Womenís working week increases by half a day in five years

The latest of 1, 666 workers, from people management experts the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), shows that the proportion of those who work more than forty eight hours a week has increased from 1 in 10 to 1 in 4 during the past 5 years. And the report also shows that the average working week for women has increased by three and half hours to its current level of 33.9. The average working week for all workers stands at 39.6 hours, slightly up on figures for 1998.

The report, published today Friday 10th October, compares the results with the corresponding 1998 survey and concludes that the impact of the Governmentís campaign on work-life balance has had little or no effect to date. The only crumb of comfort for the Government lies in the fact that almost 1 in 4 employees have cut back their hours in the past 5 years, although the biggest single factor behind this reduction is parenthood.

The report also argues that working time is ill-suited to legislative control given that so little attention is paid to the working time regulations, which provide an opt-out clause for those working more than 48 hours.

Mike Emmott, CIPD Head of Employee Relations says, ìThere is little support from the survey for arguments that the current option for employees to opt out from the 48 hour week should be removed. Half of those who work long hours say they do so entirely as a result of their own choice. They are just as satisfied as other people with their lives inside and outside work. More than half are either managers or professionals who should be well placed to exercise informed choices about their hours.

Some employers are asking staff to sign an opt-out clause simply in order to take the issue of long hours off the table and avoid the possible need for record keeping, even though employees rarely or never work more than 48 hours for long periods. It would therefore be disastrous to remove the opt-out at a stroke.

On the broader points raised in the report Emmott comments, ìThe overall trend in working hours among female workers is upwards. This is not however necessarily bad news. Relatively few of those working long hours are women. If efforts to secure equal treatment for women at work are to bear fruit we can expect to see their experience of work and working patterns aligned more closely with those of men. More women are now returning to work after having babies and having the opportunity to build careers. They also enjoy a strong position in the job market.

The increasing number of female long hours workers is not surprising given that a higher proportion of them are managers and professionals, who tend to work the longest hours. As the service sector continues to grow and male-dominated sectors such as manufacturing, mining and agriculture continue to decline, this trend looks set to continue.î

Emmott continues, ìThe negative effects of working long hours are increasingly recognised. Most long hours workers report some kind of negative effect on job performance, one in four report damaging effects on their mental health in terms of stress or depression and many claim that long hours have put their relationships and health under strain. Clearly there can be important downsides to working consistently long hours and employers and employees both need to be aware of them.

The new right to request flexible working will undoubtedly help employees to achieve the balance between home and work that best suits their circumstances and needs.



Main findings:

* A woman’s working week is half a day longer than it was five years ago. The new average stands at 33.9 hours, an increase of 3.5 hours on 1998 figures.
* The average working week for all workers is 39.6 hours.
* In contrast, men’s working hours have fallen slightly over the same period - from 45.5 to 44.8 hours, as has the average working week for long hours workers. The working week for younger workers (18-24 year olds) is 36.3 hours
* 23% say that they have reduced their working hours since 1998 - with parental responsibility the biggest reason for reducing the working week (21%)
* The proportion of long-hours workers (somebody who works more than 48 hours) has risen sharply from 10 per cent in 1998 to 25 per cent today.
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* The survey asks further questions of long hours workers, in particular the effects of long-hours working:
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* Professional workers and managers form over half the total of long hours workers, who it would seem that they appear to be happy to work long hours. Less than a quarter of long hours workers (24%) have to work long hours reluctantly most or all of the time while 49% say that it is totally their own choice.
* Despite the average increase in the working week of women, women still make up one quarter of all long hours workers. Interestingly, female long hours workers are far more likely to report that they have little time to themselves (80%) than men (57%).
* More than a quarter of all respondents claim to have suffered some sort of physical ailment as a result of working long hours. A similar proportion say that the long hours culture has had a detrimental effect on their mental health in terms of stress or depression. More than a quarter admit to suffering with health problems as a result of working long hours.
* More than a quarter of long hours workers say that long hours has affected their sex lives and the relationship with their children (27% in both cases). A higher proportion say that long hours gets in the way of their relationship with their partner or spouse (43%).
* Long hour workers remain very committed to their roles. 71% are likely to go to work when feeling unwell (71%), while 68% have worked on public holidays during the past twelve months. As in 1998, 50% of long hours workers were so conscientious that if they were forced to choose between a work commitment and an outside commitment, work would usually win.
* A substantial majority of long hours workers say that working long hours has affected their performance at work, the symptoms of which include taking longer to complete a task (73%) and mistakes (63%).
* However, there is no difference in the satisfaction levels at or outside work between those who work more than 48 hours and those who work less.