Salaried = How many work hours/week?

Just curious what a salaried work week looks like for everyone else out there...

Clearly, you could work over the standard 40 hour work week and still get paid the same; however, does it ever work the other way? Do you ever work under 40 hours as a salaried employee?

In my experience (3 fulltime salaried jobs to date), the workweek was still essentially centered around 40 hours. You're expected to spend around 8 hours a day in the office during business hours, though do not have the pressure of clocking in or out at a certain time. You can take a long lunch some days or eat at your desk. You can come in a bit late some days, leave a bit early other days... As long as you're finishing your work and putting in about 40 hours.

That being said, I've never consistently had a salaried position that would be happy with me doing under 40. I've definitely had long weeks -- though they are almost *always* met with comp time. Work 8 hours extra on the weekend? Take a day off during the week.

What about you guys?

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Comments

pram

I have a salary with overtime, but if we claim overtime we have to itemize our hours. The expectation is 40 hours but even the bosses here take 2 hour lunches and stuff.

Honestly I've never had a bad experience being on salary, although I know others have. I have worked at places that expected you to work overtime during outages with no compensation however. Really just depends on the company.

QHalo

It's washes out in the end. More often towards the more hours per week.

RHEL

Actually... my last company's IT department really slapped their salaried professional workers in the face shortly after I left.

They (company of about 5000 employees, 100 in IT dept):
- Removed all work from home capabilities
- Removed all comp time (you're 24x7 on-call and work 16 hours straight? tough ****.)
- Removed any flexibility in core hours -- you come in when we say you come in, every day.
- Gave an expectation that salaried workers should really be putting in more like 50 hours/week
- PTO needs to be used for doctor appointments, late lunches, etc

... how horrible.

cyberguypr

We have monthly off-hours maintenance, emergencies, and all that stuff but since the environment is so relaxed, I rarely log more than 40 hours any given week. My previous job didn't comp crap.

BradleyHU

at my current role, i work 40, and dont really stay late....

at my new role i'm moving to the week after next, I expect to work at least 50 a week...there's gonna be a ton of projects to do, on top of the support i'll already have to do...

JoJoCal19

I'm in my first salaried position and was concerned about it going in, but it's been GREAT. I can take however long I want for lunch. I can leave to run errands whenever I want. I've been able to go take a long cert exam and my manager doesn't care. I'm glad I have a very laid back manager but really the entire risk management dept is pretty lax, all the way up to our MD.

JoJoCal19

RHEL wrote: »

Actually... my last company's IT department really slapped their salaried professional workers in the face shortly after I left.

They (company of about 5000 employees, 100 in IT dept):
- Removed all work from home capabilities
- Removed all comp time (you're 24x7 on-call and work 16 hours straight? tough ****.)
- Removed any flexibility in core hours -- you come in when we say you come in, every day.
- Gave an expectation that salaried workers should really be putting in more like 50 hours/week
- PTO needs to be used for doctor appointments, late lunches, etc

... how horrible.

I wonder how that affected turnover.

RHEL

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

I wonder how that affected turnover.

Frankly, I think its a move to increase turnover. New regime fired a bunch of people, laid a couple off (me), and all of those changes happened afterwards. I think its a push towards outsourcing while trying to force people to quit while not having to give them severance. Many have been there 10-20+ years and would be quite expensive.

Pretty evil if you ask me. Clearly they don't expect to attract top tech talent or even retain their current talent with those conditions.

--chris--

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

I wonder how that affected turnover.

My employer has done 4/5 of those (we dont get PTO so the 5th one is not possible lol) just in the past week.

To answer your question, everyone I work with is looking for another job.

networker050184

I usually work around 30 hours a week salaried. Sometimes more if needed sometimes less if I have all my projects going well. My boss is much more concerned with results than keeping time.

rsutton

I work 50 hours a week as a salaried employee. No complaints though, I love my job.

codedwar

I work 50 hours most weeks but I get comped for standby time and can run errands and take long lunches within reason.

kohr-ah

I would say 45.

The company I am at now is huge about Work / Life Balance and that is why they outsource so much. I work extra hours because I have a lot people rather work with me than the other engineers and my management so I get bugged more after hours. I am willing to help because it is extra experience and will get me where I need to be in time.

