I work in an office 40 hours a week 8 hours a day Monday to Friday. Let me clarify, though.
No matter who asks that's my answer and that's how I expect to be paid for my time. There are days where I don't have as many tasks to do and maybe I don't have something to do here and there but during my scheduled time I'm always available if something comes up. If I'm making myself available that's still working. If I can't just leave work or just ignore things on my to do list then I'm working. I think more people need to think of it this way. Just because you're not actively working on a task every second of working hours doesn't mean you're not working.
Edit: just wanted to add that working on your skills especially with something related to your job that doesn't necessarily complete a task for work also counts as time worked in my eyes as well as my boss. I'm very open about training time and always keeping on top of my craft. Not sure if this is normal but it ought to be.
I completely agree. It's definitely a slow battle. I'm just happy that my situation at work is as good as it is. I still think in general I'm under paid and I would also like to work less days in a week but I think it'll be a long time before that's the norm. If it ever happens. The least I and everyone else can do is to set realistic expectations and boundaries.
My last job was very bad at this. They were horrible with working around people's schedules and getting days off was very difficult. My current job is the complete opposite. To be fair I got really lucky but I also think it shows work life balance is becoming more important to employees and in turn employers have to respect it or people won't work for them. To give some context my current job allows me to request time off up to 24 hours before my normal schedule WITHOUT any type of approval. I can work around my schedule in almost any way I'd like and I can call off sick without needing to give a reason let alone provide a doctor's note. This is how it should be for all jobs but I think we're a long way from that.