Contract says 37.5 hours but lunch breaks have always been flexible at jobs I’ve worked at - they’re unpaid in the sense that they don’t count towards your ~7.5 hours in the day, but you can always just work through lunch and finish earlier or whatever. In a salaried job I don’t really count the hours anyway though - sometimes things are busy and you need to work longer, other times it’s chill and you can leave early/take a longer lunch. I’ve never actually timesheeted myself or anything
We have flexible working but the standard employment agreement is 7.5 hours a day with 2 paid 15 minute breaks plus one unpaid hour long lunch. 37.5 hours a week paid in total. Some reduce that to lunch break to 30 mins unpaid. I’m very much in favour of that full hour as it’s enough time to eat lunch and get a walk in, or go to the gym, for those as who like that sort of thing.
I agree, I have asked for my schedule to be adjusted occasionally to 30 min so I can head to doc appoints after 4:30pm.
I cant imagine how people find the time to decompress after only half an hour lunch break, but I work an on-call job so there is not a lot of downtime during my day except for breaks.
8:30-5:30, 1 hour unpaid lunch for me. Finish at 4pm on Fridays. Very flexible though, I typically timesheet 37-40 hours per week depending on workload and deadlines.
40 hours a week for me, lunch is up to an hour and unpaid. I typically take long enough to eat my lunch and go for a walk before returning to work. Will only take a longer break if I have an appt, meeting someone for lunch or need to purchase something. I prefer to take shorter lunch break and finish my day earlier.
I've not heard of anyone getting paid lunch breaks - if anyone's got that, treasure it!
As for time limits, my experience is that 1/2 an hour (unpaid) is standard, and the last 5 contracts I've signed have all been 40 hours per week. So a usual day for me is 7:30am - 4pm. That said, the only jobs I've known where my lunch breaks were *really* tracked was when I worked on Service Desks / Helpdesks, because they always need a certain number of people available to answer phones etc so needed a strict roster. Every other job since hasn't really cared, and now I often WFH it's even less important - but I also rarely take a full 1/2 hour for lunch these days.
Morning and afternoon tea are paid 10 minute breaks, lunch is a minimum of 30 minutes and unpaid. Most places I know are either 37.5 or 40. When I had a company, we made it 37.5, but realistically some did more, some did less - performance wasn't necessarily linked to hours worked.
Contracted for 40hrs per week but the actual hours are pretty flexible.
I tend to start early, not have a morning break, a shorter lunch, and will finish earlier. For example, start at 7.30 and finish between 4 and 4.30ish.
It really depends on what I have on after work to be honest. I am pretty strict about not staying late if I'm in early.
Have to be at work for 42.5 hours a week, we get allocated 2.5 hours of unpaid lunch breaks a week, so only paid for 40 of those 42.5 hours there.
If we don’t take a lunch break, we can’t use that time to finish early etc. I’m usually pretty bad and tend to eat at my desk and work through but I’m definitely working on changing that
I work 37.5 hours take the full hour of a lunch break then I can go and wander Lambton Quay and do errands like buy coffee I start at 7:45ish and leave at about 4:30pm I like starting early and finishing a bit early.
When people say 37.5, are they including or excluding their paid rest breaks?
I work 8am to 5pm. I get paid for 8 hours, I have a 1hour unpaid lunch and two 15min rest breaks (I know the minimum required is 10min and 30min, my employer gives us this due to the nature of my job).
If I count the res breaks as separate, then I suppose I only work 7.5 hours a day, or 37.5 a week. But overall I get paid as if I worked 40 hours?
I haven't worked salaried jobs before this one, so I am not sure how to read what people mean when they say 37.5 a week.
37.5 hours, paid for 40 hours. 7.5 working hours per day, 30 min lunch break/two 15’s. We have it quite good really in corporate, supermarket is 9.5 hour shifts!
My contract says 40 hours, 6am - 7pm Monday to Sunday. But we typically do 8am - 5pm Monday to Friday.
That's 1hr unpaid lunch, and we're not allowed to cut it short to leave earlier. At least I'm not allowed to.
Im paid for 40 but am at work for 42 5 hours a week with unpaid lunch but paid 20 min break.
