Working Hours?
 

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone could provide some clarification of 'standard' working hours here in Australia.
I've seen one contract offering a 38hr. week (7.6 hrs. per day) - which seems to suggest a 9am-4.36pm working day (assuming no breaks);
and I've seen another contract offering a 37hr. week, but specifying 9am-5pm with an hour for lunch (so actually 35hrs if you assume unpaid lunch breaks, 40hrs if the lunches are paid).

Neither set of numbers appear to add up! Am I missing something fundamental to the way Australian (VIC) working hours are calculated ?

Thanks in advance,
Mike.

Re: Working Hours?
 

Do they include hours for RDO's (rostered days off)

My OH works 40 hours per week, gets paid 38 then 2 go into a bank to give him extra days off in addition to his holidays. He never takes them though so we get them paid as a lump sum just before Xmas, or he could roll them over to the next year.

Re: Working Hours?
 

It's a bit strange how they work it, ads an example here's what I work.
9am start, 5.06 pm finish with a 38 hr week made up of 5 x 7.6 hrs 30 min unpaid lunch & 20 min paid smoko.
The 6 minutes extra each day totals 30 minutes p/w which makes the week 38hrs instead of 37.5.

Re: Working Hours?
 

Yep, and then there's another example from a place I used to work. 38 hours per week split into 8:30 - 5 with 1 hour breaks for lunch, then a half hour on Friday's. :blink:

Re: Working Hours?
 

Depend a lot on your employer too.

Outsideof government departments you'll find a lot of businesses just contract you for a standard week (whether that be 37, 38 or 40 paid hours) - but expect you to work 'as necessary' - which might mean in reality 50hrs+!!!:ohmy:

I'm supposed to work 38hr week - but generaly speaking I rock up at 7:30am, leave at 4pm and have round lunch as long as it takes (15 minutes if I bring it, or closer to 30 if I head out to grab something)... My personal downside is that I have to be on call (unpaid) for an average of nearly 20 hours a week so on a busy week I'll easily work 60hrs!!! ... on a quiet week I'll work closer to 45hrs, but still the stated contract of '38hrs' is meaningless fanatasy...

Re: Working Hours?
 

Do you get paid overtime or are you salaried? I hated being salaried, used to be on less than my staff by the time I'd finished :eek:

Re: Working Hours?
 

Nope - no paid overtime.... no compensation for being on-call, just another over-exploited IT worker! :p

Having said that they are giving me 4 days paid 'carers leave' on top of my annual leave to go to UK in May and I do get a generous 20% staff discount at any of our friendly fastfood restaurants....

Re: Working Hours?
 

I am contracted to work 37.5hrs per week with 'expected' unpaid overtime if required (we're always busy!). Last year I regularly worked over that and even took work home. I enjoy the work I do.

This year, they can get ****ed!

Re: Working Hours?
 

Lost count of the amount I do on top of the regular hours. Some gets paid, some doesn't, I reckon its about 50/50. I love the job though so I don't tend to notice the hours.

Re: Working Hours?
 

I also work a 37.5 hr week. Rarely do overtime (unpaid) - seems frowned on around here.

Re: Working Hours?
 

I know my OH would tell them to get lost if they thought he'd be working for nothing :D

Some of the bosses there are expected to work overtime, but they get paid for 50 hours per week anyway and a lot of the time only work 40 - 45 so it's swings and roundabouts for them. I know one or two have a 'tally' of the hours they have worked and make sure they don't do 50 hours average over the year. ;)

Re: Working Hours?
 

Since starting back after the New Year our workplace is pretty much a ghost town by 4PM.

Re: Working Hours?
 

we just had a quiet patch last three weeks its been 7am - 1ish

thank the lord but one fella quit and another got sacked for stealing so our hours are back up to 7am -4/5ish

Re: Working Hours?
 

Hubby tends to do 6am - 4pm but he gets paid overtime for anything over 8 hours a day. Don't think hours were discussed in the package and he doesn't get lunch breaks as such, they just stop for smoko. Sometimes he'll be home by 2pm if a job finishes early.

I think what I'm trying to say is that there is no standard. Every business/company works to their own schedule.:D

Re: Working Hours?
 

I dont get paid overtime at all, I am meant to work 37.5 hours a week but have to do 40 hours a week.

I occasionally work on a Sunday if we have a contract but get the time off in lieu and if I do stay after my hours I get the time back.

Its a stressful job - very stressful but I work with some lovely people and would rather be in this job than anywhere else.