Legal working hours and real working hours are different!
An interesting study (of more than 50 countries) carried out by The International Labor Organization (ILO, a United Nations agency) says that 22 percent of the total workforce surveyed (614.2 million people) worked more than 48 hours a week and that too in countries where the legal work-week was often far shorter – ranging from 35-48 hours. These are the findings of the report:
Developed countries with the highest percentage of workers putting in more than 48-hours weekly:
- Japan: 39.3 percent
- United Kingdom: 25.7 percent
- Israel: 25.5 percent
- New Zealand: 23.6 percent
- Australia: 20.4 percent
- Switzerland: 19.2 percent
- United States: 18.1 percent
Developing nations with the highest percentage of workers putting in more than 48 hours weekly:
- Indonesia: 51.2 percent
- Peru: 50.9 percent (48 hours is the legal work week)
- Republic of Korea: 49.5 percent
- Thailand: 46.7 percent (48 hours is the legal work week)
- Pakistan: 44.4 percent (48 hours is the legal work week)
- Ethiopia: 40 percent (48 hours is the legal work week)
- Macao: 39.1 percent
There were no figures for India but if I had to guess I would say that they would indicate that more than 50 percent of Indians work more than 48 hours a week (I am not referring to the agriculture sector). I have written about this here, and have based it on my own observations.
The reasons as to why people work longer than the hours stipulated are varied and complex and I am not getting into that here. But if one has to sum up it would be because employers exploit workers and the workers themselves do over-time to supplement their income as they do not always get a decent wage by working their normal hours. This happens mostly in the unorganised sector (In India). At higher levels, many see working extra hours as a way to get ahead in the organisation.
I found some more interesting statistics in the April issue of the Economist. They talk of the average work week in the OECD countries (actual working hours, not legal working hours). These are just average working hours of the population.
On an average, the South Koreans work almost seven hours longer than workers in other OECD countries. The Americans also work longer hours (on an average) than those in western Europe. Well, from this chart and the ILO one, it does seem that poorer nations tend to work harder. Even in Europe, workers in Eastern Europe who work longer hours than those in Western Europe.
Another chart (2007 figures) which discusses the European work week takes into account the work week of full-time workers only (the Economist figures take into account working hours of both part-time and full-time workers). The picture tends to change as is evident in the chart below. It’s not Netherlands which has the shortest work week, but Italy and Spain!
Legal work week and real work week varies
What I find very interesting is that the legal limit is simply an official figure not taken seriously by either employers or workers. And this happens in developed countries as well, like France and Belgium, although they are exceptions rather than the rule. In India we know that the legal limit for working hours is not followed (except in government organisations and in a limited way in the organised sector). The excessive working hours in France is significant as now their legal weekly working hours have been reduced to 35 hours!
Britain has a flexible legal limit of 48 hours as it can be legally extended by an agreement with employees. (The rest of the EU is not happy with this arrangement of Britain’s.)
Legal work week in India
In India official weekly working hours are 48 hours per week. Which as I mentioned earlier is mostly followed by government employees and to some extent in the organised sector.
However, ASSOCHAM, a major Indian Industry body has very recently suggested an increase of weekly working hours from existing 48 to 60. I wonder whether this has any meaning considering that those who don’t want to follow the working week, don’t follow it, specially in developing countries.
As the ILO points out:
…generally, working time laws and policies often have limited influence on actual working hours in developing economies, especially in terms of maximum weekly hours, overtime payments, exceptions and exemptions, and informal employment.”
The ILO considers anyone working beyond 48 hours a week as working “excessively” but for many of us in a developing country working 50-60 hours a week is a fact of life and difficult to avoid, whether one is a manager or a worker. I wonder if ASSOCHAM’s suggestion is simply a way to formalise the overtime hours put in by workers.
Related Reading: Indians have long working hours
Do members of Parliament work as hard as the rest of us?
Public holidays in different countries and whether they affect work-weeks
A wide angle view of India 
Very intresting information Nita!
I am a bit surprised about the statistics on Austria – here most of the people have contracts for 38 or 40 hours per week, not more. The goverment people even less, I think 🙂
I heard that Europen Union wants to increase the working hours till 48, but people get furious about it – Austrians is a relaxed nation 🙂
As for the payment, I know that in Austria at the most you can take “free days” for extra working hours, but normally you will not be paid extra..
