Ask HN: Should engineering jobs have a nap time? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Should engineering jobs have a nap time?

#31

Post by staticelf » Thu, Mar 10, 2016, 2:01 PM UTC

jnbiche wrote: post #19

peterkelly wrote: post #16

You: "Hey, you know that 40-hour work week we have in order to give us enough time for rest and relaxation?" Boss: "Yep. What about it?" You: "So instead of getting enough sleep at night I've been using that time to take on lots of extra paid work for other companies. To make up for it, can you give me time off to sleep at work?" Boss: ಠ_ಠ

> 40-hour work week Where in the software industry are you working a 40-hour week? Outside of government, I've never heard of a programming job that consistently limits employees to 40-hour weeks.

I work in Sweden and usually works 40 hours per week, if I work more I can take it off any other day of my choice.

I have never worked at a job where they required me to work more than 40 hours, even if I've come across work cultures where people consistently worked more.

Funny thing is that we actually have a rest room where one can take a nap if you want to. I've never used it though.

Re: Ask HN: Should engineering jobs have a nap time?

#32

Post by AndrewDucker » Thu, Mar 10, 2016, 2:02 PM UTC

jnbiche wrote: post #19

peterkelly wrote: post #16

You: "Hey, you know that 40-hour work week we have in order to give us enough time for rest and relaxation?" Boss: "Yep. What about it?" You: "So instead of getting enough sleep at night I've been using that time to take on lots of extra paid work for other companies. To make up for it, can you give me time off to sleep at work?" Boss: ಠ_ಠ

> 40-hour work week Where in the software industry are you working a 40-hour week? Outside of government, I've never heard of a programming job that consistently limits employees to 40-hour weeks.

Finance industry, UK. 35 hour weeks.

With spikes to more, of course, when vital. But only when there's a regulatory deadline, or something has gone seriously wrong.

Re: Ask HN: Should engineering jobs have a nap time?

#33

Post by anexprogrammer » Thu, Mar 10, 2016, 2:03 PM UTC

LukeB_UK wrote: post #23

jnbiche wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 40-hour work week Where in the software industry are you working a 40-hour week? Outside of government, I've never heard of a programming job that consistently limits employees to 40-hour weeks.

Depends what country you live in. I'm in the UK and 40 hour or less weeks are extremely common.

Yep. I've had just two roles in a 25 year career that consistently wanted more:

A contract that charged by the hour, so I wasn't that reluctant. The novelty wore off after a few months though. My second development job had management who tried guilt tripping everyone into giving free overtime every day.

Re: Ask HN: Should engineering jobs have a nap time?

#34

Post by glastra » Thu, Mar 10, 2016, 2:03 PM UTC

Angostura wrote: post #25

Mahn wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not true at all. The concept of "siesta" exists, but nobody does it at work. It's mostly something for retired people with a lot of free time and not much to do.

So what do all the retail staff do when the shops close between 12 and 3?

Only small shops do this, and it's more of a 1-to-4 thing. I guess they could... I don't know, have lunch, spend time with their family, do some chores?

Besides, you can't expect a small store with one or two employees (e.g. a bookshop) to be open from 9 AM to 8 PM without any breaks in between.

Re: Ask HN: Should engineering jobs have a nap time?

#35

Post by fecak » Thu, Mar 10, 2016, 2:05 PM UTC

jnbiche wrote: post #19

peterkelly wrote: post #16

You: "Hey, you know that 40-hour work week we have in order to give us enough time for rest and relaxation?" Boss: "Yep. What about it?" You: "So instead of getting enough sleep at night I've been using that time to take on lots of extra paid work for other companies. To make up for it, can you give me time off to sleep at work?" Boss: ಠ_ಠ

> 40-hour work week Where in the software industry are you working a 40-hour week? Outside of government, I've never heard of a programming job that consistently limits employees to 40-hour weeks.

