Hours of Work

Country Hours Country Hours

UK 44.0 Sweden 40.1

Portugal 41.0 France 39.7

Greece 40.8 Luxembourg 39.3

Spain 40.7 Finland 39.2

EU average 40.5 Netherlands 39.0

Ireland 40.3 Denmark 38.6

Austria 40.1 Belgium 38.6

Germany 40.1 Italy 38.5

*

Italy 43%

Spain 33%

Germany 15%

France 12%

UK 48%

A government-funded research project has shown that Britain is a nation of workaholics. The Work-Life Balance Survey was conducted by researchers at Warwick’s Institute for Employment Research and IFF Research. 7,500 employees, 2,500 employers and 250 staff at company head offices were interviewed.

compared with women’s 42 hours.

10.5 hours, managers 10 hours, retail workers 7.5 hours and clerical

workers 6.7 hours.

hours.

children) works more than 60 hours in a typical week: "The long hours of

many males in couple households may reflect both a need for income

(associated with children) and the opportunity to work long hours

(associated with the presence of a partner)."

working week etc.) but two-thirds fear that part-time working would

damage their careers.

than take maternity leave – but most employers are opposed to measures

which might be seen as positive discrimination mothers.

have arranged to work only during term-time..

Directive designed to stop employers making employees work over 48

hours per week.

assistance with childcare.

maternity and paternity leave granted by parliament.

*

A national survey (funded by the Economic and Social Research Council as part of its £4m Future of Work research programme) covering 1,100 women in a representative range of occupations in 2000/01, found that women with dependent children were working longer hours than in the early 1990s, closing the gap between their hours and those of other working women to an average of two and a half hours per week. The biggest increase in hours was experienced by women whose youngest children were between 12 and 15 who were, on average, working five hours a week more than in 1992. Financial necessity was the main source of pressure for women to work longer hours: about half (51%) of women workers cited this as their primary motive, a similar proportion to the 49% found in 1992.

Although the increase in the hours of women with dependent children could be viewed as liberation from the demands of childcare, it has been accompanied by a sharp fall in the satisfaction of women with their working hours. In 1992, 51% of women were either 'completely satisfied' or 'very satisfied' with their working hours but by 2000 this had fallen to only 29%.

Commenting on the findings, Dr Michael White, of the Policy Studies Institute, co-director of the study, said: "At present, we have at best half the ingredients for women with children to develop a satisfactory working life. The other half must include shorter hours for their male partners, so that they can do more to help at home, and greater equality in pay so that women do not need to work so long to balance the household budget".

These and other findings on working hours and work pressure were presented at the Work, Employment and Society Conference at Nottingham University on September 11, 2001, by the research team from the London School of Economics and the Policy Studies Institute.

An increasing proportion of the workforce is fed-up with having to work such long hours:

A recent national survey by researchers at the Policy Studies Institute and the London School of Economics, conducted as part of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Future of Work Programme, revealed an increasing dissatisfaction with the long working hours culture. The survey covered nearly 2,500 employed and self-employed people across all occupational groups and is directly comparable with a similar survey carried out in 1992.

Most employees said they are working harder and longer. Only 20% of men (16% of professionals/managers) and 29% of women said they were completely or very satisfied with the hours they worked compared with 35% (36% of professionals/managers) and 51% respectively in 1992. 46% of men and 32% of women in the sample said they frequently worked more hours on top of their basic week while 83% of those who worked long hours said they did so in order to meet deadlines and pressures, and 75% added that it was now a requirement of the job to work longer hours.

Some people, notably those in top professional and managerial jobs, reported that they work long hours because it brings work satisfaction, but that was a minority view. Among skilled manual workers, for example, 28% cited work satisfaction alongside 77% who put long hours down to deadlines and 81% who cited money as the reason.

*

More than a third of full-time employees in Britain (36% of men and 40% of women) would like to reduce the length of their average working week, and would be prepared to accept a commensurate reduction in their earnings, compared with under 10% who would like to increase their working hours. Unfortunately, men and women who wish to reduce their working weeks are only 7 percentage points more likely to get their hours cut than similar men and women who are satisfied with their hours, and this differential is increased to only 10 percentage points even if they manage to change jobs. This means that many people are persistently working more hours than they would prefer.

These findings are based on data on more than 3,000 employees who have been interviewed on an annual basis since 1991 for the British Household Panel Survey. Respondents were asked if, assuming their hourly wage remained unchanged, they would prefer to work fewer, more or the same number of hours. The answers to this question were compared with actual subsequent changes in working hours.

*

A nationwide survey of 2,500 employees by the online employment agency, reed.co.uk, has found that, despite having the shortest statutory minimum holiday leave in the EU, only 44% of UK workers (39% of men and 49% of women) take their full holiday entitlements and two in 10 take less than a quarter of what they are owed. The main reasons given by respondents for not taking holidays are that there is too much work to do, and that it might damage career prospects.

Paul Rapacioli, director of reed.co.uk, believes there is a link between Britain’s relatively low productivity and workers lack of holidays: 64% of respondents said they felt more productive when they returned from holidays, and more than three-quarters said they had their best ideas for work either when they were on holiday, or just after they had returned. Nevertheless, most employers (56%) do not insist that their staff take their full holiday entitlements.

