Work and Flexibility: Long hours and the need for flexibility

By Barbara Holmes of Managing Work/Life Balance International

In the United Kingdom, 25 February was promoted as "Work your Proper Hours Day".

The campaign encouraged employees who regularly work unpaid overtime -- which gives employers £23 billion of free work every year -- to take time out to review how well they balance their work and life.

The campaign promoters want employees to take a proper lunch break, the rest breaks that they believe they are entitled to and to start and finish work at the proper scheduled time, ie that stipulated in their contract of employment.

Could this idea take off in Australia?

Data from numerous sources, including the Australia Institute, show that Australians are working the longest hours in the developed world. We work an average of 1,855 hours a year compared with an average of 1,643 hours for other developed nations. French employees work for over 250 hours less at 1,590, whilst Norwegians work for only 1,376 hours a year.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) suggests little difference between the genders in terms of who works unpaid overtime. The figures reveal that 20% of men and 18% of women regularly work unpaid overtime (ABS 1999) and almost one in four full-time workers worked 50 hours or more per week in 2002, compared with 20% in 1982 (ABS 2002).

CCH Equal Opportunity Alert ISSUE 148 2 March 2005