I wonder that other readers will report about their countries?
It’s worse in the IT sector. 60 hrs/week is the minimum in the IT companies in India. The hours are not the problem as are the timings. Working late nights is a norm for software engineers. When it comes to timings, people working in call centers are the worst affected. The hours and timings are much better in the state and central government companies – exactly eight hours per day.
God! Indian IT companies are really bad when it comes to this.
So many people work for 12 hours a day.
The system is like that now.Deadlines are obscene. Rather than hiring more people, employees are made to work more.
From my experience, MNCs (the true blood, foreign MNCs) in IT is heaven when it comes to the number of work hours.
There is a story of tears,toil.,frustration of such employees behind the rosy story of companies driven by values and likes.
When you mean values do you mean Infosys?
my friend u so good nice mssg
For me its antinatural to work 48 a week.
In spain the normal its 40, not more. But i also think 40 its too much.
I see life-work in another way: I always wanted part time jobs, to have free time enough to do my things. It was hard to find this job: 29 hours a week is what i do. Of course i get less money, but i prefer to have free time and survive,
that money and no time to enjoy. 🙂
Of course i’m lucky, because this tight salary fits my needs (i have to say i’m a great saver,,,i dont spend much, so that helps)…and in many countries people might be forced to work so many hours to survive,…
Have all u a nice mondayyyyyyy!!!
well what we are told when people come to do workshops is this…”do this thing and you will get paid this much” …now everyone one knows for that much f money you need to work like hell…but if you keep earning it and have no time to spend it what is the use?
Can will it to your family, they can spend it after you killed yourself working to death.
NO USE vishesh!
(by the way, helloooooo)
In my country the people who complain loudest about working long hours and never having time to live or spend their money are the people who can most afford to downshift if they chose, and still have a reasonable standard of living. The people who work all the hours god sends them and still only just manage to make ends meet … somehow don’t have a voice. Down shifting to part -time hours is nonsense if you are on minimum wage. The middle classes can choose between having money or having time. The working classes (or those on low incomes) have neither money nor time.
You remeinded me about my work! 😦
Axinia, thanks for that information about Austria. Do you think that perhaps people are working longer than their contracts? Maybe in some industries? It is possible, although I the research did not mention the industries which they surveyed.
Chaitu, yes some industries are very badly off where working hours are concerned. The advertising industry is another one like that, though perhaps IT is worse. Even in publications, particularly newspapers, people work long hours, although it depends a lot on what is happening around. Any crises or budget round the corner and journalists work very long hours. Service industries also have long work hours.
Nikhil, you are right, deadlines are obscene and companies do not like to hire more people. I read somewhere though that about 20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work and while one shouldn’t take that literally, I think that contains a germ of truth! I know people who work long hours but bungle up and just waste time at work (inefficient people!) and others have to work hard to compensate for them or undo the damage they are doing!
Francina, you are very lucky that you can choose to work less and live a comfortable life.
Vishesh, hopefully you will enter a profession where you will be the master of your own time!
Joss, what you say is very true. I know a doctor earning pots of money who keeps complaining about the lack of time, but finds it very difficult to close shop and take a break! And that bit you said about minimum age workers is so true. One can extend the analogy to countries – Rich countries, middle income countries and poor countries! In a poor country, an educated person, say a teacher, could be working 14 hours a day and may still find it difficult to buy his own house.
Sakhi, smile and don’t work so hard! Well, you are young and hopefully soon when you have enough savings, you will be able to relax on those working hours. But actually women work harder, because what this survey has not taken into account at all is domestic work. In India a woman working outside the home is putting in some work hours at home too.
In India there are so many shopping Malls where a lot of employees those who have come from poor family,the employers do not pay much more no overtime and they work not less than 72 hours a week. What are the punishment for those employers as per guideline of ILO or India Government.
72 hours a week, o well I guess I better make a will because that
will killl me so I better have a will made since 72 hours a week is
slave labor work week.
In many work situations (especially those involving creative activities) long working hours are often NOT linked to the productivity achieved in the time spent. This means that, if the work environment is congenial, the time spent can be fun. Of course I realise that as competition at the workplace becomes increasingly cut-throat, the number of people enjoying such privilege is diminishing.
