Is an 8-Hour Workday Unrealistic? 

I'm 47yrs old. $73,000 biweekly and I'm retired, this video have inspired me greatly in many ways that I remember my past of how I struggled with many things in life to be where I am today!!!!❤️

Simple, do 8am to 4pm for half and 9am to 5pm for the other half. Worked great with our team!

Here's an out-of-the-box idea, TALK TO THE EMPLOYEES! Why do they want to leave? Is it maybe a traffic issue, maybe it's a realization that they work better at 12 and not at 4. 99% of issues like this would be fixed if employers talked to their employees like humans. THATS the problem. Not millennials, not Gen Z; it's the younger generation seeing their parents be kicked and concerns ignored by bosses for their whole lives and saying, "Maybe there's a better way," and bosses feeling like they just don't want to work because they think they know whats right for people who they know nothing about.

Firstly, change lunch to a half hour. 60 min. is a waste of time. Secondly, consider staggering starting times in order to cover more hours of the day forcustomer service.

Dave didn't answer the question being asked. Employees are asking if they can WORK THROUGH LUNCH; not taking a break, and leaving sooner in the day. The employees are looking at working for 8 hours regardless. Not 7. Otherwise you're AT work for 9 hours, only being paid for 8.

Skipping lunch and leaving early for any number of reasons shouldn't be a problem. If there are multiple employees that want to do this, split up some number of employees to work 8-4 and some number to work 9-5 to cover the customer service aspect.

Why not ask them? Perhaps it can be a shifted schedule. Some come in an hour later, some leave an hour earlier-- but ask them. Work together

In other words, Dave advises is to treats your employees like kids?

Make sure you have it in writing. Each state has a break law. Any disgruntled employee that leaves for whatever reason, them not getting the required break can come back and bite you.

We're taking about IT workers they tend to be night owls. See if some are willing to come in an hour later so they can stay until 5. The issue some have when the boss sets a schedule of 8-5 with an hour lunch is that effectively occupies 9 hours of your day but you only get paid for 8.

Try thinking out of the box. Maybe the employer can match that one employee with another who wants to come in an hour later and work through lunch. Or ask the one who wants to work through lunch if he/she can trade off days where they come in early with days they come in late. It feels like there are a bunch of potential solutions, but the caller was focused entirely on the keeping things exactly the same.

1 hour lunch break is excessive. It's effectively a 9 hour day. Most people will eat in 20 minutes, and then work 40 for free or have to waste their time. My guess is that he doesn't have a problem finding people during that one hour lunch break to assist customers, and having them work during break. Also, a lot of software people probably put in extra time at home in the evening. So I think the solution is to provide structured flexibility. Set some boundaries to allow them some flexibility while still making sure the work gets done and customer needs are met. At my job, once the work is done I need to decompress and the last half hour before I clock out is largely wasted; however, I'm good at going home and then putting in a couple hours in the late evening. Also, if I leave 30 minutes early, I am able to avoid 20 minutes of traffic. Frankly, I'd rather work 9-10 hours than be forced to take a 1 hour lunch break. As for lazy millennials, back when I was a kid in 1980 they had a movie about people mistreated during their normal working hours. The movie was called 9 to 5. 9 to 5 is an "8 hour day". Boomers forget that their generation had a saying "sex, drugs and rock and roll", and their parents generation had a saying "never hire anyone under 30". There have been lots of very lazy people as well as hardworking people in every generation. And while many people worked harder at their hourly job 50 years ago, they did so in part because those jobs had benefits and were more of a career with upward mobility. 40-50 years ago if someone worked at a department store they had insurance, some retirement, and in time decent pay. On that note, I've never seen a lazy person at Chik Fil A because they pay for better employees.

Dude, you have tons of employees. Give them all flex hours but make sure more shifts are covered. You can even do 3-12's and one 4 for some employees. You'll have more coverage and happier employees. Just explain to them that all shifts need coverage.

But they aren’t leaving “early” they are still working the same amount of hours….

Need to see the data on working from home as there are many peer reviewed studies that show employees are more productive from home. Less interruptions, no commute, less time off, and less non essential meetings.

Why can't customer service be done from home?

