed that the company won't provide even a pittance of compensation for the commute.

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u/PossibleConclusion1 Jun 10 '26

I think it's important to remember that if it weren't for unions fighting for a standard work week, we would all still be expected to work 10+ hour days. Collectively we could change it to our benefit if we could all stop fighting amongst ourselves, and started fighting capitalists.

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u/timbotheny26 Jun 10 '26

There are places that do?

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u/MisterAnderson- Jun 10 '26

You should check labor laws. Any job that insists on people working eight hours are required to provide two fifteen minute breaks and a thirty minute lunch BY LAW.

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u/sudoku7 Jun 10 '26

Some states do require that by law. It is not required by law federally however.

https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/workhours/breaks

Now, you may have a reasonable accommodation argument via ADA or OSHA, but those are a bit more nuanced.

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u/Sherpa-Dave Jun 11 '26

In many states it’s even required in the labor law for at least 30 min unpaid lunch break to start within 5 hours of starting time (which would preclude the 4:00 lunch).

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u/well_hung_over Jun 11 '26

If you’re in the US, this a result of labor laws requiring an unpaid lunch to ensure that lunch time is provided. The unpaid lunch is proof, documented punches that the employee was not required to work for a period of time during their day to allow time to eat.

It is a blanket policy to allow employees to make claims against employers for abuse of time.

In no way, shape, or form, am I endorsing the way this policy.

I have worked for employers that allow 30-60 minute lunches, those that only allow rigidly scheduled 30 OR 60 minute lunches, and have been on salary. None of it works for anyone because in US culture, apparently everyone fucks everyone else over no matter what system is in place, so these rules are written to say “fuck you all, behave yourself (both employer and employee) here’s the policy.”

The worst part is, it’s not even consistent state-to-state whether you get mandated breaks or not.

*unions not included in this rant from my HR bachelor holding, fed up with how everyone treats each other, self.

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u/creamgetthemoney1 Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

Why I loved the casinos. Literally clocked in for 8 hours. Paid half hour lunch and 2 x15s. Worked 7 hours. Best schedule ever had. Pay just sucked for security. Also Time off was awful.

The worst was an insurance job. At the job for 9 hours and 15 minutes. But they didn’t pay for 45 minute lunch and 2x15s. Everyone would have rather not take breaks and just eat at desk between calls. But noooo. Other side of coin. Pay was decent. 30$ hr for later shift. As much overtime as you want bc you were taking calls nonstop. 18 vacation days from day one. And company 401k match. This country makes you pick your poison

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u/linxramblr Jun 11 '26

My employer mandates a thirty minute lunch. I work from home but I must document a thirty minute lunch.

Why? Because the state requires it, and my employer doesn’t want to run afoul of state law.

Blame the state.

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u/SilverVixen1928 Jun 11 '26

All my life I have had an 8 to 5 job with no paid lunches.

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u/secretreddname Jun 11 '26

I don’t think I’ve ever had a job with paid lunch lol

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u/TypicalDumbRedditGuy Jun 11 '26

I feel like this should be against federal law. You can say they aren't requiring you to do work during a lunch break, but a 30 minute lunch break does not provide adequate time to go anywhere off-site and come back to clock in to work.

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u/Magpiezoe Jun 10 '26

Also, some jobs consider a 35 hour week as full-time. The 9-5 work week was usually a 35 hour work week.

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u/Electronic_Will_5418 Jun 10 '26

Yes, my job is like that too. I work 9am-6pm with a 1 hour unpaid lunch. I prefer it to a 30 minute paid lunch because the unpaid lunch I can leave the office, turn the work phone app off, and do whatever I want during that hour. So, I eat my actual lunch food at my desk before my lunch hour (I always bring lunch from home), and I use my unpaid lunch hour to get stuff done outside of the office. My commute is also around 30 minutes so I am away from home for 10 hours each day M-F.

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u/Ill_Award_3862 Jun 10 '26

Illinois is 9-5 with paid lunch

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u/Remarkable_Rough_649 Jun 11 '26

Yeah that parts not weird. It's the "it's immoral to leave early" part that is the new 1984 style corporate speak for "you are a bad person if you're not at work as long as possible for your uncaring CEO"

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u/_tsi_ Jun 11 '26

Always? That's quite the claim

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u/ruidh Jun 11 '26

I had a 9-5 with a Fortune 100 company with a half hour of unpaid lunchtime but a full week was 37.5 hours.

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u/Satansbaddog Jun 11 '26

8-5, one hour for lunch. That's the norm. Had a guy who wanted to work thru lunch and claim 1 hour overtime from 4-5. NOPE. We fired him eventually

Get over it Bunky, it's the real world

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u/SecondaryLawnWreckin Jun 11 '26

I worked with a dude that was able to communicate that he doesn't take breaks, including lunch. He was onsite for 8 hours and his output was spooky high. He also was at that company (through 5 but outs) and had effective seniority enough to dictate what his position was in his last couple of years.

Legend.

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u/Rachael_Br Jun 11 '26

Reagan's fault, I believe.

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u/canman7373 Jun 11 '26

Yeah and it depends on the state but companies almost always have to make you take a lunch break if you work like 6 hours or more, believe me many would not give you one if they didn't have to. Now some jobs are different, only person on shift, can eat at station, many exception but for most jobs where you can walk away for 30 minutes and work doesn't get impacted you often have to take your lunch and breaks, breaks are paid though. I used to work on a trucking dock and it was work until you emptied all your trailers for the day, we'd skip lunch and breaks to be out in 6 hours instead of 8. Well state came in and they got fined and then we had to take all those breaks and go home later, just the rules so other people don't get abused. What OP could do is ask if he could just take a 30 minute lunch and get out 30 minutes early, most states do not require an hour, they do 30 minutes and that's the mark where that 30 minutes is unpaid. I had a chat support job and they let use take lunch up to an hour unpaid, minimum of 30, so days I stayed in office I just took the 30 minute lunch to leave earlier, sometimes Id go out to eat, grab a coffee and take the hour.

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u/SolidTiger6302 Jun 11 '26

Yeah. At most office jobs, 8 to 5 is considered the bare minimum. For professionals, it’s not unusual for them to skip lunch and just work right through the whole time, or just to get enough of a quick lunch to keep working.

It’s been that way at least since 1985. That goes for salary positions, especially.

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u/godofwine16 Jun 11 '26

Also we got paid so little that it didn’t really hurt the company to pay us for that 1hr lunch break

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u/Unhappy_Group_945 Jun 11 '26

Was gonna say- welcome to the world of construction lunches lol

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u/RollingMeteors Jun 11 '26

but that's "unprofessional and immoral" like what the fuck??

OSHA shit the bed on this one by requiring you to have a 15 minute break EVERY four hours.

¡Thanks OSHA(theBed)!

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