PA and Secretary Community - Deskdemon.com

I am curious on what hours people put in?  Is it 9 to 5 like the movie?  Or is it 9 - 6?    Do you start at 8 am?  How does your lunch affect your hours? Does over time affect the time you come in or leave?   Let me know what country you are in as well.   I am curious to see if it is different in different countries.  Does Spain really have 2 hour lunches and close down?  How would that affect the work hours?

Hiya!

The office hours at my place are from 9 to 6 with one hour for lunch and now in summer (July and August) we work from 8 to 3 .. humm nice.

It is true that most work places in Spain have 2 hours for lunch or even more in some cases and shops usual close from 1 to 5, closing at 9.

I prefer finishing early to having a siesta  ;)

I'm in the UK.

Mon to Thur
8.00 to 4.30 (anything extra is accumulated as flexi)

Fri
8.00 to 12 noon (again anything extra is flexi)

Core hours to be worked each week is 36 with anything extra being counted as flexi.

I usually clock in between 7.30-7.45 and leave at 4.30 each day.  I manage to accumulate around 1 hr and 30 mins each week.

We only get half an hour for lunch so the day is rather long.

I work 9.30 - 5.30, Monday to Friday, with an hour for lunch so that's 35 hours a week.  I make it that little bit later in the morning to avoid the worst of the rush hour.  My boss is fine though that if I want to make it closer to 10am start (and stay that bit later), I can.

Forgot to say - I'm in the United Kingdom!

I am in the US.  My office allows flex time as long as you get in 40 hours per week.  Currently I am working Tues-Fri 7:30 am to 6:00 pm with a 1/2 hour lunch.  This saves me a day of commute time and gas.  Prior to that change, my hours were 8:00 am to 5:00 pm with an hour lunch.

I'm in the US... in my company they have a variety of schedules available to choose from.  Initially, the core hours are 0900-1500 for training, so as long as you are here for those times, you can flex around it.  Still have to work 8.5 hours (with 1/2 hour for lunch) a day, but those can start as early as 0700 so you can leave at 3:30pm, or as late as 0845 and leave at 5:15pm.  Once you are no longer in training, you can flex with arriving time from 0600-0900 and then leave from 3:30-5:30pm, again, as long as you put in 8.5 hours for the day.  Then we have a compressed work tour, which is what I work.  You can't flex your time (it's a set schedule) but you get a day off every 2 weeks.  I work 8 9hour days, 1 8 hour day, and get a day off for a total of 80 hours worked every 2 weeks.  So I start work at 0730 and leave at 5:00pm, with a half-hour for lunch.  Technically, we work 8 hours a day and get a half-hour for lunch, so we work 40 hours each week but are in the office for 42.5 hours per week if you include the lunches.

I like the compressed tour, because I get a day to do my errands, appts, etc that I normally would be trying to take leave for, so it let's my leave get saved for more fun stuff, I can still go get my nails/hair/etc done, and still have all the family time I want to have.  Oh, and I get to sleep in on that day too, which is really nice.  ;) :D  With two little boys, that sleep is sometimes the most important thing I give myself on my down day.

Is there/was there ever really a 9-5 job, with an hour lunch???  Did they really pay you for 40 hours a week, or only 35?  And if 35 was a normal work-week, when and how did it get bumped up to 40 for a standard?  Questions that have haunted me for a lot of my work-life.

Yes I used to do regular 9-5 years ago but these days the larger organisations seem to favour flexi time to allow for things like the school run and for those who travel quite a distance to and from work.

Personally I prefer 9-5 than having to start here at 8 but the plus side is I get away early on Fridays (12noon) and I can accrue enough flexi to take one Friday off per month.  Like CG, I can therefore keep my annual leave for other things.

For info when I worked 9-5 (8 hrs) I never got paid for lunch which was usually an hour so only got paid for 35 hours.  In my last company we worked 37.5 hrs per week.  I'm actually working less hours now and getting paid more for it.

I am UK based, I don't have fixed hours - my contract is for hours to do the job.

I know for some people that would be a scary concept BUT for me it actually works really well.  I am usually at my desk for around 40 hours each week, but some of that may be at home evenings or weekends.  When I need to be home for deliveries or whatever during the working day I don't have a problem doing that; and if the bus gets held up in traffic I am not late for work - I just make the hours up.