The analogy to parenthood is problematic. Working relationships should be contracts between two equal parties. Fully legitimate for either party to decide they're not getting what they require from the contract and look to change the terms so long as they acknowledge the other party might not agree and that will be the end of the relationship. That's not the same as parents and kids. In this case there's a problem being created by leaving early and if it can't be mediated through other means than the practice has to stop. But other possibilities like a rotating schedule of who stays late what nights to make sure there's adequate coverage for customers could also work.

I’m a boss and I only care about them getting their work done. You can work from home. You can leave 2 hours early, work on the roof, in a safari, in London, on Mars. Just get the work done !

They love saying Genz and millennials don’t like to work. It’s pretty sad we have seen these old geezers screw over people for years. Dave and this caller is a prime example of why people hate jobs

Reward the employees who stay.

I agree with this mostly , only difference is I don’t think the workers are necessarily unreasonable if they quit . That just means they want a different set of rules than that owner wants . That’s fine . Nothing wrong with that

I work 12 hour shifts. 8 hours is nothing. If you can't handle an 8-hour shift, that normally comes with an hour lunch and 30 minutes worth of break, then you're going to struggle as an adult.

"my signature on the freakin' paycheck" The classic "I pay you, so I own you" mindset.

Find out first what the state work law is for break times before you meet with your employees.

I was in the military, so I put in a few 24+ hour work days. A few years after getting out I had a call center job and at first 8 hours of talking all day fatigued my voice. After a few months I got used to it. Overtime available, I worked up to 10, and then 12 hours in a day. A few times I tried to do 13+ but it got really hard. I learned to limit it to 12 hours. That was with the good work ethic I had from before and during the military.

If people are getting work done and you have employees working the hours you need, some flexibility should be given to the employees. Different employees may need flexibility: health issues, elderly parents, young children, graduate school, etc.

I was a stay at Home mom with no money in my IRA or any savings of my own, which was scary at 53 years of age. Three years ago I got a part time job and save everything I make. After 3 years, I am 56 yo and have put $9,000 in an IRA and $40,000 in my portfolio with CFA, Abby Joseph Cohen. Since the goal of getting a job was to invest for retirement and NOT up my lifestyle, I was able to scale this quickly to $150,000. If I can do this in a year, anyone can.

I'm a millenial and Dave is 100% correct on this.

Such a dumb call

Some states require breaks by law, so working 8 straight hours then leaving early without a lunch break would be grounds for employment lawsuits.

I’d like to read what “data points” Dave is reading that say employees are more productive in the office. Because I’ve read multiple that say employees are more productive working remotely and with more schedule flexibility. I did however read a report that employers are scared their employees will be less productive remotely. That probably better fits what he’s dealing with.

Surely the 'core' hours that staff have to be at their desk to take customer calls is in their contract right?

8:05 woah! As much as I like Ramsey’s advice those hints of power enjoyment are disheartening to the cause: he refers to his employees as toddlers (“you have to remind them who is mommy and daddy”), as prisoners (“the inmates don’t run the prison”), “I pay you and you work” (and then cackles). For what is worth, he is many generations ago… not like the new generations are doing any better, but when this era finally finishes I believe new and better ways will be able to flourish. All that said, great show and great question.

Who's taking care of the customer during "lunch hour?" Dave seems to have a lingering issue with employees that quit his company to work from home.

Morally and ethically do not apply here. LEGALLY they are REQUIRED to have a lunch break. They can CHOOSE to work, but that lunch BY LAW is unpaid time. >Hurr durr I get paid lunches what's the problems Your company CHOOSES to pay for your lunches. LEGALLY they are not required to do so. So if your employees are working during their lunch, they are working FOR FREE, which is ILLEGAL

Flex scheduling where adults are responsible is a WONDERFUL thing. It's a great productive environment. Set some boundaries to ensure that there is coverage for the customer issues. With hourly workers it can be more complicated because labor law. In my state it says 1/2 hr plus 2 15 min breaks during a scheduled 8 hr work day. A 7 hr work day is only entitled to 2 15 min breaks so the eating at your desk through your lunch break and leaving early never seemed ethical or legal to me.

Let some people start later in the day and then stay later to cover those hours. Rotate that from time to time.

