The trend of working overtime is catching up around the world, with India and China leading the race. About 82 per cent and 80 per cent of hourly wage workers in India and China, respectively, said they worked overtime, followed by 79 per cent in the UK, 77 per cent in Brazil and 61 per cent in the US, says an online survey, conducted by Harris Interactive for Kronos Inc, a global workforce management organisation. Most workers even find it ‘very appealing’, the survey says.
The survey defines overtime as “more than their regularly scheduled work hours at either a higher rate of pay or in return for paid time off”.
Interestingly, most respondents said the opportunity to work additional hours for higher pay or additional paid time off was ‘very appealing’. In fact, the majority of workers in every region said that they wished they could work more. Brazil, Canada and the US seemed to have more workers willing to work overtime with 92 per cent saying so, followed by 91 per cent in Australia; 90 per cent in the UK and Mexico; 88 per cent in France, 85 per cent in India and 61 per cent in China.
However, most workers across regions believed that their employer had violated laws or rules governing overtime. Workers in India and China topped the list with 81 per cent and 88 per cent, respectively, pointing out that overtime rules were being violated. However, there was higher awareness regarding overtime rules in both the countries were also most aware of rules in this regard, at 94 per cent and 96 per cent, respectively, the survey found.
"Overtime is a hotly contested topic between workers and management in India. It is extremely important to examine this subject from a compliance perspective as our labour markets and industries are maturing,” James Thomas, Country manager, Kronos India, said in a release.
He, however, said it was worthwhile to note the high percentage of workers who find overtime appealing, and called for the need for real-time data so that companies can go in for planned management of overtime.