Unit 9. Business hours

The standard working day in the United Kingdom and the USA starts at 9:00 a.m. and lasts till 5:00 p.m. with lunch time from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Many banks are usually open for customers from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Some businesses and industries traditionally work different hours.

Most employees have a five-day working week, Monday through Friday. The working week is between 35 and 40 hours long. Overtime is quite common and is generally paid, often at a premium to the basic rate of pay. The weekend usually starts on Friday night and lasts till Monday. Thus on Saturdays and Sundays most businesses are closed. But as to shops they are open on Saturdays and some of them are open on Sundays.

In Britain the law does not say what shops can be open on Sundays but it says what goods can be sold on Sundays. They are newspapers, magazines and fresh food. If the law is broken, criminal proceedings may be taken. Many officials and the public demand that the Sunday trading rules should be abolished in the UK.

Most businesses are closed on public or national holidays.

The main public holidays of the UK are the follows:

New Year’s Day 1 January

Good Friday in April

Easter in April

Easter Monday in April

May Day in May

Christmas Day 25 December

Boxing Day 26 December

In the United States the following main holidays are celebrated:

New Year’s Day 1 January

Washingtons’s Birthday 20 February

Easter in April

Memorial Day in May

Independence Day 4 July

Labour Day in September

Veterans’ Day in November

Thanksgiving Day in November

Christmas Day in December

All the main public or national holidays in the USA and UK are bank holidays, which means banks are closed on those days. Besides there are some other bank holidays, when banks and many other businesses are closed.

The bank holidays besides public or national holidays are:

Spring or Summer (Bank) Holiday - in May or June

Autumn (Bank) Holiday - in August or September

It dates back to the nineteenth century when by the Bank Holiday Act and a Supplementary Act these days were constituted bank holidays in the UK.

EXERCISES

Exercise 1. Answer the following questions.

When does the standard working day start and finish in the UK and the USA?	9-5
How long is the working week there?	35-40
Is the overtime allowed and paid?	Y
What are the usual working days?	m-f
What is a weekend?	s-s
What days are shops open in those two countries?	Sat and some on Sun
What goods can be sold on Sundays in the UK?	Newspaper, magazine and fresh food
How do Englishmen treat the Sunday trading rules?	Should be abolished
Are businesses open on public holidays in those two countries?	No
What public holidays do these two countries have?
What is a bank holiday?	Banks closed
When do these countries have Spring/Summer Bank Holiday?	May or june
When do they have Autumn Bank Holiday?	Aug or sept
When and how was a bank holiday introduced in Great Britain?	19c Bank Holyday act and Supplementary act

Exercise 2. Match the Holidays with their Russian equivalents.

New Year’s Day	Новый Год
Good Friday	Страстная пятница
Easter	Пасха
Easter Monday	Пасхальный понедельник
May Day	День весны
Christmas Day	Рождество
Boxing Day	День подарка
Washingtons’s Birthday	День рождения Вашингтона
Memorial Day	День памяти
Independence Day	День независимости
Labour Day	День труда
Veterans’ Day	День ветеранов
Thanksgiving Day	День Благодарения

Exercise 3. Sum up what the UNIT says about:

bank holidays

public holidays

working day and week

the Sunday trading rules in the UK

overtime

Exercise 4. What would you tell a foreigner about:

our working day and week

our holidays

time when our shops are open

income tax do most people pay (e.g. 10% or 20% of what they earn)

paid holidays

a minimum wage decided by the government

Exercise 5. Find the English equivalents in the UNIT.

1. Еще в девятнадцатом веке законом о банковских праздниках и дополнением к этому закону эти дни были объявлены в Англии «банковскими праздниками».

2. Переработка сверх установленных часов - явление распространенное и оплачивается по ставкам выше обычных.

3. Многие официальные лица и общественность требуют, чтобы эти правила торговли по воскресеньям были в Англии отменены.

4. Если существующий закон нарушается, могут возбудить cудебное дело.

Exercise 6. Complete the sentences.

Pay and conditions.

Most workers … every month. This is called a …. We can also use the verbs …, … Some people are paid for the hours they ... The lowest amount for one hour's work is called the ... This amount is decided by the …With most jobs you get 4-6 weeks' paid …; you also get ... (= pay when you are ill)

The total amount of money you receive in a year is called your ... This could be your … from one job, or the salary from two different ... You have to pay part of your income to the government; this is called income ...

Exercise 7. Here are some expressions connected with work. Make a few sentences with them.

to work shift-work [nights one week, days next]

to be on flexi-time [flexible working hours]

to work nine-to-five [regular day work]

to go/be on strike [industrial dispute]

to get the sack [thrown out of your job]

to be fired [more formal than 'get the sack'; often

used as a direct address: 'You're fired!']

to be dismissed [more formal than 'be fired']

to be made redundant [thrown out, no longer needed]

to be laid off [more informal than 'made redundant']

to give up work [e.g. in order to study]

to be on / take maternity leave [expecting a baby]

to be on / take sick leave [illness] .

to take early retirement [retire at 55]

to be a workaholic [love work too much]

to be promoted [get a higher position]

to apply for a job [fill in forms, etc.]

Exercise 8. Using the expressions in exercise 7, say what you think has happened / is happening.

Example: - I'm not working now; the baby's due in 3 weeks. - She's on maternity leave.

1. I’ve lost my job. They had to make cutbacks.

2. He's enjoying life on a pension, although he's only 58.

3. One week it's six-to-two, the next it's nights.

4. They've made her General Manager as from next month!

5. I was late so often, I lost my job.

6. I get in at nine o'clock and go home at five.

7. Your trouble is you are obsessed with work.

8. Now make a sentence for each of the verbs you have not used.

Exercise 9. Match words on the left and right to form compound nouns or phrases.

1 nine-to- a time

2 working b tax

3 flexi- с wage

4 income d five

5 minimum e hours

Exercise 10. Match the verbs on the left with the nouns on the right. Use each verb once only.

1. earn a overtime

2. work b meetings

3. deal with с a shop

4. attend : d complaints

5. run e £2,000 a month

Exercise 11. This is part of a conversation with a teacher about her job. Write the missing questions.

A:____________? В: I start at nine and finish at four.

A: ? B: Yes, a bit. On certain courses I work until 5.30.

A: ? B: 12 weeks. That's one of the good things.

A: ? B: Yes, we do, but we have to have a doctor's note.

Exercise 12. Which of the job-titles from the list would best describe the following?

administrator, Human Resources department officer, unskilled worker, director, executive personnel officer, public relation officer, safety officer, labourer, union official, boss

1. The person who represents the workers' interests in disputes with the management in a factory.

2. A person who has a high (but not the highest) position in a company and whose job it is to make important decisions.

3. An important person in a company who sits on the Board.

4. A worker whose job requires no special training.

5. A person generally in charge of the day-to-day administration in a company.

6. The person who makes sure there are no risks of accidents from machinery, etc.

7. A person whose job it is to keep an eye on the day-to-day work of other workers.

8. A person who does hard physical work.

9. The person who handles applications for vacant posts.

10. The person who gives out information to the press for a company.