As people are going back to work in both Canada and the United states. Scientific studies are being carried out and have proven that you should not work more 40 per week but companies around the globe are still forcing their workforce to do it. Working too many hours is counterproductive and can be extremely damaging to your well-being.
For self-employed entrepreneurs or business owners, it is an extremely difficult task to work under this amount. Several self employed peopled surveyed say that on an average week they work over 80 hours at the beginning which is double the recommended amount. However, they did not employ any employees and would never ask them to put in the same amount of working hours that they do themselves. Experienced entrepreneurs know that the more hours you work in a week, the harder it is to be productive and when you are employing people you want them to work at their optimum without damaging their health.
A number of independent researchers and organizations have looked into the effects of working 40 hours or above. The studies carried out looked into the mental, physical, social and emotional effects of working more than 40 hours per week. The finding of the research showed the following:
If an employee works 10 hours per day it increases risks of cardiovascular problems by up to 60 percent. Ten percent of employees that work between 50 up to 60 hours per week reported that it affected their relationships and those who worked above 60 hours the rate jumped up to thirty percent.
People who work above 40 hours have an increased tobacco and alcohol consumption. Men tended to gain weight and women it increased depression.
Once an employee works more than 50 hours, their productivity levels dropped considerably.
23 percent of companies that use an average overtime rate had an absentee level of lower than nine percent. 54 percent of Companies that had high overtime rates had an absentee level of greater than nine percent.
Employees that work 11 or more hours of overtime have a large increase in the risk of depression.
The rate of injuries are greater when the hours worked are increased. For those that work 60 plus hour they have a 23 percent greater rate of injury.
The research found that companies that use an overtime rate of 8.7 percent that it did not have an effect on fatigue. Ones, where the rate was above 12 percent, had minor fatigue issues and when the rate hit 15 percent or greater, the fatigue problems were extremely severe.
In the manufacturing sector, an overtime rate of 10 percent decreases productivity by 2.4 percent.
Employees that worked 60 or above hours in white-collar jobs, the productive levels drop by up to 25 percent.
Most of the problems identified in the studies were related to stress and connected to hormonal balances. These affected sleep, blood pressure, appetite, cognition/memory, mood along with the immune system and more.
Conclusion
Research carried out in the U.S showed that most employees are already close to a number of hours where serious issues can occur. The culture of management is still in the dark ages and most employers still believe that the more they make their workers work, the greater their profits will be. The scientific evidence shows oversize so if you are working 40 or above hours, you should serious consider a change in your job if your value your well-being, connections to others and happiness.