Terrible, antiquated perspectives. Work will still get done and the full hours were worked. Maybe math just isn't his strong-suit. Wish more people with this mindset were open-minded and accepted that data points show averages, and those who are incredibly effective but leave "early" or prefer to work from home will inevitably depart. And that leaves you with the more unproductive workers over time, hampering your ability to grow/thrive. Such an absolute shame to treat your employees this way if they have PROVEN to be helping the business by successfully performing their roles.

My boss doesn't take a lunch hour. He has a RU-vid morning, then takes 45 minutes to eat.

I think it's incredibly degrading and disrespectful that people would call Millennials entitled for asking to work through lunch and leave early. It's a valid request and it should be discussed in an adult manner. It used to be something that many white collar workers did once upon a time. Now we've all turned into workaholics. Everything is open all the time and customers have unrealistic expectations about service. I've had customers have total meltdowns because we ran out of wrapping paper at 6:30pm on Christmas Eve. Like how entitled do you have to be to expect wrapping paper to still be available on the evening of Christmas Eve? We've created a monster with this "the customer is always right" mantra. A lot of Millennials are ending up in situations where they are forced to jump through hoops and waste their lives to get a job done when there is a better alternative and a more efficient manner. Management is never willing to listen to us when it comes to this. Please have an adult conversation with them and let them know why this isn't possible. Also, don't be a layabout manager who gets to have every evening and weekend day off. Be willing to volunteer for the hours that are not "popular" among your staff because if you won't do it why should they? I've experienced this so much with managers. I literally had a mental breakdown once because I was working 85 hour work weeks between three jobs and hadn't had a day off in 3 months. Not a singular day and no one was willing to simply swap a shift with me so that I could get some much need rest. I'm talking like 7:30am-9:30pm every single day. That's a long ass day! If you are not paying attention or listening to your employees you're going to end up burning out truly good workers and those workers are going to leave and never come back. Why else do you think there's a shortage of good retail workers? I used to be an amazing employee. I would go above and beyond, take whatever shift to help someone out, stay late, come in early, I would super clean the store and greet every customer with exceptional service. Unfortunately, my managers didn't care and just used me for their own benefit. I quit customer service 2 years ago for good and I'm never coming back. I'd rather be a SAHM thanks. At least a husband and children appreciate you and say thank you! Millennials have always been the ones "staying late" to "help the customer" when the manager has gone home a long time ago with their feet up and a glass of lemonade. Even when we're physically ill. I literally had a manager who begged me to come into working on a Saturday morning when I had a 104 degree fever and a hacking cough. This woman would NOT take no for an answer....Some of these managers are the laziest most self depraved human beings who have ever walked the face of the earth. They literally just want servants and it's disgusting. Millennials have constantly been put into situations where they are not able to establish any boundaries whatsoever with their managers and then they're told that they're entitled, spoiled and lazy and blah blah blah. We're not lazy. We're not entitled. We just want boundaries and want to be listened to. Also, consider that your millennials are commuting from far away because they can't afford the housing in your area. It's something to consider when looking for applicants. If someone has to commute more than an hour then they are not a good fit for the job, sorry! Does it mean that you'll have less applicants? Yes....but perhaps it will open your eyes to the real societal problems that Millennials are battling. Having to pay 500,000 for a condo/house or 3000 for a two bedroom apartment is a huge financial burden that Millennials are dealing with. In order to avoid this financial burden many of them are living in god knows where in the middle of nowhere just to afford housing. No one seems to think this is a problem because they're making a ton of money on their real estate investments. My recommendation going forward would be to have some kind of compromise. Perhaps there are certain days (less busy ones) where people can skip lunch and leave early. Have everyone cycle through this so that you're never short staffed. Consider that if your staff doesn't want to be there at a specific time then it's for a good reason. Are they feeling overwhelmed by the customer rush? Do they not have enough staff or support? Ask them why they'd rather leave early.

I truly hate the lunch break because it interrupts my ability to concentrate and my body feels at rest. Picking back up feels awful. I saved my lunch hour to last because no one else wanted to wait that long. I staggered lunch hours with employees that had different needs.

Going to the office for 9 hours while taking 5 smoke breaks and holding meetings that should’ve been an email is no better

There are multiple reasons for taking a break in the middle of the day. One is, toward the end of the day, will the employee be able to give the customer quality service or will the employee be hungry, irritable, and tired?

