Just because you work 8 hours a day doesn't mean you can weasel away 60 whole minutes on your lunch break. At American Lawyer Media, you'll now be expected to be at your desk "NO LATER THAN" than 9 and "wrap it up" at 6. That leaves eight full, unmolested hours of work, not including lunch. The change doesn't look to be directly recession-related, although they laid off 42 people in April. That said, you can certainly expect to see more of this:


Dear Team: A few months ago, I mentioned that we would be re-adjusting our business day to eight hours plus an hour for lunch, essentially aligning our work schedule to coincide more closely with that of our parent company. With the impending move on December 12th, that need is now here. Therefore, we will make the following changes in our work day: Effective October 13, our standard business day will start NO LATER THAN 9am and wrap up at 6pm. You have also heard for a while about new initiatives to grow our business. Increasingly, we will be calling upon you to champion these efforts, and our roles are going to evolve. We need to transition from a mere process-orientation into a strategic mode of operation. This is a fundamental shift in how we perceive ourselves—regardless of title or function. For those who embrace these initiatives, certain flexibilities will come along with the new hours. In some cases, team members may come in early or work late. In situations that call for special consideration, simply work out the time with your manager. We will also allow you to work at home occasionally, with the understanding that you will work a full day and make yourself as available to your colleagues and managers as you would at the office. However, the decision for all of these changes will be at the discretion of your manager, and he or she reserves the right to deny the privilege based on need and performance. ...I hope you will embrace the direction in which we are going and help us advance in this new environment. As always, I am here if you have any questions. Michael G. Desiato

Questions? Yeah, Mike, I have a gynecologist's appointment on Friday. Wait, sorry—meant to address that to Nick.