The best course to adopt — if you have a sound education, rare qualifications or abilities, and aspirations to a reasonably good quality of life without the desperate ambition to be listed in Fortune 500 (or wherever it is that they list individuals of high financial worth) — is to aim at becoming self-employed by the time you are 40. You enjoy the luxury of picking and choosing what you would or would not like to do, of setting your own working hours, and of doing things besides “work” that are fulfilling without necessarily being very paying.
I work 10 hours a day, Monday to Friday and one Saturday a month. The 50 hours a week is the least amount of hours I’ve worked in the last 20 years.
It would be interesting to see what people of each of this countries mainly work on, I mean major industries and stuff..and how many of hours go into blue vs white colored jobs..just curious
Indians and work? Surely you cannot be serious! Mahatma Gandhi had the right understanding of Indians. He knew that only by asking them to do nothing that they would join him and that is how he developed satyagraha.
Pope John Paul was once asked as to how many people worked in the Vatican. His crisp reply was “About half”. I should imagine that this will be an overstatement for India.
We are great at pretending to by busy.
Indians want jobs where they can claim that they work X hours per week or day or whatever. They simply want to be paid to enter their attendance record every day. And the less said the better of the unionized work force, and the people employed by the largest employer of the country, the Central and State Governments and the Public Sector. What they do not want is employment which means, like our work force which is totally on daily wages and the like. You work, you get paid, otherwise, you starve. Those are the only ones who really work in this country.
Very interesting article, Nita. The most hours per week I ever put in was when I was a small business person and employer. At the time I was in the habit of keeping scrupulous track of my time. I recall I averaged about double the hours each week that I had put in when working for others.
One of the reasons for long working hours in India could be the “must stay on as long as the boss stays on” idea.
I remember it from my being employed in India days. Rare were the bosses who let you have a life.
well 12 hrs is a guess a norm in most IT cos. ..but even if it is not foisted people tend to or atleast pretend(lingering in the office)..just to prove their bosses they are more hardworking as there is so much competition.
I would also like the forum to count hours “Out of office” spent doing office work. I work for a MNC and although due to long commute would leave office in time, but would reach home and work and take conference calls till late hours.
I’m not surprised by the US figures! Its pretty easy to understand the 18.1%. However, what is difficult to understand is that people these days are already over-worked in India. So increasing it is only going to make matters more worse what with personal lives (already) getting affected and the like. Today, almost all professions are included in the “late night working syndrome” in India and I dont know how much more one has to work to earn decently enough. Why arent wages linked to the extra hours they’re now expected to put in?
Vivek, I know what you mean. I knew creative people who came and went as they pleased but I guess their minds were always working. They would produce the stuff and the bosses didn’t care what time they came or even if they came to office and apparently did not work, as long as they produced. However such things do not happen much now as work loads have increased and there simply aren’t enough people around. However, at times putting pressure on creative people can boomerang.
Brian, 50 hours a week is a lot. Americans work longer hours than they do in Europe.
Rambler, factory workers and even those who fall into the union category all follow certain rules where working hours are concerned. They get the overtime too.
Ramana, where government workers are concerned, yeah, I think they mostly pretend to work!
Paul, working at one’s own business can be a 20 hour job but at least one is working for oneself!
Alankrita, yes that’s the bad part. The boss actually frown upon it if the subordinates leave early. This makes it difficult to plan any private life as one is at the mercy of one’s boss. However in some industries this is seen more than in others.
Rahul, I believe that everyone who works long hours does not work hard. I don’t know the percentage but some people do hang around for “show.”
amlistening, I am not sure if the survey has taken into account the time spent working at home but I agree that they should. In India we tend to work at home. There is no sanctity of the week-end or home hours. Bosses call and clients call. That is why I think many Indians work all the time!
Snippetsnscribbles, wages linked to extra hours happens only at worker level and they get the benefit of fixed hours as well. But as you said, the rest of us there is no peace. Working till 10 at night was a regular feature for me while I was in advertising (the reason I quit) and even in my full-time work at a publication, one had to work for about 12-14 hours a day and Saturday was full day. However, occasionally one could take off early, but that wasn’t usual.
