Got a new job!! Is this the new normal?

[frannn]

About a month ago I posted that I had been laid off due to downsizing- thanks to all who posted advice & words of encouragement . I was blessed to have had an interview a day since my last day of work, and accepted an offer from my second choice of jobs. I did not collect unemployment, and was out of work for two weeks. Long story short, I have been at my new job for two weeks, and found many differences from past employment that leaves me wondering if this is "the new normal" in jobs. These are the differences- my work day is 9-5:30, lunch is 40 min, there is a time clock, inclement weather days are taken from my personal and/or vacation time, job description is more specific and starting pay is less, and no eating at my desk. Did I just accept a much more structured place of employment, or is the way the job market is headed? BTW...hoping we can get finances together to afford scheduled August trip, just in case of a super early MNSSHP!

 

[Christine]

It's hard to say if this is the way it's headed or not. I've worked in the same industry for about 25 years (different companies) and I have noticed all sorts of things.

Some places are VERY structured. Many places may do this because it stops all "nonsense" that goes on in the office; however, it also discourages people from working there who already know how to behave like adults.

I know of many places that do exactly what your new company does and, alternatively, I know similar companies that do not.

I think you just got a job at a very "structured" place.

 

[Poohforyou]

I have no idea but I certainly hope not. I haven't worked someplace with a time clock since high school. I wouldn't want to go back to that. Do you enjoy the job? If not I'd continue looking for something better.

 

[Darcy03231]

None of that sounds outrageous to me.

I work 8:30 - 5:00 with 1.25 hours for lunch. I have a co-worker that works 8-3:30 and has 30 min for lunch.
No time clock, but we fill out time sheets.
No eating at our desks at all. We get two 10 min breaks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
If we take a day for inclement weather, we have to take it as personal time or vacation time or an unpaid day.

 

[anniemae]

Nothing sounds too out of the ordinary to me, maybe just a bit structured. The time clock could be due to employees taking advantage and consistently showing up late/leaving early. Could just be managements way of cracking down on offenders.

THe 9-5:30 hours are what I worked at my last job with a half hour lunch and 15 minute break.

As for inclement weather, each company has different rules. For my last job, If there is a state of emergency, we would not go to work and still get paid. If you decide it is too risky to drive to work but there is no state of emergency, you had to take a vaca day. It was a call center, so we had no option to work from home.

Thing were much more relaxed for management I recall. They could show up late and leave early, do some paperwork from home etc. But they did not need to be on the phone in the call center, and they were salary, as opposed to hourly wage.

 

[Kimberlyann11]

My workplace discontinued the time clock for hourly employees but they have to sign a time sheet. Hours are either 7-3 or 8:30-4:30 for non-call center employees. Call center has several shifts and sometimes saturday hours. Lunch is a half hour and there are two ten minute breaks. Sometimes I take a little longer lunch but I never take my breaks. I come in early two days a week. I am salaried so I have more leeway and my unpaid early hours go a long way in engendering good will when I have dentist appointments or if I'm a few minutes late in the morning if DD needs driven to an event or something comes up.

We are officially not allowed to eat at our desks because the office was totally redecorated including new carpeting a few years back. Many of us eat at our desks anyways and it's been long enough that they've loosened up about it. We usually don't eat a full meal there because we have a nice break room and if you are at your desk people will come bug you with work stuff. But I'll have a bagel in the morning or an afternoon snack.

If the weather is bad enough that they close the whole office we get paid for it. That doesn't happen often. If we just decide we don't want to drive in we have to take a PTO day.

Things seem to have loosened up where I work. The PTO policy is much better. The pay seems to be on par with the rest of the industry. They do a lot here to try to keep morale up.

 

[NewRVLady]

We clock in and out at our computer
Because i work in one big space, around others, I ,and others, leave for lunch-even if it means eating in our cars. Our designated 'break room is a joke-a coffee machine in a corner with one chair-so no one eats there
The phone rings constantly and you simply have to 'escape" to enjoy eating.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

First, congratulations on the new job! I was laid off in December and not as lucky with finding something in two weeks. What you are describing is quite different from the employers I have worked for and interviewed with. It sounds very structured and it probably solved a problem. At some point they may have had an issue with people not showing up on time, making up excuses to take off work or long lunches etc. Although I did notice starting pay does seem to be a bit lower from years past which I am sure is in part due to the economy.

I did notice with most places I interviewed with that they have paid time off vs. a set number of vacation days & a different number of sick days that I was previously used to. I actually preferred this setup since I never take sick days and I always show up no matter what the weather is. That unfortunately could not be said for my coworkers who would call sick if they had a headache which meant double the work for me on those days.

 

[bigbabyblues]

That sounds like the hospital I worked in for 14 years, except calling off for inclement weather days wasn't an option at all unless we were under a level 3 weather emergency. I don't think it is out of the ordinary, although the job I have now isn't like that (school secretary).

Congratulations on finding a new job so quickly!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I have no idea but I certainly hope not. I haven't worked someplace with a time clock since high school. I wouldn't want to go back to that. Do you enjoy the job? If not I'd continue looking for something better.

Why would you NOT want a time clock? 99% of the time it's the employer who benefits from a salary structure as opposed to hourly pay. I worked nearly 400 hours of overtime in 2013. I would have hated to have been salaried because all that would have been unpaid.