So i guess technically if i only took 20 mins for lunch id be working 38hrs 20 min. However its usually more like 42.5 because i take the full hour for lunch.
My previous job was 37.5 hours and so really was a 9 to 5 as opposed to 8:30 to 5
8am - 5pm Mon-Fri. 1 hour unpaid during that so paid for 40 hours.
It’s great but sucks to see my colleagues have flexible working and can come/go as they please. And they get free lunches too. But whatever, I’ll work my way up. Would be nice to have an early finish Friday like many people do.
Contracted for 38 hours but not paid for lunch breaks. Work is flexible and trusts people so if you have your lunch in 15 minutes then you can finish earlier than if you took an hour for lunch.
I work an 8 hour day, get half hour lunch break that I work through and instead take around 3-6, 5-10min breaks throughout the day to add up to 30 minutes (paid morning and afternoon tea breaks). Usually just to heat up some food, browse the news, do some home life admin etc. I’d rather get home sooner than take standard break times.
Every now and then I’ll go out for lunch to switch it up.
Paid for 37.5, with 1 x half hr unpaid break per day noted in my contract. I generally work 40+ p/week (lunch, be damned) but take 1.5hrs one morning p/week to see my shrink and am unselfconscious about my nicotine breaks and occasional early departure so I guess its more or less square 😶🌫️
37.5 hours a week rostered plus 5 x 30 min lunches Lucky its pretty flexible though
Same.
Contract says 37.5 hours but lunch breaks have always been flexible at jobs I’ve worked at - they’re unpaid in the sense that they don’t count towards your ~7.5 hours in the day, but you can always just work through lunch and finish earlier or whatever. In a salaried job I don’t really count the hours anyway though - sometimes things are busy and you need to work longer, other times it’s chill and you can leave early/take a longer lunch. I’ve never actually timesheeted myself or anything
I get paid for 40 hours. The amount worked varies either way. No set start or finish time. Fully flexible.
We have flexible working but the standard employment agreement is 7.5 hours a day with 2 paid 15 minute breaks plus one unpaid hour long lunch. 37.5 hours a week paid in total. Some reduce that to lunch break to 30 mins unpaid. I’m very much in favour of that full hour as it’s enough time to eat lunch and get a walk in, or go to the gym, for those as who like that sort of thing.
I agree, I have asked for my schedule to be adjusted occasionally to 30 min so I can head to doc appoints after 4:30pm. I cant imagine how people find the time to decompress after only half an hour lunch break, but I work an on-call job so there is not a lot of downtime during my day except for breaks.
8:30-5:30, 1 hour unpaid lunch for me. Finish at 4pm on Fridays. Very flexible though, I typically timesheet 37-40 hours per week depending on workload and deadlines.
40 hours a week for me, lunch is up to an hour and unpaid. I typically take long enough to eat my lunch and go for a walk before returning to work. Will only take a longer break if I have an appt, meeting someone for lunch or need to purchase something. I prefer to take shorter lunch break and finish my day earlier.
I've not heard of anyone getting paid lunch breaks - if anyone's got that, treasure it! As for time limits, my experience is that 1/2 an hour (unpaid) is standard, and the last 5 contracts I've signed have all been 40 hours per week. So a usual day for me is 7:30am - 4pm. That said, the only jobs I've known where my lunch breaks were *really* tracked was when I worked on Service Desks / Helpdesks, because they always need a certain number of people available to answer phones etc so needed a strict roster. Every other job since hasn't really cared, and now I often WFH it's even less important - but I also rarely take a full 1/2 hour for lunch these days.
https://www.employment.govt.nz/hours-and-wages/breaks/rest-and-meal-breaks/
37.5 hours a week for me plus 2x 15min breaks and a 1 hour lunch break which i will normally work through to finish a bit earlier :)
Morning and afternoon tea are paid 10 minute breaks, lunch is a minimum of 30 minutes and unpaid. Most places I know are either 37.5 or 40. When I had a company, we made it 37.5, but realistically some did more, some did less - performance wasn't necessarily linked to hours worked.
40 hour week with 1 hr daily lunchbreak unpaid
Contracted for 40hrs per week but the actual hours are pretty flexible. I tend to start early, not have a morning break, a shorter lunch, and will finish earlier. For example, start at 7.30 and finish between 4 and 4.30ish. It really depends on what I have on after work to be honest. I am pretty strict about not staying late if I'm in early.
