Software dev working hours

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Random717

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After freelancing for a few years, I'm weighing up a permanent job offer and I've realised I don't have enough data to decide if it's worth it or not.
They're asking for a specific number of hours per week, which equates to working from 8am - 6pm, Monday to Friday, with an hour lunch break. This seems excessive, but maybe I'm out of touch...

So, I'm hoping people can provide some data on their current and past jobs e.g:
Full time / part time
Days worked per week: 5
Daily hours: 8am - 6pm (including lunch)
Hours expected per week, if specified in contract: 45
On-site / remote
Position level: junior / mid-level / senior
Field / stack: LAMP
Annual package: R432k
Company size (employees): 1-10 / 11-50 / 51-200 / 200+
City: Johannesburg

Leave out and add whatever you want... I really think this info is useful to help people gain some perspective on current and new positions.
 
More or less below. We are results driven, our bosses don't care how many hours we work a day or if we work from home or at the office or from an Island in the Caribbean, as long as deadlines are being met. There are some unwritten T&C's such as being in the office at least a couple of times a week on average and that you do your part during crunch time - whatever that entails at the time... in return you can manage your own time, everyone are adults after all. If you don't deliver, you will feel it come bonus time.

I generally think that anyone that tries to force developers in that very outdated 8-5 model is seriously behind the times.

Full time
Days worked per week: 5
Daily hours: N/A
Hours expected per week, if specified in contract: 45
On-site & Work at Home
mid-level / senior (skills & time at company)
15000 employees
Pretoria
 
werfie said:
I generally think that anyone that tries to force developers in that very outdated 8-5 model is seriously behind the times.
Click to expand...

^ this ... and usually end up with crappy products as a result.
 
I'm in the US. My contract says 45 hours per week, but the reality is "it's until the job is done". I do work around 45-50 hours a week on average, but will work 30-ish ours when things are slow and occasionally 80 hours when something important is going down. Another big factor is commute - I have a 5 min walk, so I don't have that overhead, which makes a big difference too.
 
Full time
Days worked per week: 5
Daily hours: Flexi, generally 6:30AM to 3PM or 9:30AM to 5:30AM. Note that I don't take lunch breaks.
Hours expected per week, if specified in contract: 45 or 40, actually not sure which.
On-site with remote working possible a certain number of days per week
Position level: mid-level
Field / stack: C#
Annual package: decent
Company size (employees): 200+
City: Johannesburg
 
werfie said:
More or less below. We are results driven, our bosses don't care how many hours we work a day or if we work from home or at the office or from an Island in the Caribbean, as long as deadlines are being met. There are some unwritten T&C's such as being in the office at least a couple of times a week on average and that you do your part during crunch time - whatever that entails at the time... in return you can manage your own time, everyone are adults after all. If you don't deliver, you will feel it come bonus time.

I generally think that anyone that tries to force developers in that very outdated 8-5 model is seriously behind the times.

Full time
Days worked per week: 5
Daily hours: N/A
Hours expected per week, if specified in contract: 45
On-site & Work at Home
mid-level / senior (skills & time at company)
15000 employees
Pretoria
Click to expand...

Didn't know there were companies that large in Pretoria...
 
Full time
Days worked per week: 5
Daily hours: Flexi, generally 9:30AM to 5:30AM.
Hours expected per week, if specified in contract: 40
On-site with remote working possible a certain number of days per week
Position level: mid-level
Field / stack: C#
Annual package: decent
Company size (employees): 200+ globally, and 20 in the CPT Office
City: Cape Town
 
Just started a new job, so here are their stats:

Full time
Days worked per week: 5
Daily hours: Flexi, generally 7:15/7:30 to 15:45.
Hours expected per week, if specified in contract: 40
Well I'm honestly not doing any work since I haven't been assigned a project yet
Position level: Junior
Field / stack: Depends on the project I will be assigned to, but in previous company I was doing C++
Annual package: meh
Company size (employees): 100+ but don't think it's anywhere close to 200
City: Johannesburg
 
We are capped at 8 hours a day, although sometimes we are required to do 16. Flexi time, so I start 06:00 - 15:00, but I never take the hour lunch either.
 
The default is working 8 hours per day, with either a 30m or 1h lunch.

Working 8-6 with an hour lunch = 9h, which isn't a usual thing...you'd need to look at your package and make sure you're getting value for those extra 5 hours per week. It's not something I personally would go for.
 
45h per week doesn’t equate to 8-6.

Should be 8-5 or 9-6.

It’s 8h per day working and 1 hour lunch.

You could possibly negotiate the lunch away or lower if you want to adjust the time down.

That being said we are very relaxed in this regard. During hectic weeks I’ll often work more or from home and during quiet times I might leave earlier.

We are treated as adults and not micromanaged like crap.

I’ll often rock up at 9:30 and leave at 18:00 or even 17:30 because I didn’t really take lunch or whatever.

Other times I’ll work from home when not feeling up to it but don’t want to take sick leave and just stay in bed etc.
 
Last edited:
werfie said:
I generally think that anyone that tries to force developers in that very outdated 8-5 model is seriously behind the times.
Click to expand...

For damn sure.

But more so the strictly in the office model is even more broken.

Some roles especially the more Support side of things require contracted SLA based availability but even that doesn’t mean in office as such.
 
SauRoNZA said:
For damn sure.

But more so the strictly in the office model is even more broken.

Some roles especially the more Support side of things require contracted SLA based availability but even that doesn’t mean in office as such.
Click to expand...

Yup. I steer clear of companies that have any of this (with the exclusion of a really good reason).

It is an indication of backward thinking and it will almost certainly translate to every other aspect of the job too (i.e. no decent equipment, issues with purchasing required software licenses, having to pay for your own coffee, etc). It is also a sign of the inability to keep up with trends which may possibly be a death sentence for "software houses" that's very business it is to keep up with trends in order to stay afloat and relevant.
 
Our contracts also state 45 hours, but generally it comes down to your manager. With us it's a case of just get the job done - leave early, leave late, whatever, as long as the work is done. So sometimes I might do 35 hours a week, other times it might be around 60.

I think it's just a general clause that's included in contracts to cover themselves, so that if you are actually slacking and not delivering, they can nail you with it. But generally it's not an issue if you work in a half-decent environment...
 
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