A new survey shows many Hong Kong employees work a lot of overtime – and some do as much as six extra hours a day, the Apple Daily reported on Monday. The survey was conducted by Legislative Council member Mandy Tam Heung Man, who interviewed 377 full time employees.
Some 75 per cent of people surveyed said they needed to work overtime. Nearly 20 per cent said they worked overtime for five days or more.
But nine per cent of those surveyed said they had to work, at least, an six additional hours each day.
The survey also found 17.8 per cent worked overtime for five times or more each week. Most needed to work an extra two to three hours.
Over 90 per cent of respondents said the heavy workload affected their health.
“Working overtime has a negative impact on the productivity of employees,” Apple Daily reported citing the survey.
The survey found 46.9 per cent of respondents had taken sick leave in the past three months due to sickness caused by excessive work.
It found employees who needed to work overtime took, on average, more than 4.5 days sick leave annually.
Ms Tam said excessive overtime definitely affected the health of employees.
“It is also counterproductive and affects the daily operations of the organisation. Employees expressed their wish to be paid for their overtime,” she added.
Ms Tam urged the government to introduce legislation to monitor working hours.