I've recruited for a mix of startups and large companies over my career (all startups now), and I've had lots of clients that were working straight 40s with the occasional overtime. I've also had companies that wanted 60+ hours, but the 40 hour work week in software is not nearly as rare as people seem to think.

Re: Ask HN: Should engineering jobs have a nap time?

#36

Post by forgetsusername » Thu, Mar 10, 2016, 2:06 PM UTC

AndrewDucker wrote: post #32

jnbiche wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 40-hour work week Where in the software industry are you working a 40-hour week? Outside of government, I've never heard of a programming job that consistently limits employees to 40-hour weeks.

Finance industry, UK. 35 hour weeks. With spikes to more, of course, when vital. But only when there's a regulatory deadline, or something has gone seriously wrong.

>With spikes to more, of course, when vital

Not doubting your situation, but pretty much every job I've had has told me, "40 hours, unless it's vital!", followed by much apparently "vital" work.

That said, I can't believe the OP isn't trolling. Asking for a nap at work because you're taking on too much extra work after-hours?

Re: Ask HN: Should engineering jobs have a nap time?

#37

Post by pc86 » Thu, Mar 10, 2016, 2:07 PM UTC

jnbiche wrote: post #19

peterkelly wrote: post #16

You: "Hey, you know that 40-hour work week we have in order to give us enough time for rest and relaxation?" Boss: "Yep. What about it?" You: "So instead of getting enough sleep at night I've been using that time to take on lots of extra paid work for other companies. To make up for it, can you give me time off to sleep at work?" Boss: ಠ_ಠ

> 40-hour work week Where in the software industry are you working a 40-hour week? Outside of government, I've never heard of a programming job that consistently limits employees to 40-hour weeks.

Working overtime is the exception, not the rule. Maybe not in change-the-world Capitalization-as-a-Service SV, but in the majority of the places I've worked you are expecting to work your 8 hours a day and leave. Some even view a lot of overtime as a negative sign since you can't finish your full-time work in a full-time schedule.

Re: Ask HN: Should engineering jobs have a nap time?

#38

Post by MattRogish » Thu, Mar 10, 2016, 2:08 PM UTC

My work-from-home superpower is that if I'm feeling sleepy (baby woke me up, slept poorly, whatever), I can take a quick (30 min or so) nap in the early afternoon and when I wake up, I feel refreshed, wide-awake, and make far better decisions and have far better productivity than if I tried to slog through.

When I used to work in an office, that would end up being a coffee run or some sort of other distraction to try and get the energy up... Or simply staring at the screen for a few hours and answering emails.

Re: Ask HN: Should engineering jobs have a nap time?

#39

Post by 83457 » Thu, Mar 10, 2016, 2:09 PM UTC

jnbiche wrote: post #19

peterkelly wrote: post #16

You: "Hey, you know that 40-hour work week we have in order to give us enough time for rest and relaxation?" Boss: "Yep. What about it?" You: "So instead of getting enough sleep at night I've been using that time to take on lots of extra paid work for other companies. To make up for it, can you give me time off to sleep at work?" Boss: ಠ_ಠ

> 40-hour work week Where in the software industry are you working a 40-hour week? Outside of government, I've never heard of a programming job that consistently limits employees to 40-hour weeks.

At a company that makes money and treats their employees well?

Re: Ask HN: Should engineering jobs have a nap time?

#40

Post by pc86 » Thu, Mar 10, 2016, 2:10 PM UTC

chriscampbell wrote: post #3

symfony_ wrote: post #2

Let me reiterate: - You take on contracts on the side and do not get enough sleep because of that. - You think the company you work for should maybe compensate you with some time to sleep during their working time. What happened when you asked the people you do some contracting for if you could sleep an hour and bill them your hourly for that? I would think it reasonable for your full-time gig to respond in the exact…

You hit the nail on the head. I can not imagine reacting any other way if an engineer on my team asked for nap time.

The only reasonable reaction to being asked to pay for someone to take a nap in the middle of the day is to fire them.