Everyone in my immediate office works on this basis and it creates a very relaxed working environment, the work gets done and there are much lower levels of work related stress. 

I love it and would really struggle to work fixed hours

So Cathy, are there no core hours when you have to be in work eg. 10-4pm?

How do you keep track of people?  eg. those as you say who have missed the bus, or are at the dentist or those who just haven't turned up yet?

Isn't there a standard time that everyone must turn up by?  For example in my company, we have to be here by 9.30am and cannot leave before 4pm ie. flexi time.  However we can start as early as 7.30am and work up to 6pm.

How do you know who has done their hours and who hasn't?  Do you submit your hours to payroll?  How are absences monitored?

It relies on people's honesty Gee.  We are a group of less than 20 people, it is obvious if anyone is unusually absent and it is obvious if the work doesn't get done.  In terms of keeping in touch if we are late arriving etc we are all technically geeky types with iPhones, mobile e-mail, mobile internet and we talk to one another.

There are no core hours for our Group.  In actual fact many of the group work more than the standard hours and not less.  Sickness and holiday absence is recorded by people self reporting. 

Most of the output of the Group is through Webservices which need to be available 365/24/7 - the boss has to know if anyone is to be away to ensure there is alternative support available.  It is a matter of both individual pride and group reputation for this to work.

I am an administrator but if I worked fixed and inflexible hours it wouldn't service the flexible group of people I support.  Equally none of us - including me - have to be sat in the same location for us to function - our world is online, accessible 24 hours per day from anywhere with a half decent computer ...

This wouldn't suit someone who finds it hard to switch off - it could become all consuming.  But then as well as working hard (but flexibly) we play quite hard together too so that protects most from the temptation to do just another few hours.  It wouldn't suit everyone but I love it

Yes I can see how that would only work for a small group/company.  A good solid strong workforce then.

It would be much easier to skive/disappear in a larger organisation as I have witnessed over the past few months.

We are part of a large organisation but the cellular structure of small cohesive groups provides the local controls that otherwise would be rigidly enforced rules.

The saddest thing is the centralised secretarial team have to work fixed hours which doesn't suit the business needs of the organisation and it causes demotivation.  Ultimately the organisation will only be able to attract secretarial staff members who have little ambition and are content to type and answer the phones - dilution of our profession by stealth - and those they support will feel short changed with the level of support they receive.

I work in the UK. My official hours are 37.5 per week.  I am able to accrue flexi hours but quite frankly I don't bother because it is so difficult to take the time back as I am too busy.  I take 30 minutes for my lunch and my usual hours are 8.45 until 4.45.  If I do have to work late I try and take the hours back the same week by finishing earlier on a Thursday evening. 

UK too.

Official hours in this organisation at 37 pw but I generally end up doing more which is either flexi or paid (as I'm a temp, I can choose to be paid!)

Core hours are from 10-12 and 2-4 but I'm generally in around 8.30 (depending on traffic) and having taken mostly half an hour for lunch (if I'm not interrupted) I try to leave around 5 - that has varied this week between that and 6 pm.  I tried to go at 4.30 yesterday but had to wait to speak to someone who didn't manage to see me until 4.45 so it was a 5 pm finish after a late 6 pm the day before! 

On a Friday we work till 4 so really look forward to the early finish!

US - office hours are 8AM - 5PM. My boss is usually here early, so I get there around 7:30 - 7:45 AM. Get paid OT.  Lunch is 1 hour.  no set time, and sometimes I work thru and sometimes I stay late, til 6PM.  Just depends on the day.

I'm in the U.S.

I have a a 35-hour work week. My hours are 9-5, which I hate.  I'd much rather work 8-4, like everyone else in my department.  My boss doesn't care and would gladly let me change hours, but her boss wants me here until 5.  So, I sit in a totally quiet office for an hour after everyone else has left.  Don't get me wrong, it's a great time to get stuff done without interruption, but I'd rather come in early and leave early, so that I still had time in the evenings to do stuff around the house.  I really function much better in the morning, so by that time of the day I'm pretty much doing filing and no-brainer type stuff.  No one comes in after 4 and no calls come in after 4, so the support I provide to the department during that hour is nil, except for my own tasks, of course.  I could easily work 8-4, without any hardship on the department at all.  But alas, I am stuck with it.