 

[sam_gordon]

About a month ago I posted that I had been laid off due to downsizing- thanks to all who posted advice & words of encouragement . I was blessed to have had an interview a day since my last day of work, and accepted an offer from my second choice of jobs. I did not collect unemployment, and was out of work for two weeks. Long story short, I have been at my new job for two weeks, and found many differences from past employment that leaves me wondering if this is "the new normal" in jobs. These are the differences- my work day is 9-5:30, lunch is 40 min, there is a time clock, inclement weather days are taken from my personal and/or vacation time, job description is more specific and starting pay is less, and no eating at my desk. Did I just accept a much more structured place of employment, or is the way the job market is headed? BTW...hoping we can get finances together to afford scheduled August trip, just in case of a super early MNSSHP!

I don't see anything wrong with what you've listed.

I am a little surprised at the 40 minute lunch (I would expect either 30, 45, or 60 minutes). I see nothing wrong with the time clock. We also utilize our computer to clock in/out. I don't understand the benefit of filling out a time sheet as compared to having a direct "punch in/out" time. The website will calculate our hours for the week/time period/whatever.

And when you say inclement weather days are taken from your personal/vacation time, is that when the COMPANY tells you to not come in, or if YOU make the decision? If the former, I think you should get paid, the latter should come from your personal/vacation time.

This maybe stricter than what you're used to, but I don't see anything as particularly "bad".

 

[Disney Doll]

About a month ago I posted that I had been laid off due to downsizing- thanks to all who posted advice & words of encouragement . I was blessed to have had an interview a day since my last day of work, and accepted an offer from my second choice of jobs. I did not collect unemployment, and was out of work for two weeks. Long story short, I have been at my new job for two weeks, and found many differences from past employment that leaves me wondering if this is "the new normal" in jobs. These are the differences- my work day is 9-5:30, lunch is 40 min, there is a time clock, inclement weather days are taken from my personal and/or vacation time, job description is more specific and starting pay is less, and no eating at my desk. Did I just accept a much more structured place of employment, or is the way the job market is headed? BTW...hoping we can get finances together to afford scheduled August trip, just in case of a super early MNSSHP!

Work day is probably just their local decision.

Time clock...depends on the type of employment. As a staff nurse, I punched a time clock for years...punched in when I arrived and out when I left. Recently they also had staff nurses start to punch in and out for lunch. Now I work for IT and we don't punch, expected work day is 8-430. I can tell you that I end up working more than that but as salaried employee, I get paid for a 40 hour workweek even if I do 50 or 60 so that itme click can be a blessing in terms of letting people know the # of hours you actually work.

Inclement weather days...again as a staff nurse if you chose to stay home on an inclement weather day, they'd take it out of your PTO time. But they also did their level best to get someone to your home to pick you up if they weather was inclement and you didn't feel you could get yourself to work. "Non-essential" employees who could work from home did so on bad weather days.

Job decription...I've always been employed at places with very specific job descriptions so that's nothing new.

Eating at my desk...they don't care where I eat. They do provide a lunchroom but no one cares if I want to sit at my desk and eat.

 

[NewRVLady]

BTW-one of our locaL employers has the largest workforce in our small city. They purposely have work days that are not the norm to avoid traffic delays-like 7-3 and 2-9. And none can leave the place for lunch-you bring lunch or eat in cafeteria.

 

[quigs3]

Other than your allotted time for lunch, this structure is identical to my place of employment. My employer has gradually gotten stricter and more structured over the years as they have gotten larger, and although it took some time to get used to, the rules are not difficult to comply with. As a previous post said, we have a computer time clock. It is convenient, but it can be a bit frustrating when you're trying to clock in and the computers are acting up.

Congratulations on your new job, and best of luck!

 

[gunner2010]

hotel GM here. we have a bio timeclocks (uses fingerprints) for all our hourly employees. Work shifts are 8 hours. You must punch for your 1/2 hour lunch.

 

[beatlesblonde]

I think it really depends on the company and what they think works best for their place of business. I have to clock in and out (from my computer), I don't have a set schedule (unless I'm assisting with a workshop) but I generally work during "traditional" office hours, I eat lunch when I get hungry (or find the time) and always eat at my desk because we don't have a break room.

 

[usnuzuloose]

You are clocked out for lunch, if you sat at your desk you may continue to work and not get paid for it. If you work through it the company can be in trouble. Our company got sued for certain things and they had to give us a lunch break as well.

 

[Andtototoo]

I work 8am--4:30pm. We have a 30 minute lunch break. We have two 15 minute breaks which cannot be combined together nor added to the lunch break. When we close for inclement weather, we are paid for it. We do not have a time clock, but wish we did because our head of HR is paranoid and sure people are ripping the organization off and demanding "proof" that employees are here without giving us any acceptable guidelines of that proof. Speaking of which, the HR staff are discouraged from taking breaks or lunch by this person (she never ever takes a break or eats or even drinks a sip of water all day long because she's "tough"). Only the salaried people can eat at their desks for lunch because otherwise the hourly employee could later come back and say they worked and demand compensation. Some of us have job descriptions and some do not. I do not, my assistant does and that differentiation works out best for us.

 

[cluvsdisney]

The 40 minute lunch break is an odd number but the rest of it sounds fairly standard. Some companies are more structured while others are less but your new place doesn't sound unreasonable.


Congrats & good luck at the new job!

 

[Robinrs]

It's only normal at your new place.Every company has it's own criteria, I did contract work at different TV stations before I found the job I'm in now and every single one had different requirements.

I haven't used a time clock in years, either. Hourly workers at my current job clock in on the internet.

Good luck!! You are truly blessed to find a job so quickly!