Working hours | How many are too many?

[Ultegra134]

Especially after the pandemic, flexible working schedules keep popping up, either through working from distance, or less hours. Only a few countries have embraced working 4 days a week, instead of 5 or 6, and case studies have shown positive results. Some of them include, the UK, which has recently begun one of the largest trials of the 4-day working week, Belgium, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Japan, Spain and the UAE. The 5-day a week is one of the most common ones, however, with the evolution of technology, longer hours don't necessarily guarantee a higher productivity, most likely the opposite.

Some of the benefits 4-day work week include:

Reduced costs on both ends, employees will have one less day to commute to work, while avoiding paying extra money for lunch, coffees etc. The employers on the other hand, will have the office closed for one more day, reducing running costs.

Happier employees and better mental health. Having more free time increase overall happiness and improves work-life balance, which can result into lower levels of stress and a generally better mental health, something which is suffering in our day and age.

And most importantly, increase in productivity levels. Overworked and stressed employees are actually less productive than those working a normal or reduced working week.

My case - Example to avoid

By law, in Greece (and most of Europe to be honest) the typical working week comprises of 40 working hours. However, this rarely happens in the private sector, where in most cases you're working up to 48 hours/week, with one day off in a week. In the tourism sector, it's actually a lot worse. Employees are working 7 days/week, up to 8-10 hours per day and not usually not being paid good enough.

Personally, in May, I started working at a known supermarket chain for 20 hours/week (part-time). I wanted to take a little time off, after working for 4 years full-time with only one day off per week. My plan backfired though, the money wasn't enough to keep up with the increasing living costs and started working at a hotel's restaurant, another 24 hours/week. Recently, I was proposed to work the night shift at the hotel's reception, because the former employee had some family business to attend to and had to leave. Me, wanting to make some extra money due to having upcoming expenses, accepted. Now, I'm working 16 hours per day, except Sunday and Monday which are my days off from the supermarket, which equal to 100 hours/week (a week is comprised of 168 hours). Of course, I will only be doing that for September, and here I am, writing this post during the graveyard shift.

How many hours/week is the typical in your country? How many hours are you actually working and how does a 4 day work week sound?

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[Davidvictorson]

In my country, the number of working hours is relative. Although ideally it is supposed to be standard 8 hours. It is not unusual to see workers still at their work place way past the working hours most especially when the boss hasn't left the office. Sadly, unless it is big corporation and multinational companies nobody will pay the employee for over time.  On the other hands, a 4 day work week sounds great but it is a fantasy because for some persons work is all they know Work is how they survive. They even have a side-hustle that they do 247 even while they are at their offices.

[uchegod-21]

In my country - Nigeria, most public sector works for 7 hours to 9 hours per day, making it 35hrs to 45hrs per week. My country public sector works for 5days in a week. From Mondays to Fridays, the idea of 4 days is not in my country. Then some private sectors work for 6days and some work on Sundays making it 7days.  Some private workers work for 10 to 12 hrs a day. While some works on shift, it depends on what you like.

But someone I worked with believes in working at your own pace. Infact he recommends we work from home and give us task to accomplish within a period of time. I advice we learn to work smart and get good skills so that we could chose or reject jobs that come our ways.

[harizen]

Above all of this, since most employees and workers have no choice in the first place, even how stressful working at the standard hours, that's the job they selected so these people will just go with the flow. During the pandemic, lots of businesses and companies were being shut down, and lucky if some of these institutions decided to just cut the number of their employees instead of totally shutting down the business to save the cost of operation. Because of that incident, most people found it a blessing if they found work these days that's why regardless of the working hours they are fine working that long.

As a quote says, "no one got rich from working 8 hours", it might make sense but it's hard for most people to solve that.

That's the reality.

[Hydrogen]

If there were a series of choices average and ordinary people could make. That would lead to a four day work week. What would those choices look like?

The majority seem content to parrot media talking points. Blindly supporting whatever random proposal is put on the table. I think for a four day work week to become reality. People would have to invest more time and energy into learning basic facts and basic science. Being more informed. And not being so enthusiastic to support random things.

The choices we make and things we support have an enormous impact upon our society and standard of living.

Most of the things people dislike about the current day world. Are things they supported.

We have the power to change things. Its only a matter of adjusting the way we think. Making better decisions and supporting better options.

Most do not want to change. They want politicians to change. The world to change. Everything to change, except for them.

But if we're being honest. The place where the biggest gains and improvements can be made. Is by people making an effort to change and better themselves on an individual level.

