Working day

[kaiser78]

It's actually quite hard to take only 30 minutes for lunch!

Why - what do you normally do of a lunchtime ?

[Zippy]

This is a tricky one as you want to be accommodating without having them take the piss. A professional working day is usually 8 hours and the client is clearly trying to ensure thay get their money's worth by insisting you work longer than the permies.
Perhaps you could offer to get in a bit earlier so you could leave earlier?

[northernladuk]

I'm just wondering where I stand as leave at 4.30pm or 4.45pm would help my travel a lot as I would miss a bit if traffic and get home at a better time.

I know it sounds bad making a fuss about 30 mins, but why should other people work less hours and get paid the same.

It does sound bad to be honest. They will get a bad rep for being time watching contractors, you will gain a bit of respect and professionalism which will stand you in better stead when it comes to renewal time and chances of further work with them.

[Boo]

A professional working day is usually 8 hours

Well, plenty of companys work a 37.5 hour week (== 7.5 hour day) and lots of London firms work a 35 hour week. So the OP could make a reasonable argument for either of these, but in any case should not just roll over and accept what the client asks in this respect.

Boo

[escapeUK]

Personally my contract shows my day rate and how many hours are in a day.

If I work more or less, I prorate it. (Within reason, Im not charging for an extra 30 mins if I need to finish something before I go home, nor am I deducting 20 mins if I get stuck in traffic.)

[lez]

This is a tricky one as you want to be accommodating without having them take the piss. A professional working day is usually 8 hours and the client is clearly trying to ensure thay get their money's worth by insisting you work longer than the permies.
Perhaps you could offer to get in a bit earlier so you could leave earlier?

You have it spot on there.

They have asked me to get in early so I can be at meetings that start at 8.45am daily, so with them asking that I thought they would let me go early too.

[lez]

It does sound bad to be honest. They will get a bad rep for being time watching contractors, you will gain a bit of respect and professionalism which will stand you in better stead when it comes to renewal time and chances of further work with them.

It's not about clock watching but about I'm doing 8 hours and starting early as asked where others are doing 7.5 hours so end up doing about 18 hours more over 3 months so about 2 extra days.

Personally I don't want to work for these guys again as it not a nice place to work. I'm not saying who they are just in case.....well not until I leave haha

[117MilesToGo]

It's not about clock watching but about I'm doing 8 hours and starting early as asked where others are doing 7.5 hours so end up doing about 18 hours more over 3 months so about 2 extra days.

Personally I don't want to work for these guys again as it not a nice place to work. I'm not saying who they are just in case.....well not until I leave haha

You don't have to like them. In the words of NorthernLadUk, you're just a contractor. Nothing else matters cept the invoicing. Which reminds me, its end of month!!

[northernladuk]

It's not about clock watching but about I'm doing 8 hours and starting early as asked where others are doing 7.5 hours so end up doing about 18 hours more over 3 months so about 2 extra days.

Personally I don't want to work for these guys again as it not a nice place to work. I'm not saying who they are just in case.....well not until I leave haha

And you will never need a few hours to go to the dentist/docs, need to leave a little early to be somewhere, be an hour late due to bad traffic etc etc...

And if you are going to be so picky about time is the time you say you are going to leave the minute you turn your laptop off or is it the time you expect to walk out the door so 15 mins not working getting ready to leave etc etc..

Seems like clock watching to me sorry.

[Wanderer]

It's not about clock watching but about I'm doing 8 hours and starting early as asked where others are doing 7.5 hours

In my opinion, an 8 hour day is perfectly reasonable and quibbling over 30 minutes is clock watching, what other people do is irrelevant. If it's a crap place to work then either find somewhere else to go or keep your head down, do the work, get your time sheets signed and take the money.