[Symbiote]

9–5 is the standard British working day, which includes an hour for lunch.

As an example, my contract when I worked for the British government said, "You will normally be required to work a five-day week of 41 hours gross, Monday to Friday, including meal breaks".

The time allowed for lunch breaks was one hour per day, which led to a working time of 7h12m, and a total weekly working time of 36 hours.

I only notice now that this doesn't quite add up to 9–17h. That's probably because most people took about ¾ hour for lunch rather than the full hour, and left at 17:00 rather than 17:12.

(Or maybe I was doing it wrong.)

[IshKebab]

It may have been the standard once, but these days the standard seems to be 8 hours of work, plus 30 or 60 minutes for lunch.

I don't know anyone that works 9-5 with an hour for lunch.

[72deluxe]

That'll be me! I am in the Midlands.

....although I must admit this is rare. The last place was 9-5 with half an hour for lunch, which was widely abused by others (eg. 2 hour pub lunch every Friday, clear off early, roll in late).

A previous place wanted 40 hours a week when I inquired about returning. A reevaluation of priorities led me to turn that offer down.

[d_theorist]

9-6 is standard every place I've worked. I've always worked in London though, so perhaps there is a split there relative to the rest of the country.