*

Research by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) has looked at the reasons for Britain's long-hours’ culture:

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Institute for Employment Studies (IES) researchers carried out in depth case studies of 12 major employers in a range of UK sectors. Managers and employees were given individual face-to-face interviews and, in eight of the organisations, group interviews were conducted. The researchers also distributed questionnaires.

The study showed that, although the definition of long hours varied from place to place, working 10 or more hours above those contracted was generally considered to constitute long hours. Many employees didn't know how many hours they worked. Generally, men worked longer hours than women and senior women worked much longer hours than junior women.

The reasons respondents gave for working long hours could be categorised under five headings:

• pressure to complete tasks
• the way that the working day was organised
• internalisation of a long hours culture (induced by factors such as peer pressure and the notion that long hours reflect one’s commitment)
• individual commitment
• the need for more pay (especially when it was performance related).

[Kodz et al, 1998, Breaking the Long Hours Culture, IES]

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1. Many professionals, who have a disproportionate influence over public opinion, are working longer hours; but this is balanced by a reduction in hours elsewhere in the economy.
2. There are more 'dual income' households, which reduces individual leisure time: the combined paid hours of a typical household has increased by seven hours a week since the early 1980s.
3. The pace of work intensified over the 1990s: more workers now report having to work at high speeds or to tight deadlines. According to Green, the rise in work intensity has been greater in Britain than in other European countries.

Professor Green attributes this intensification to a weakening of trade union power and the spread of management concepts aimed at speeding up the flow of work to workers. This practice is especially pronounced in the call centres which employ about 400,000 people in Britain. But many other types of company have also reduced "interruptions where people could slack off a bit, reduce concentration and even have a break" - at its most extreme, 'call centre culture' even legitimises deductions from pay if time is spent on refreshment breaks.

Green claims that Emails and mobile phones have intensified use of working time and increased 'out of hours' work, and that 'suggestion schemes' and 'consultation meetings' are devices which encourage employees to work harder voluntarily. Professor Green's findings come from his own research and depth analysis of statistics produced by six workplace surveys carried out by other researchers.

Several recent studies have examined the effects of working over-long hours:

Long hours don't pay off

Many respondents in an Institute for Employment Studies (IES) survey into the UK’s long-hours culture thought that it caused health problems, stressed family and social relationships, and reduced opportunities for those (such as women with children) who are unable to work long hours. The study also found that the culture doesn't produce productivity gains because the benefits of extra hours are outweighed by greater staff absence, low morale, health and safety risks, high staff turnover and lower quality work.

Professor Jonathan Gershuny has come to a similar conclusion: during the three day week of the early 1970s output barely fell, when a proportionate decline would have been 40%. Gershuny also points out that the 'time-poor' have less and less time in which to spend their money which imposes constraints on the consumer and service sectors of the economy.

*

Long working hours appear to be the norm in accountancy: 99% of respondents with contracted hours said they worked in excess of them. On average full-timers worked 23% longer than contracted (i.e. about 10 hours extra per week) and part-timers an average of 24% longer. Regular working in evenings and at weekends was common: 57% reported that they often or always worked in the evenings; 37% often or always worked at weekends; and 27% didn’t take up their annual leave entitlements.

Many respondents saw their heavy workloads as barriers to acceptable work-life integration: 40% said their working hours were unacceptable; a majority were concerned that their working hours were having a bad effect on health, morale, productivity, personal relationships and social life; and 52% said they often or always came home from work too tired to do other things. And those who worked what they considered to be unacceptable hours rated their performances lower than those who were happier with their hours. But most respondents did not view shorter hours as a viable alternative, fearing it would limit career progression.

*

McKie’s view is shared by family rights campaigners and most working parents. ‘Family-friendly’ New Labour was expected to grant parents the right to work flexible hours to accommodate their children’s needs. However, opposition from employer-groups has, so far, prevented the necessary legislation.

The directive came into force in Britain in October, 1998.

Under the directive:

• Employees cannot be made to work for more than 48 hours a week, averaged out over 4 months. (The 1997 Labour Force Survey showed that a quarter of UK full-time workers were exceeding this limit prior to the directive's implementation.)

• Employees must have at least 3 weeks paid holiday a year (rising to 4 weeks from November 1999).
• No-one should be made to work a seven day week.
• Everyone is entitled to adequate rest periods and breaks.

However, it is unlikely that the directive will bring much relief to over-worked employees in Britain because the British Government, alone among its EU partners, negotiated a clause allowing employees to sign away their right to work no more than 48 hours. (A Gallup survey of 6,000 employees – commissioned for the BBC Radio 4 programme Today and reported on 2^nd September, 1999 – found that 20% of those who opted out in the first year of the Directive’s operation felt that they had been pressured by their bosses into signing.)

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A national overtime survey, commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as part of its work-life balance programme, found a marked increase in long hours in the first two years of the C21. The survey was based on interviews with a sample of 508 employees in five sectors – the media, manufacturing, retail, accountancy and the voluntary sector. These sectors cover more than half the UK workforce and the DTI believes that the sample was representative of the whole workforce.

[Source: DTI, August 2002]

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