I work whenever I have a client to work for. Sometimes it is 12 hours a day, sometimes it is 1 hour a day.

US - My official hours are 8 - 5 but I am in many days at 7 am.   My job has evolved and I work until the work is done.   Many times my boss needs after hours help and we have developed a partnership where I am there for him.   I do get compensated for any over time regardless of the hours.  If you have watched the Devil Wears Prada, it is a toned down personal time version of that.  (and my boss is a really nice guy!)

US -- I work from 8:30AM to 5PM with 1/2 hour lunch -- which I usually end up working through since boss' schedule can vary so much.  But they're really good about leaving at 5PM on. the. dot.  I can count on one hand the number of times I've had to stay after.  Working through the lunch also affords me some leeway if traffic is REALLY bad in the morning.

So far, it's been on the "honor" system, and I've never been one to abuse it.  We're moving to a system next month where our attendance will be measured by what time you log on to your computer.  Which is going to be interesting because there are times my workday doesn't start off in the office!  Sometimes I need to be at offsite meetings at 8AM, or, heaven forbid, the system is being cranky and it takes me 30 minutes to get on the system.  I can see a lot of problems with this system already, but it's what The Powers That Be have decided so, we'll just have to see how they deal with the issues. 

Maybe what they will do is have you log on from somewhere out of the office through a remote desktop kind of thing?

I am in the US.  I work 8 to 5 with an hour lunch.  I work from home 2 Fridays a month and have been able to keep the "set 8-5" time when I am at home as well.   

I am in the UK and my normal working hours are 8.30am to 4.30pm with half an hour for lunch.

We do 37 hours a week and work flexi.  So provided you're in any time from 8 - 10 and between 2-4, you can make those hours up as you and the work dictate.  I generally end up doing a few more than that, especially on Board meeting weeks where the hours rise!

Hi Susan, for the last 10 years or so, my hours have been 8:30-5:00pm, with an hour for lunch and a morning & afternoon 'coffee' break, here in Vancouver, BC. Those hours are pretty much standard for the downtown core offices.

However, now that we have a school in Canmore Alberta on a 4 day school week with longer days and shorter lunch times etc., this will also affect the offices and force them to also take on a 9-10 hr. day 4/wk so parents can take care of and take advantage of the Friday off. For all the business associates I know in Vancouver, this will not go over big, if it goes over at all!

Hope this helps with the discussion. Cheers! ::)

My hours are 9.00 am to 5.00 pm.  I work from home sometimes.  I also occasionally work late and very exceptionally have a weekend thing to attend (usually a Board meeting when we decide to decamp to another part of the country, or an awards dinner or some such. 

Although I try to keep to my hours, I am flexible about when I leave at the end of the day if I need that bit of extra time to complete something or do something that is urgent.  I work for a good company and there is give-and-take on both sides. They're great about my having to take time off to deal with urgent personal matters so I reciprocate.

Hi - I have a 27½ hour week as I work part-time - from 09.30 - 15.00 each day with half an hour for lunch.  When my children are on holiday I usually come in a bit earlier and stay later (unpaid overtime) if I am busy and there are things to be done.   ChathamLady

US - 8am to 5pm with an hour lunch.  If I need to leave at 4:30 I am able to only take a 30 minute lunch.

Hi Katie,

Just wondering if your company might be better having a clocking system the way mine does.  Any discrepancies eg. late starts, holidays or flexi days are added to a separate form, signed each week and faxed to payroll.  Not sure measuring attendance by logging on time is the right way to go.  Let us know how the new system works.

Oh, it'll be interesting for sure.  Personally, I don't like it because there are days where the computer is not my first order of business.  Which means I'll have to put off doing what I NEED to do first to go fool around with the computer.  I think it's silly. 

Part of this idea is punative -- to "catch" those who are habitually late or habitually sneak out early.  I feel like I'm in elementary school again where the whole class loses recess because of a few "bad apples."  I'm also a little miffed because it makes the rather antiquated assumption that an admin's job is strictly a "desk" job.

Unfortunately, we're so huge that arguing the point is...pointless.  I'm sure we're not the only department for whom this system will be a problem.  That's the worst part around here.  Sometimes you have to let the train wreck happen for something to change.