There is no time for family or leisure if one has a full-time job as Sundays pass with one doing household chores!
I think India has score at least 65% in above chart. In S/W industry, people have to work extra time to meet deadlines. Not all people, but more than half professionals work more than 40 hours each week.
Good collection Nita, I wonder why India % are not available!!
Suda, I tend to think so too. Almost everyone I know works more than 48 hours a week. One should do some such survey in India to get the picture.
Need to inform one thing about Indian mentality .. A person having Dutch passport though herself is of indian origin running a buying agency in india ,but treating their employees worst than the indian employer.She ask employees to work for 9 hours daily 6 days in week , giving only 5 days holidays ( 3 national holidays and two religious holidays ) and no benefit . Pls advise how to deal with this??Company is registered Pvt limited company.
Dolly, she is clearly violating the law by having the official timings as 9 hours a day and giving such few holidays. I think 8 or 10 days is the minimum per year. Not giving benefits is also illegal if the workers are not on contract. However as far as I see it, the only way is legal recourse but then few people want to go through that as they prefer to hang on to their jobs if no alternatives are available. I personally think you should look for another job. – Nita.
hi, i works for indian railway, there are many types of job, there is to need of job analysis, some one employee is working for 2hrs and productivity is 10%, at same place the other employee is working for 8hrs and the producivity is 200%. so this is the drawback of department. and also at same type of job one place is working for 6hrs and the other person is working for 7hrs and both are fetting same pay scale.
Oh! I was reading the complete essays above… I was surprised to see these many comments complaning about same thing…. Yes I do remember those Darkdays when I had to work for non stop 13 hrs in office on the eve of my Birthday ..!!
indians are famous to celebrate the festivals … at least I love to celebrate “Dussehra” .. but can u guess… its been 3 years I have celebrate that festival….. cuz I am in this company for the past 3 years.
Every day we need to work for 9 hrs( shift time)+1 hr Break so it becomes 10 hrs a day in office.
Bi-weekly our shift changes to extended shift and hence we need to work for 13 hrs a day all that 2 weeks.
Can any body imagine this kind of slavery in BIG IT Companies ….??? I wonder if there is any organization any wing of UNO that governs the working hours here in india.. and take some action against this kind of behavior of top IT Companies.
Thank you,
HarI …
Hi Nita !!!!!!
Remmeber me ! long time! Could you suggest some legal(indian law) blogs. Thing is ive diverted fully to the profession and i need those valuable guiding principles to excel.
Hi Tajbinder, ofcourse I remember you! I always wondered why you disappeared! I always miss my old readers! 🙂 I will find out about a good law blog and let you know. Right now I am not in Mumbai. And as for a divorce post, I have some on this blog:
Forgot to add , why no topic on divorce?!!!! Well, haah i just went through one and any information wud help both legally and emotionally!!
hello,
m working in retail with one very popular indian footwear brand. These people make me, infact the entire store staff, work from 10:30 in the morning till 10:00 at night. Lunch break is not more than 20-30 min. I feel exploited as if m being treated like a laborer, despite me having having an mba degree.
can i do anything about it. Legal or otherwise….
forgot to add that it is a 6 -day a week job. No CLs, SLs or ELs.
while you definitely have legal recourse, understand that in this country slavery is not a top priority for legal interest (even abroad indians volunteer to slave!…case to point: a swedish friend of mine working in a global vehicular oem once told me about indians who get sent to sweden for short job assignments. while the swedes work diligently for 8 hrs and take their weekends off, these indian slaves work voluntarily for 15 to 16 hrs including weekends, all with an eye on promotions and boss pleasing!!! no doubt ours is the only country which got ra.ped throughout its sordid history by almost all and sundry of the world…born slaves with little or no self-respect)). slavery is imbibed in us right from nursery. slavery is part of the g.o.i’s educational curriculam…and add exploitation to boot! also slavery is our hallmark of child rearing, passed down the generations!
hence, it would take you all your money and a boot with a bad reference to get through and no one would join you in your fight. better you find another job.
what are the provisions for averaging standard work hours?