[adaseb]

In my country it’s typically 40 hour work week. 9 to 5. Usually after 40 hours you get paid 1.5x because it’s overtime.

Depending on the job you have. If it’s white collar you don’t do 8 hours of work each day. Maybe 2. The rest is spent talking with workers, extended lunches and playing with your phone. Other jobs like blue collar are usually very long hours and no resting.

[bitzizzix]

It's also sad that many people work more than 40 hours a week.
A 40 hour work week gives me little to no personal time because apart from work, travel takes time too, and by the time I get home, I'm too tired from the work day to do anything worthwhile in my spare time.
and I only do passive activities like watching TV until I fall asleep, I'm lucky if I have enough energy to exercise or do homework, and weekends go by too fast.
but that's all because we need work and income to survive so that we can be fulfilled, and over time everything is considered normal and can enjoy work and can manage everything well, 2 days off, 1 day of rest and 1 day can be used for holidays or visiting parents or mother-in-law and occasionally hanging out with friends.
there is no choice but to adjust and be grateful because work is a must that we must live well, unless we are the boss or have our own business that can manage working hours.

[noorman0]

The portion of the number of mandatory working hours in my country is well regulated in the law, if it exceeds the maximum number then the company will be prosecuted by the authorities. In my country, industrial workers have more working hours up to 8 hours/week with the opportunity to have Sunday off. That doesn't seem to be a problem for the majority of laborers, and especially at times they may even expect to offer overtime hours at a higher rate calculated on an hourly basis.
There are more agency employees in daily hours (8.5 hours) but get 2 days off on weekends.

[bittraffic]

The young generation today is looking for a comfortable life even when they are just starting to work for a company. I doubt this is going to work unless the company is not located in a fast pace big city. If the company is located in a big city where people flock to look for a job, the employees who don't work well are terminated to hire the new ones.

I don't see an increase in productivity levels if they limit up to just 4 working days a week and 8 hours a day. On the business side, companies are looking for people who can work tirelessly that's why they are screening applicants they pick who are mentally stable, healthy, and motivated by the offer they give.

[Silberman]

In my country, the number of working hours is relative. Although ideally it is supposed to be standard 8 hours. It is not unusual to see workers still at their work place way past the working hours most especially when the boss hasn't left the office. Sadly, unless it is big corporation and multinational companies nobody will pay the employee for over time.  On the other hands, a 4 day work week sounds great but it is a fantasy because for some persons work is all they know Work is how they survive. They even have a side-hustle that they do 247 even while they are at their offices.

This is basically what happens at my country as well with the difference that even huge corporations will not pay you for overtime, personally I think this is one of those things that in theory sounds good but that are going to be almost impossible to implement correctly, after all a business is not going to want to pay the salary of more employees which are working less than in the past, so if anything this will create a black market in which people are still going to have to work for the same amount of time but they will have to keep quiet about it or they could be fired, so instead of helping them a policy like that could play against employees.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

In my country between 7 and 8 hours is the norm for full time jobs, the problem is that people tend to work split shifts, which is not the case in other parts of Europe and which means not having time for many other things during the working day.

An example would be to work from 9:00 to 14:00, take a break from 14:00 to 16:00 for lunch and a nap if you live nearby and return to work from 16:00 to 19:00.

The question of whether it is too many hours is very relative, because if it is a job that you like and even more so if you are passionate about it, the hours will fly by. Someone who does a physical job that they are not passionate about will always want to work less.

[Beparanf]

In my country 8hrs per day and 48hrs per week since only Sunday is day off here for private company. Government employee has less work hours because they have 2 days day off while still have 8hrs per day of work. I think this working hours is still fair because there’s a lot of holiday here that still being paid even without work.

I’m currently employed on a company that has a flexible time. I just need to complete my 40hrs within a week to complete my working hour. In this way I can live like I have no job because I can do my work at my home while I can submit early my assignment.

[Cryptomultiplier]

I worked for a private telecom company here in Nigeria for more than 3years, and we had a working schedule of 4days, 12hours per shift. I.e. 12hours for two mornings and 12hours for two nights, sums up to 4 days, then we go on 4 days off. During those off days, however, catching up on sleep and trying hands-on other passive income projects suffices. Although I felt the changes in my body system, my pain was that the same job could be done from a remote location, but management ensured we had to turn up to the office once it is ones shift turn.
Most other private sectors work 6 days and only on Sundays do they go off. I do believe the working hours depend on the kind of service an organization or company offers. If one can do the hours, then you got a job and vice versa.
Am a strong believer in one knowing what one wants before going after it because we have choices. Don't like a working schedule, or the work hours is too demanding, or maybe a company is too stiff and you don't like it, please change it. It is not always about the money most times. One has got to stay healthy to get wealthy in the long run.

