RE: 825 and 925

["Rock, Megan" <Megan -dot- Rock -at- fanucrobotics -dot- com>]

When I first started working at my current company, I worked 8-5, mostly
because the concept of "flex time" was new to me (I was a recent college
grad who had worked 8-5 summer jobs) and because I am not a morning person.

Then I met the guy I eventually married, and he was an hourly worker who
worked 7-3:30.  Suddenly my 8-5 schedule was a real hassle if we wanted to
go out after work, especially since he lived 45 minutes one direction from
work, and I lived 20 minutes in the other direction.  I asked my boss at the
time if I could start working 7-3:30 (with a 30-minute unpaid lunch), and
she said "fine."  She often came in at 6 a.m. and left around 3 p.m.
herself.

I've been working 7-3:30 for over two years now, although for the past nine
months I've been eating at my desk while I work rather than take an official
30-minute lunch.  I figure I take enough breaks during the day to get
something to drink or just stretch my legs, so it all evens out in the end.
If there's tons of work or looming deadlines, I'll work later than 3:30 to
make sure things get done on time.  I'm paid for 40 hours regardless of how
many hours I work (software developers and engineers here get overtime for
anything over 40 hours, btw), although I'm expected to work at minimum of
40.

I'm living 35 miles from work now, which means a 40-60 minute commute,
depending on the time of day.  I'd rather get up early and have a shorter
drive time than sleep late and waste a longer chunk of my morning on the
road.

Our "core hours" are probably 10-3, although one of my current bosses
requires her employees to stay until 4 regardless of when they come in,
because she feels that the work day doesn't end until 4 p.m.  I'm sort of
"grandfathered in" with leaving at 3:30 because my previous two bosses in
the documentation group were bigger believers in flex time and didn't have a
problem with my 7-3:30 schedule.

If you're unsure of what hours the company would be paying you for, ask the
HR folks.  They'd be the best ones to explain what they really mean by 9-5.


Megan E. Rock
   Technical Writer
   Product Information
   megan -dot- rock -at- fanucrobotics -dot- com

All views expressed are entirely my own and are not necessarily shared
by my friends, co-workers, or employer.



-----Original Message-----
From: Carnall, Jane [mailto:Jane -dot- Carnall -at- compaq -dot- com]
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2000 4:26 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Cc: 'rickk -at- slmd -dot- com'
Subject: RE: 825 and 925


>All my techwriting jobs so far have had a workday of 8 AM to 5 PM, with an
>hour allowed for lunch. This adds up to a standard 40 hour work week when
>you subtract the 5 lunch hours. 

Eep. 8am? Eep. In the UK, while there are variations depending on area and
so on, your standard office job is 9am to 5pm, and the standard office work
week is 35 hours plus 1 unpaid hour for lunch. But YMMV: my first job was a
37.5 hour work-week, 9am to 5:30pm, and so is my current job. But I've never
worked for a company that *expected* you to start at 8am. Eep.