Nita,
8 hrs per day and 5 days a week are the best averages. More than that the unemployment index will rise and again at least one person in a family needs a job on a national average. More women entered the job market in the last 30 years in India further reducing an employee per family statistics below 1 at may be 0.4 or 0.3 which means most of the families in India have job for an average of 100 days per annum in the unorganised sector. This increases the daily wages by 200-300% to compensate the jobless days. So if I need an electrician these days to fix my pump he will charge Rs 450 instead of Rs 150.
My working week, 1st week of July
1.7.10 8:00 am to 8:30 pm with 1\2 hour Lunch break (nephro posting & dialysis-3 patients)
2.7.10 8:00 am to 8:00 pm wiht 1\2 hour Lunch break (Casualty i.e emergency medicine duty)
3.7.10 24 hours duty with 1\2 hour for lunch and dinner (1 hr) (Casualty duty)
4.7.10 8:00 am to 2:00pm Ward duty (no breaks)
5.7.10 24 hours duty with 1\2 hour for lunch and dinner (1 hr) (MICU duty)
6.7.10 8:00 am to 2:00 pm Ward duty (no breaks)
7.7.10 8:00 am to 2:00 pm Ward duty 2:00pm to 8:00pm day cover ward(150 patients 1 doctor)
Is this legal or am I being exploited
Barely have time to sleep but needed to find what I can do to stop this going on.
Total hours on duty 96.5 with 3.5 hours break
Total hours in a week 168
Vikash, I had heard about doctors being overworked but this is indeed shocking. I have no doubt that you are being exploited, as our many others. – Nita
Hi Nita,
Great Stats… Its high time the voice of IT/BPO employees be heard… Software employees in India are taken easy by the employers will little or no benefits at all. Not a wonder why all International companies plan to invest in India. Do check out this group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=114896115224411
, the points mentioned in it seems very good…
Exploitation of Professionals in India by Private Sector
Young professionals, such as Chartered Accountants, Software Engineers etc., have been employed in the private sector in large numbers. They have been offered good packages, too. However, cryptic methods are being used for their exploitation in the industry since long. The employers, especially Big Four Audit Firms and IT Companies, have developed such work culture at their workplace that their employees have to work for excessively long hour, late into the night, without getting any additional monetary benefits.
These firms and companies allocate less number of staff for certain assignment and set deadlines for the meager staff to complete it within given time frame. This puts extra pressure on these professionals and there remains no option for them but to sit late in the night and work at the office or at client’s place for more than 12 hours a day. This is actually in violation of the declared policy of these firms regarding total duty hours to be put by an employee in a week. Due to such stressful life style, many professionals have been deprived of family and social life which is essential for every free Indian citizen. Many young couples are experiencing turbulence in their married life..
The professionals working beyond normal duty hours and over and above total duty hours prescribed for a week should be paid at double the normal rate for that extra period of time. Or else, these employers should hire adequate and sufficient number of staff/workforce so that it is possible for them to complete the assignment during normal working hours.
– Vincent, Mumbai (India)
Its nice to learn that every Indian should work for 48hrs only in each week.
Therefore the worforce can work for continuous 48 hours (2 continuous days) and then we can have rest of the week HOLIDAYS…
Fantastic proposal byASSOCHAM , they have good human approach.
Probably the enslaved Indian workforce would be ready to do anything for the sake of money.
Why cannt there be a representation from each company by the workers and affected parties?
If one has to work for 48 hrs in a week ,like factory then Factory act 1948 would automatically applicable to them with all facilities and bonus issues and other rights, even for the companies adopting Shops & Establishment acts.(kindly verify the law on Indian labour act)
India is a country which will react after lots and lots of human sacrifices ,like Bhopal gas leak Tragedy etc and the new Bhopal on the make at “TUTICORIN,Tamil Nadu-‘Sterlite Industries”
“It is our Indians lying low ,low self esteem attitude, from which all the companies take full advantage ,along with the silently encouraging labour law enforcing agencies.
