Long hours for employees
Do 9 to 5 jobs still exist?
In response to another poster in the BBC debate Should benefits be linked to community service?, somebody asserted that 9 to 5 jobs don't exist any more. That may not be entirely true, but everything I hear suggests that 9 to 5 jobs are much scarcer than they once were. Britain has exemptions from the European working time directive, meaning that employers can force those who do have jobs to work long hours.
Overtime sometimes essential but ...
Everybody accepts the need to work long hours at times of peak demand or to meet certain deadlines, but there is a tendency among some employers to use long hours as a substitute for adequate staffing levels. This may cut costs but it doesn't work in the long run. Firstly, there is little or no margin to put in extra effort for those times that need it. Secondly, because staff are more stressed through working consistently long hours, productivity and morale can suffer even if it isn't always obvious that this is so.
European working time directive loopholes
The UK legislation allows employees to volunteer to work more than 48 hours a week, and so can work unlimited hours. While it seems mean to prevent dedicated staff from working very long hours if they so wish, the reality is that not all volunteers are true volunteers. Employers can coerce their staff to volunteer and it would be difficult to prove a case against them. If they weren't allowed to do this, they would be obliged to employ more staff, which would be better for those in jobs as well as the unemployed people who would fill those vacancies.
A 40-hour week should provide enough to live on
Some employees say that they need to work long hours to maintain their standard of living. I maintain that this is pure greed. If they end up without a job, they'll have to make a much bigger adjustment. It would be much better for everybody if we restricted working hours, increasing the number of jobs available and thereby reducing the fears of unemployment.
Poor productivity
Based on my own observations in my computer programming days, I also believe that excessive overtime impairs productivity. Somebody working a regular 70-hour week does not do twice as much work as somebody of equal ability working a regular 35-hour week. Indeed, they don't even come close.
Those who follow team sports know that British teams have a well-earned reputation for under-achievement at international level. One reason often cited is that domestic competition schedules are far more demanding than in other countries. Although a world away from the offices, factories and construction sites where the majority of people work, it provides another illustration of employers squeezing the last drop out of their employees and finding that they can't get the consistent level of performance that they would like. Of course, the immediate employers (such as football clubs) find one way round the fixture congestion (imposed on them by the sport governing bodies) by employing extra players and resting them in turn to keep them fresh. The logic of this, when applied to conventional employment, suggests that a lot of employers would be wise to phase out the long hours culture by employing extra staff.
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