[lovesmayfamilis]

I am more than sure that if my country adopts a 4-day work schedule, most people will find another way to earn money. With today's prices for living, you have to work more than 10 hours a day, sometimes seven days a week. In addition, additional income is also welcome. Of course, this affects your well-being, but you have to choose whether to provide a good childhood for your children or teach them from birth to save on the most necessary products.

[Smack That Ace]

I think it depends largely on the choice of each person, if you want to earn a lot of money then you can work overtime and no one is stopping you from doing it. I've heard a lot about adopting a 5-day/week or 4-day/week working regime, but that hasn't happened in the place where I work. I think that is not possible because the place where I work is mostly workers and they always tend to want to work overtime to have more income. Factories here also have almost no days off, Sunday workers are encouraged and receive double wages.

[LogitechMouse]

How many hours/week is the typical in your country? How many hours are you actually working and how does a 4 day work week sound?

In our country, government employees tend to work at least 40 hours per week and there is no additional payment in overtime which is quite unfortunate. It's base on my experience and what I heard to my friends that are government employee as well. I've been a government employee for 8 months only (because I can't handle the stress) and I don't see myself working with a boss for a long time that's why I didn't even work there for a year.

Now with regards to 4-day work week, it has been proposed here 2 years ago at the middle of the pandemic but unfortunately only a few private companies approved it. I think we will all agree with a 4 day work week right? I mean I don't see any disadvantages to us employees but all positive. More time with the family and lesser stress and lesser stress equals to more happiness and happiness will be spread to all of the people around you.

Unfortunately, there are some people who still working more than 4 days because of the increasing prices of commodities and foods. There are some who are working at day and at the same time working at night just to have money to be used to pay expenses and foods. On the other hand, there are some people who knows how to use a computer that are just working on their home as a freelancer. They are very flexible and they will work whenever they want to.

[naira]

This is quite diverse depending on the target of a company in implementing working hours for its employees. Like textile factories and food and beverage, it will be much more time consuming. 7 to 8 hours per day if in a week they work 8 hours x 6 days. Productivity of working hours varies from country to country, but sometimes taking overtime makes employees spend more time at work in order to increase their monthly salary.

[dothebeats]

I guess it has a lot of something to do with the sector you are in and what kind of job you are working on. I work in a laboratory for a private firm conducting researches on a lot of things, and I usually just go home whenever I want to so long as the project or the milestone that we need to achieve is met. I was never asked to come to work early, nor asked to stay for a lot longer than necessary. But back when I was still waiting tables and work as a utility guy for a restaurant, we were always expected to come in to work 2 hours before our actual shift and spend another hour or so after shift to help with the transition. Pay is awful and the work is extremely hard but hey, it's where I learned how to be extremely patient anyways.

Typically in my country, we have 40 hours/week too, but usually that hours is just a guideline as a lot of employers here in the Philippines are extremely stingy when it comes to paying their workers right. They'd be expecting an employee to work close to 60 hours/week and that extra 20 hours will just be paid with a 'thank you' which sucks.

[be.open]

I have personally tried different strategies regarding the format of working hours and can say the following:
1. The format of office work from 8 am to 17 with a lunch break is quite comfortable if you are lucky with your superiors and have an interest in the subject area. And if you live within walking distance from the office, without spending a lot of time on the road.
2. The format of work from 8 to 23 you work for two days and rest for two days is tiring, the weekly life cycle gets lost and you live half your life at work, if it’s interesting, then not for long and only as an experiment.
3. The format of a flexible free schedule is the most optimal if you are a professional in your field with an expensive hourly rate and can adjust your schedule yourself in a wide range. This path places high demands on hard and soft skills, including the ability to self-organize, but this is exactly what, in my opinion, everyone should strive for in life.
4. I think that machines and mechanisms should work, the whole routine should and will be automated over time. This is not a reason to completely refuse to work right now, at present people work less than a century and a half ago - and in another century and a half, perhaps not 40, but say 16, 8 or even 4 working hours per week will become the new standard. And the rest of the time people can spend as they wish.

[ultrloa]

Working 9-5 is a lot already as it takes a lot of time of your life so I guess we need to take action and create something useful which can generate us profit so that we can get out on office slavery. Its really hard to go on this point where the only thing we do everyday is eat,work and sleep so to get out on thus life style its best for individual to work with their skills so that we may have financial freedom and can work at our comfort on our own homes.