You make a good point, though I guess that's really down to a mixture of tradition and inflexibility on the part of employers. While I'm currently self-employed/between gigs I can make my day fit as I wish. When I was working, and as long as the employer was okay with it, I much preferred to get in as early as possible and leave after having done my hours.

"Enjoying lighter evenings" for a few months of the year seems like incredibly poor compensation for all the trauma swapping backwards and forwards creates.

Just ask a dairy farmer how the cows feel about it, for one example. In the height of summer, you're putting the kids to bed when it's still daylight ffs - I find that rather unnatural. It's not considered very "neighbourly" to do DIY or gardening or sport so late at night, so what's the point? If you're just going to sit outside enjoying a glass of something, then I'd prefer the night air anyway. If you want to watch the sun set, it'll perform just the same regardless of what your watch says exactly as it has since before the dawn of man.

Besides, there are many jobs which do not run 9 to 5. I used to work 7am to 3pm when I was in catering. At Tesco, some people work 6am - 3pm and others work different times. They are very flexible because they're open such long hours. It's pretty much only "desk jobs" which start at 9am, and even there 8am is increasingly common. My boss works 8am to 4pm when he's in the office, and I think Zippy works similar hours in her admin post.

Lets have a show of hands. What time do folk leave home, work and then return home?

Right now I leave home at 8:45am. I actually do work 9am - 5:30pm and then get home about 5:45pm. If I'm working away then obviously it can be different, but generally I've got other things on my mind than whether it's going to be light outside at 10pm.

When I did work I worked shifts :
Shift 1 : Left home around 6am - got back around 4pm
Shift 2 : Left home around 10:30am - got back around 8pm

Mark

Used to be I'd leave at between 6-6.30am home after 7pm, these days it's around 9am and home again by 5pm most days.

I don't really care about longer evenings in the winter. For me it's about having more evenings in the summer where it's light enough to stay out in the garden until late.

Currently I can be at work for 5am, 7:30am, or 5:30pm. I finish work at 3pm, 5:30pm, 5am respectively.
In the past I've had 9-5 jobs, also 7-3, 8-4, and 10-6 jobs.



Winter evenings are for cwtching up on the sofa, feeling all cwtchy and warm.
In the summer I enjoy the warm darkness, there is a certain atmosphere about 10/11pm in the summer that you don't get at 8/9pm...

But it already is if we keep British Summer Time.

I realise some of us here don't get the choice, but frankly if we want longer days in the summer get up earlier.

I'm flexi but (due to picking up Emily from nursery) tend to work 7:30am - 3:00pm (and stay until at least 4:00pm on the days I dont have to pick her up to make back the lost half hour when I do).

When I used to get leave the house at 4:30am I used to love it. I love the dark and the quiet. As for finding it easy to get to sleep, my sleep is terrible at the best of times so it makes no difference.

I'd rather have more light when I can enjoy it, the trip to work is wasted time for light.

+1

Hours - 7.45am-4.40pm (that covers walking time lol), roughly...

Leave at 8.45am, get back at 6.15pm.

But if summer was GMT+2, there would be more evenings where you could still sit out at 10pm. They'd start earlier in teh year and finish later.

i do 9-5.30, except when i do 9.30 to whenever. I have arrived as late as 9.45, i have left as left as 8pm( we have to average 37.5h a week, some people come sundays and take weekdays off)

If everyone wants to enjoy lighter evenings, you could put the clocks forward enough so the sun was at its zenith at say 6pm. Plenty of time to enjoy the sun.


Oh FFS and stop it. What we really need is flexible working hour ie everyone does shiftwork.

FWIW leave home around 0745 and arrive home around 1900 +/- 30 mins.

Yup. I thought the idea was more of us would work from home as well, saving on the cost of offices.

Mind you a few years back we were all supposed to get to work on conveyor belts or by jet-pack.