Let us make the Indian workforce to work more with much less of comforts ,Human rights and self respect”
its worse in hotels….12 hrs is minimum….n durin busy seasons its worse…i work for like 70 hrs a day.. with erratic work timings.. that 2 in one of the top hotel chains in india
It is high time a campaign was started online like a sign up or something and sent to the Supreme Court to make it mandatory to follow a five day week in urban areas. I hardly get any time spend with my family or indulge in a hobby or activity or have a weekend off. Does the Govt. realise that they are over stressing their people and making them more susceptible to disease, drugs, alcohol and empty. I would have started the campaign myself but do not have the time. But I will sign
80 % economic shift happened during industrial revolution taking away from Asia. It best plan and best tactics wins. Not number of head counts, anymore.
hi
I am working in a Software Company
My working hour is 9 hrs/day and its monday to saturday
at last total hour is 54 hr/week
what can I do ???
hotels in India take 16 hrs to 18 hrs daily shift they treat there employees like donkeys
I am not sure if India has any labor law which prohibits this exploitation. Surely it should be there. But neither employees nor employer is taking it seriously. I work in US where people are free soul. There was a case where Google got sued for unpaid over times.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/compensation/229502489
Come on IT folks (IT folks are exploited at max) make some community or forums and fight against this exploitation. All of you have life. There should be a life and work balance. All of us work to have a life, if you don’t have that then that job is a waste.
Thanks Nita for this great info.
I work in Indian Air Force and official working hours are as follows
Monday, Wedenesday and Friday:
0730 to 1430 hrs
Tuesday and Thursday :
From 0730 to 1330 hrs & 1430 to 1730 hrs (with lunch break from 1330 to 1430 hrs)
Saturday and Sunday are off.
But practically we are very often forced to come in afternoon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and for full day on Saturday and Sunday, that too WITHOUT ANY COMPENSATION.
Please suggest some ways to tackle it.
I will suggest everyone not to join any defence forces as their are lots of exploitation.
How about this: http://www.labourbehindthelabel.org/about-us/item/1042-adidas-olympic-worker-exploitation-must-stop
does any body know about construction industry, i work for L&T MY JOB TIMINGS ARE AS FOLOWS 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM, on sunday 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM. this is l&t timings for a engineers.
@ ragh: If a reputed company like L&T has such hours, surely they would have more than adequately covered themselves from the legal angle. Is yours a site job? And are you a regular employee or on contract? For this kind of working hours do you get any perks like extra long leave or special monetary compensation?
The only comparable situation I can think of is that of ONGC employees assigned to drilling platforms on the high seas. They have very long working hours and no weekly offs. But they also get generous shore leave and much higher compensation and other benefits than people doing similar jobs in land-based situations.
thought of getting reasons for long hours in indian service sector for my college assignment but this too seems not so strong…..but the observation is really good coz not all work so much n dose wu do are sometimes not valued!! 😦
Excellent Nita! In future Plz cover the working hours of Indian Armed Forces in detail. If you want any referance, write to me.
All the very best.
Happy Blog
Dear, Sir please inform me that what is the Labour act of DRIVER & what is basic salary in present?
Thanking you.
Your ‘s faithfully
Anup.
In India, employees have to work beyond legal working hours every week. In private sector, the employees are not paid overtime. This is in reality exploitation. The legal hours should be adhered by employing more workforce.
Hi,
I have just joined hotel industry 4 months back. The working conditions in this industry in India is very bad. Shifts are of 16 to 18 hrs per day with only one off a week. No extra off is allowed. I dont know why the current government of India is not taking any steps to solve this. Lifestyle is getting worse here. No time for ourselves and family.. this is not development it’s exploitation.
Am in chennai working in Pvt Ltd and my working time is 12hr shift and 13 days per 2 week… With a pay range from 9500 to 11000.
Heard that the plant head and hr managers are making money illegally. Instead of using 3 shifts they are using 2 but in data entry it says 3 shifts.
And the worst one is am a Master degree holder in Engineering Design working for experience but in assembly section
India is very bad timing in working employ i am working my company 12 to 14 hours duty but no extra benefit , i am education in under post graduation 2016 , i am request to my company two to three time, give me 8 hours duty, but it is not agree , only book and writing was only 8 hours and weekly 48 hours , not actually not forwarded to India labour rule , so can you half me and suggest any labour court processing .
I agree. I was in India, and the hotel business is also exploiting workers, I was at Fourpoints sheraton in puna india, and one of the workers said to work 14 hours in a day, I do not know how many days per week. This is bad , hope for a reformation in india.
Can we go for to take legal action if company working hours more than 9 hours in a day