According to the research for the brand “Merchant Gourmet” for 2010, a typical British worker begins his working day at 8 hours 28 minutes in the morning and remains in the workplace until 5 hours 29 minutes evening. Thus, the average working day in Britain lasts 9 hours and 1 minute. But at the same time enters a break for lunch, you argue. And formally you will be right. However, the harsh reality is that the duration of lunch in Britain is on average only 33 minutes (and a 2012 study for Campbell's soup showed that this time was reduced to just 15 minutes).
Thus, the average Briton works daily for 8 hours and 28 minutes, which, of course, does not fit into the standard 40-hour week. So opening hours of all companies you can find at the
http://openinghours24uk.com/But what motivates the British to work so hard?
In that very study of 2010, every fifth respondent admitted that he was driven by the fear of getting a scolding from his boss or arousing disapproval of his colleagues. These reasons force the British to come to the workplace in advance and leave it much later than the time stipulated in the labor contract.
In fact, on average, every Briton spends 5 extra hours a week at work. This is the same as the extra 33 days a year or 4 crossed out years of life.
In London, it is customary to work with even greater zeal - high competition in the local labor market is having an effect. Recycling, or, as they are called here, "long hours" - in the capital and in the order of things. Especially tight, apparently, accounts for City workers. Headlines about the suicide of the next “City worker” pop up regularly in the news bulletins. Unable to withstand extreme stress, they jump out of the same buildings, where they work without respite. More recently, another sufferer leaped from the 7th floor of the London Stock Exchange. Want to know all companies near you? Just visit our site, which we are linked before!
However, such sad stories are still characteristic only for a narrow circle of London workaholics.
The daily routine of British workersA typical daily routine of the average Briton is as follows:
He wakes up at 6 hours and 40 minutes and begins to prepare for the working day at 7 hours and 41 minutes. Every fifth eats breakfast in front of his computer, and every sixth eats lunch without leaving his workplace. Every fourteenth and does not make a break for lunch.
However, tea is still holy. At around 11 o'clock, the British have a snack on tea with livers, which allows them to last until lunch.
Half of the 4,000 respondents surveyed in 2010 admitted that they would not have coped with the entire amount of work in standard working hours. A quarter of the respondents linger longer in the hope of a promotion or increase in salary.
What about social networks and shirking work cases? Well, nothing human is British to the British. A 2012 study from Mars found that British employees spent an average of 10 minutes and 15 seconds watching Facebook and Twitter. And another 10 minutes of working time is given to online shopping. However, this in no way affects working efficiency: on average, each British worker sends 26 emails per day and receives 32, and also makes 20 phone calls and answers 21.
Every third British employee arrives at work until 8 am to cope with his job duties. On average, the British route from home to work and back is 21 miles, to overcome which takes more than an hour. In London, a "commut" from home to work takes an average of 37 minutes one way. The houses of the British are shortly after 6 pm. As you know opening hours in UK is from 9.00 to 21.00.
It takes them more than an hour to do household chores, babysitting and cooking, on average, so the “free time” of employed British people usually starts at 19 hours and 18 minutes.
At the same time, a full quarter of British workers admitted that they were taking home work.
The average Briton starts to have supper at 20 hours and 5 minutes - this is one and a half hours later than just 2 years before the survey. And it is unlikely that the situation has drastically improved since then.
Every third admits that working for them is more important than proper nutrition, and a quarter considers that their health problems are due to excessive workload. It is not surprising that with such a lifestyle a typical office worker prepares meals on his own only 3 times a week. That is why almost half of the area of English stores is reserved for ready-made dishes, which only need to be warmed up.
More than half of British respondents admitted that they missed full meals for the last month at least 3 times, costing only a snack, because they were returning home too late.
However, with all this, 70% of respondents said that they are satisfied with their work.
The stress received at work is usually taken by all friendly working groups in a nearby pub , which are filled with people in office suits on Friday evenings. Closer to the night, the atmosphere in them becomes more and more liberated, and the costumes become less and less tidy. On Saturday evenings, the fun continues, and the working uniform is replaced by something more comfortable. Particularly tired at work continue to relax in pubs until the end of Sunday.
Holidays in the UKWhat about holidays?
With vacations, at first glance, everything is fine: the state guarantees 28 days of vacation with a 5-day working week, which is equivalent to 5.6 weeks of vacation. According to a study conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2014 in the 20 richest countries in the world, only France surpasses Britain in terms of the length of its paid leave. Idle French rest a full 30 days. But the Americans were the least fortunate in this respect: there is no such thing as a “guaranteed paid vacation” in the United States. The duration of annual leave there is determined by the employer, whose typical period is only 10 working days.
So, in comparison with America , Britain looks like a paradise on earth. However, there are some nuances: the fact is that British employers do not pay for the rest of employees on holidays (koi are called here “bank holidays”). However, British workers can go to work on a national holiday, and in return get time off, which can be added to the vacation - in many countries there is no such possibility.