How about you leave when the works done

Same issue in similar field. Compromise was adjusting start times for half the employees. With tech support all lunches turned to working lunches, half employees started at 8 a.m other at 9 a.m, switch every 2 weeks. Customers were still taken care of.

Not hard to solve --- rotate workforce so some leave early and some stay until 5 each day. Those that stay until 5 start an hour later. Dave and his old man mentality. This is a cybersecurity company not a manufacturing facility.

in most states there are laws on being a employer on lunch breaks

Rotate people to stay that last hour? Also - to think that the boomer generation doesn’t have massive entitlement is hilarious.

Consider 8:30 to 5:00 as a full hour is on the longer side for lunch. If your hours are posted 8:00 to 5:00 consider letting some come in 30 minutes early or leave 30 minutes early. I would treat adults like adults in any case.

This is not 40 hours a way. The additional 1 hour for lunch every day is still on company time, regardless of getting paid. Which is a 45hour work week. Have the employees switch off, who gets to go home early. Let one come in at 9am instead of 8am. Working in an office does not need to be strict.

"H'YAH-H'YAH-H'YAHHHHH! ...LOVE IT! Very fun." Is this the true unrequited human joy we all scramble about desperately to one day achieve?

It would depend on the situation of the employee. Wanting to work from home is not always about comfort or “laziness.” The Millennials and down may have children, and they can’t afford the cost of child care these days. Not everyone can do it the traditional way of dad going to work and mom staying home. Sometimes both have to work, and the money still can’t seem to come in fast enough to care for important provisions.

Dave’s a dinosaur. How about this: a 4-day work week! That is what is needed for work life balance for young families.

The only way I can see this as an issue, would be if you have service hours where someone is expected to be available to customers. Incidental interaction would be random and unexpected by nature. If your time at the facility is required for others to do their job, then obviously that wouldn't work either.

If I take a lunch, I’m done for the day. I know that so I work though lunch every day.

Does Dave ever listen to himself? He sounds as entitled as the Millennials and Gen Z employees he chastises. Your name may be on the side of the building, but luck played a bigger role in that than you are giving credit for. You may sign the check, but that doesn't mean you always know what is best. You don't own the business, you steward the business and God put you in that position to serve your employees and community just as much as he put you there to serve your customers. There are more than two ways to handle this situation and he goes right to, "it's my way or the highway" without any critical thought.

What about rotating set hours? Meaning every week some are in at 7, some are in at 8, and some are in at 9. That way there are still people there between 4-6. But the rotation means group 1 works their schedule one week, and group 2 works their schedule one week, group 3 works their schedule. But to be fair, week one it’s 1-2-3, then week 2 it’s 2-3-1, then week 3 it’s 3-1-2, etc. That way all the shifts are covered, and no one has to work the early shift every week, or the late shift every week.

I think it’s unethical to require a 9 hour day and only pay for 8. Every boss knows nobody can do anything with a disjointed hour in the middle of the day, so it’s just a waste of my hour. Also, no one asked WHY. Sometimes people’s circumstances change. For example, if it is costing your employee $30/hour to have after school childcare so they can stay late and give you an hour for free in the middle of the day, it’s probably reasonable for them to ask you to work through so they can leave early OR to ask you to pay them for that extra hour to cover the cost of their wasted time. Either of those would be a fair compromise that offers both parties the chance to get their needs met and offering to work through lunch is a FREE solution for the company. I also think it is important for the boss to have the why so they don’t sound as entitled as Dave sounds here. The caller will lose his employees if they can’t afford the extra $150 to laze around for an hour in the middle of every school day. Other possible solutions are to poll the employees and give half the 7-3 shift and half the 9-5 shift. Or let some work 8 hours with a break and some without a break, with a solid agreement as to who covers what. Or change your business hours to reflect 8-4 instead of 8-5. So many answers, being rigid isn’t the right one!

If this is truly about serving customers and productivity, why not allow employees to stagger their hours so full hours are covered? This is less about being millennial or Gen Z as much as being flexible…..and I’m Gen X!

In person collaboration does not work and is a myth. You get the same results from hybrid and remote work. The only reason why in person work is still supported is to subsidize the real estate market.