We get "comp time" mostly if you work an over night or late as heck, you can leave early the next day or work at home.

devils_haircut

I work in public education, so 40-42 is the most I'll ever do, and really I never need to go above 40. I just do it because I'm a good worker, and because I enjoy my job and the people I work with. Plus, there really isn't any stress involved. I'm probably in the building more often than most other staff members. When school lets out, they're gone. I stick around until 4 because it's what I get paid to do, but I'm usually on a forum or studying for a cert.

NovaHax

Depends...sometimes I have to figure out ways to fill my time to make it to 40 (usually some custom scripting). But some weeks...like this one...I will break 60 :-/.

docrice

Typically 50 - 70 consistently (more on certain occasions). While my employer doesn't expect more than 40 average, realistically I need to put in additional hours in order to produce noticeable results. I'm paid for delivery, not merely putting in effort.

adam220891

I work 8AM - 5PM for the most part. I'm not sure why - seems like other IT people and salaried employees work 8:45AM - 5PM but that's what the CIO told me so it's what I do. My counterpart does 7-4 and the CIO does similar hours to me so it's not an issue in my mind.

I rarely stay late but every once in a while it's necessary to go in on a Saturday....usually to clean up the server room since it involves unplugging things.

It's not bad...I don't worry about losing pay if they send people home early for the holidays, if there's a snow day, if I'm running late, etc. No OT though and I wouldn't be too happy if I was working 50+ hours on the reg...

N2IT

@Doc same here. While I can let a deliverable slide in theory, to many of those and I am sliding out the door as well.

Honestly I am working at least 45 a week, that's a down week with no project deadlines or any other project type of deliverable that are hot. I can exceed 50 during the week. While I am not near 70, I am close to 60 on some weeks.

I would say the average for me is 50 - 53 hours a week. With the growth of the company I can see that trending upward.

When I started doing certifications I was working 37.5 hours a week. Plenty of time to study and still had me time and family time. As I have progressed up the food chain my ability or desire to continue to seek additional knowledge is almost non existent. It's actually kind of sad, because in my heart I love to learn new concepts and ideas, but I have to be realistic. Life is more than just knowledge and progression.

Not to get off topic but since this is a certification forum, my advice would be get them now because later it may not be a possibility. Out of all my certifications I would say I have obtained 2 - 3 since I have transitioned into a higher level position.

eLs

I have to say doing IT hourly with OT pass 40 hours a week is nice plus the holiday work 1.5 pay if i covered.

I would go crazy if I was forced to do over 50 hours a week and not get paid for it if I was getting paid crap like now.

Then again higher level jobs start becoming salary then hourly so it makes sense.

Work 24/7 NOC so it is hard to find coverage during holidays especially for my shift which is overnight but the relax environment during overnight most of the time allows me to study or watch stuff during down time with ease.

Set 45 hour work week with 1 hour break for lunch a day so 40 work hours. Usually do 45 hours a week average and 30 minutes of lunch instead but get paid OT for it so makes it not so bad.

Bryzey

I typically work around 40. If I need to do more I do. I spend 15 hours a week commuting as well which is when I study, read my magazines and listen to podcasts.

LionelTeo

Mine is around 33-35 hours. Shift work. Graveyard shift. New job coming july will be at 40 hours. Day shift office time.

the_Grinch

I am a 35 hour a week salaried employee. Generally I don't work more then that, but there have been several weeks where it was 50 to 60 hours. Due to my job title I am not allowed overtime, but I enjoy the job enough that it isn't a big deal.

SteveO86

Usually around 50 hours a week give or take an extra 8 hours. Never less than 40 hours though.

puertorico1985

I am salaried, and I work around the 40 hour mark. There have been times where I work 45-50 hours, and if I am traveling for work, I can easily put in 60-70 hours that week (really depends on where I am going and what is being done). I have a mindset that 40 hours is the standard. I will not optionally work more than that. If I am asked to work more, then I will do it with no problem, but I won't volunteer myself to work more.

philz1982

Anywhere between 5 hours to 80 hours, the average, is maybe 50 spread across 7 days.