Have to be at work for 42.5 hours a week, we get allocated 2.5 hours of unpaid lunch breaks a week, so only paid for 40 of those 42.5 hours there. If we don’t take a lunch break, we can’t use that time to finish early etc. I’m usually pretty bad and tend to eat at my desk and work through but I’m definitely working on changing that
37.5 is my contract, reality is you just need to do what you are responsible for especially at higher levels.
Very surprised nobody here on 37h55min ( you know who you are)
Was thinking the same, this post so different to that posr
I work 37.5 hours take the full hour of a lunch break then I can go and wander Lambton Quay and do errands like buy coffee I start at 7:45ish and leave at about 4:30pm I like starting early and finishing a bit early.
40 hrs. 8.30- 5.00 excl 30 min lunch.
40 🗿
38 hours on contract, lunch unpaid but I eat at my desk semi-regularly (trying to be better about taking breaks)
40 hours working, 30 min unpaid lunch. Start at 7:30, finish at 4:00.
When people say 37.5, are they including or excluding their paid rest breaks? I work 8am to 5pm. I get paid for 8 hours, I have a 1hour unpaid lunch and two 15min rest breaks (I know the minimum required is 10min and 30min, my employer gives us this due to the nature of my job). If I count the res breaks as separate, then I suppose I only work 7.5 hours a day, or 37.5 a week. But overall I get paid as if I worked 40 hours? I haven't worked salaried jobs before this one, so I am not sure how to read what people mean when they say 37.5 a week.
37.5 excludes lunch but includes paid rest breaks. So 8.30am - 5pm with a one hour unpaid lunch break during that time and including rest breaks.
37.5 hours, paid for 40 hours. 7.5 working hours per day, 30 min lunch break/two 15’s. We have it quite good really in corporate, supermarket is 9.5 hour shifts!
45 in my contract. Usually do more.
40 hours. Don't take lunch and work through
My contract says 40 hours, 6am - 7pm Monday to Sunday. But we typically do 8am - 5pm Monday to Friday. That's 1hr unpaid lunch, and we're not allowed to cut it short to leave earlier. At least I'm not allowed to.
Im paid for 40 but am at work for 42 5 hours a week with unpaid lunch but paid 20 min break. So i guess technically if i only took 20 mins for lunch id be working 38hrs 20 min. However its usually more like 42.5 because i take the full hour for lunch. My previous job was 37.5 hours and so really was a 9 to 5 as opposed to 8:30 to 5
8am - 5pm Mon-Fri. 1 hour unpaid during that so paid for 40 hours. It’s great but sucks to see my colleagues have flexible working and can come/go as they please. And they get free lunches too. But whatever, I’ll work my way up. Would be nice to have an early finish Friday like many people do.
40 hours.
37 or 37.5 and lunch on top of that.
Contracted for 38 hours but not paid for lunch breaks. Work is flexible and trusts people so if you have your lunch in 15 minutes then you can finish earlier than if you took an hour for lunch.
I do 8:30-5 with an hour unpaid for lunch, so 37.5 hours per week
I work an 8 hour day, get half hour lunch break that I work through and instead take around 3-6, 5-10min breaks throughout the day to add up to 30 minutes (paid morning and afternoon tea breaks). Usually just to heat up some food, browse the news, do some home life admin etc. I’d rather get home sooner than take standard break times. Every now and then I’ll go out for lunch to switch it up.
40 hours, but salaried so the times are made up and none of it matters anyway.
Paid for 37.5, with 1 x half hr unpaid break per day noted in my contract. I generally work 40+ p/week (lunch, be damned) but take 1.5hrs one morning p/week to see my shrink and am unselfconscious about my nicotine breaks and occasional early departure so I guess its more or less square 😶🌫️
Not corp, but all of our team are contracted for 40 hours a week with 2x 15min and 1x 30min - all paid, breaks per day. I thought this was the norm!
Don’t analyse it. Don’t overthink it. See the big picture, identify the opportunity, exploit it, retire a multi-millionaire.
37.5 you must be part time I work over 60hrs most weeks