@EntreLeadership Check the law! Oregon state labor law requires employees to take mandatory breaks between designated times of the day.

Only calling out certain generations for entitlement is frustrating. Entitlement is well represented by all generations.

Flexibility is a great perk. If you can offer flexibility with little to no cost to you, do it. Sometimes flexibility is more important than money to an employee

Also, didn’t hear it mentioned the blatant fact that working through lunch is at a reduced productivity. You don’t get paid to eat and work slower 🤣 Plus, without any breaks, overall productivity suffers. A short break is needed and it’s just the employees wanting to do the bare minimum.

When I was a teenager I worked in fast food and was forced (either state or federal law) to take a "lunch break" if I worked more than X number of hours (I forgot the specifics because it was 25 years ago). I hated it and would have rather leave early than sit at the restaurant not getting paid. And it really wasn't enough time for me to go somewhere else. So I agree with the employees here. No one should be forced to take a lunch break that is unpaid. Being forced to be at work without being paid is wrong.

The employer can't allow his employees leave early because someone has to be there until closing to help customers

My company has data points showing that we have been just as productive, if not more, working from home since the pandemic started.

Why not alternating. Some people go in at 7 others at 8 then next paycheck it switches?

How about create jobs that no one wants to leave? Find out what job perks would be most beneficial to each individual employee and see if they can be accommodated and you will have outstanding employee retention and productivity, which in turn benefits the owner’s bottom line and everyone wins! I had an employer who allowed me to arrange my workday so I could drop-off and pick-up my kids from school (which was very important to me) and then return to work. I stayed there for ten years and I’m still there even after my kids are grown.

Just have a sheet that has who is covering the last hour each day…Not everyone should have to stay and then sit in traffic an extra hour every day to make everyone equal.

Must be nice to even get lunches and breaks. I work 12hrs with none.

I dont see anything wrong with people working through lunch. They are still working 8 hours.

Corporate America is against remote working. But they have no problem with outsourcing(which is also remote working) which is done from a different country usually India or China. Also if you are working from office you don't get any extra points.

Create a rotating coverage schedule where everyone gets a week of covering till 5 and maybe they come in an hour later if they want to work through. I think you kill moral when employees don’t feel heard, appreciated, and see you being willing to compromise

Crotchety old man. lol Glad you set good expectations and boundaries on your work styles. It's ok that most people don't want to work within your restrictions or under your thumb.

I finish my work with few hours every day, i asked for more work they didn't give it to me, so now i cone in late leave early.

I mean I do commercial hvac, skip lunch everyday. And on the days I don't work only work 8 hours, I work till end of the business day and get an hour or so overtime daily. People wanna work through lunch then just pay them overtime to stay till the end of the day.

“Hey, Dave, my employees want to work through their lunch break and leave an hour early, but I want them to take lunch and work that hour…what should I do?” “Let me tell you about working from home.” What?

30 minutes to eat or an hour and a half so i can work out. An hour luch is just goofy.

Customer service from home or in office all depends on the business model. Sounds like Ramsey has a clear expectation up front, which is fair.

I came in at 6:30 AM, every day and started working, not scheduled until 7 AM. I worked like my hair was on fire. The company tracked everything (we were in professional positions), and my stats were always higher than anyone else's by far. I mentally needed to be done by 3 and on my way home. We had staff that worked other hours, some scheduled to start at 8, some at 9, and a couple at 11 AM. Most did not want to come in as early as I did, I would have hated coming in later than I did. Find people that want early hours, those that want later hours and everyone gets what they want/need. There were 2 others that started at 7 AM. We had the clock covered. FYI I am now retired. Love it. The caller says we expect you to work 40 hours a week, yet he said they worked through lunch and left early so they were working their 40 hrs. We did have one person who said they wanted to work through lunch and leave early. Was given permission but she was actually stopping working, eating at her desk, and considered that working thru lunch. She lost her perk of working through lunch and had to go back to her regular schedule. Her comment was but I have to eat! Yes, so did I - as I worked.

This guy can do what he wants, but as someone who works in software, I wouldn’t work for him. The question isn’t about working the same amount. It’s about a very small amount of flexibility and shows a general lack of trust of the employees.

