Typical work schedule in England?

Question

What is the typical work schedule in England?...
For example, in America, we generally work 5 days, 2 days off. It's a 40 hour work week, 8 hour days with a 1 hour lunch. Overtime (time and a half) is paid for any hours worked over 40 hours per week, and here in California we get overtime pay for anything over 8 hours per day as well. Usually after 3 months or so our 'benefits' kick in, which is medical, dental, etc... After a year you get vacation time, which will vary by employer, but generally starts at 1 week for each of the 1st few years of service, taken after the 1st year, and goes up from there...
What is it usually like there?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

you get paid holidays (vacation time) right from start in most cases and do not have to wait a year or 'build it up' or anything like that. My sister works as a PA and has just booked two weeks paid holiday and has only been in the job 5 months,  this is not particularly seen as a big deal.

also you should have a minimum of 20 days paid holiday a year, to just have two weeks annually is very rare now.It is not uncommon to see jobs with 4 weeks annual paid holiday. This is one area where the UK excels itself actually , the provision of (comparatively) generous holiday entitlement.

The actual hours themselves are about the same however. Obviously with their being a national health service,having private health insurance as a perk is more rare here but still it does happen, especially in the professions.

Jock · Answer

It's a five day week typically.  37 hours a week, though you are legally able to work as many as 42 (I think) per week.

Typical work schedule in England?

2 Answers