Flex the schedule so that some can go home earlier some days and cover the other employees on different days.

If they work and get their job done, why do you care if they take an hour for lunch in the middle of the day? Isn't the point to get the job done? Lighten up.

"My name is on the building" You sunk money into that building, and now you're justifying your decision. And to the Mook who asks whether he can force employees to use 1 hour lunch and spend 9 hours at work - you're lost buddy

Correctly gathered, manipulated, or not - Ramsey has assessed that in-office participation works better for the tasks his organization does and the efficientcy of his business operations. This assumes he's tried it and at least discussed with his upper management. Employee input to these types things can go a long way towards employee satisfaction and retension. As others have pointed out there may be work-life balance issues involved. At the same time, the business has needs thst mudt, or at least, must be satisfied. In a smaller organization therecmsy be muktiple satisfactory soluti9ns. Then again, i knew a boss who had a similar problem with traffic being the primary reason. So he solved the afternoon traffic problem with a mandatory 2 hour earlier shift start for a 30 day trial run. At the end of 30 days, they switched back with some new rules in place.

There are a number of different solutions that could be devised. First, we need to know the reason why they want to leave earlier, is it traffic, or is it that they find a one hour break too excessive? After all, they don't get paid (most likely) for the lunch break. So is a half hour break a good compromise? Are there some staff that like the one hour break and happy to keep doing it? Could some flexibility be worked in whereby they could do that one week, the next week leave earlier? Could staggered shifts (rotating or stagnant) be the solution to later coverage? So really, the first port of call is to have a team discussion, find out where they all stand, and their reasons. Dave and the caller seem to have the 'my way or the highway' attitude.

I totally disagree with Dave. I've spoken to several who work from home 2 to 4 days a week and get as much or more work accomplished. However, every business is different

Better suggestion is to take all the people that want to skip lunch, put some of them on a morning shift, some of them on an afternoon shift. Besides, these people that skip lunch are what's giving you the ability to service customers during that lunch hour.

Companies like this force their employees to be in that building for 9 hours and they only get paid for 8. They aren’t trying to be kind by giving you an hour “Lunch.” Surprised they don’t bump it up to a 2 hour lunch. Of course Slave Driver Dave is going to agree with the caller. Now the caller feels justified and is going to have people start quitting on him because they won’t put up with that b.s. They can easily find similar work and pay and only be there for 8 hours

We had core hours for us it was 9-3 you had to be at the office but you had to work 8 hours.

In a cyber security environment the experts must no work with the customers hahaha, maybe there is something to reevaluate

Here I am saying hey, let me come to work at normal time, work through lunch, and leave at normal time. 45 hours a week sounds great to me!

Just go work for the competition. If they wont let you work through lunch, start your own business. If that is out of reach change your career.

5:55 exactly..you’re the employee I’m the boss. Do role reversals at home not at the workplace

How about it depends on the type of employer. I mean if it’s in patient care then you must be in the office the whole day because if patients are there they will have to be seen in a timely manner and that’s the schedule. You can’t assess a patient from your own home, it doesn’t work that way. So 8-5 is necessary in a doctor’s office. Also, if the patients are still there at five in the afternoon, you can’t just clock out and leave them sitting there in the dark. I don’t understand why people complain about working 8 hours per day. It’s something I did since I was 16 during the summer breaks. I think people in general are getting lazy and not wanting to work. If you have bills then you work. Plain and simple. I hear some graduates complaining about their salaries in entry-level positions and they seem entitled to get paid way more than they deserve. You start working and then you gain experience and get promoted. Graduates are saying they can’t find a job for a few years. That’s your fault.

I agree with most the stuff Dave says but I disagree with certain points you do employ your employees but there are regulations you have to follow for example osha requirements . It’s your company but if it’s not followed under federal law or state law it can be lead to fines and shut down. The lunch I agree with because your supposed to have a 30 minute lunch uninterrupted after so many hours but to skip lunch not okay on the employees part or the employer

They should have a 30 min break min.

If the lunch hour is unpaid, and they have to work 8+a lunch (so leave after 8.5 or 9 hours), that’s bs.

Whats the problem? They're working through lunch. Still getting their hours. Unless its impacting performance... i see nothing wrong here.