Research Quantifies Hazards of Too Many Hours at Work
Do you work too many hours a week?
You could be harming your physical and emotional health.
Organizations and independent researchers have looked at the effects of working beyond the standard 40 hours a week. Their findings include:
- Working more than 10 hours a day is associated with a 60 percent jump in risk of cardiovascular issues.
- 10 percent of those who work 50 to 60 hours report relationship problems; the rate increases to 30 percent for those working more than 60 hours.
- Working more than 40 hours a week is associated with increased alcohol and tobacco consumption, as well as unhealthy weight gain in men and depression in women.
- Little productive work occurs after 50 hours per week.
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In companies with typical overtime, 23 percent had
absentee rates higher than 9 percent. In companies with high overtime, 54 percent had absentee rates that exceeded 9 percent. - Individuals working 11 hours or more of overtime have an increased depression risk.
- Injury rates increase as work hours increase. Those who work 60 hours per week have a 23 percent higher injury hazard rate.
- In companies with an 8.7 percent overtime rate, researchers did not find fatigue-related problems. When the overtime rate was 12.4 percent, fatigue-related problems were minor. By the time the overtime rate hit 15.4 percent, fatigue-related problems were severe.
- In manufacturing industries, a 10 percent increase in overtime yields a 2.4 percent decrease in productivity.
- In white collar jobs, productivity declines by as much as 25 percent when workers put in 60 hours or more.
Many of the problems identified above tie to stress, which connect to hormonal balances. Specifically, stress raises cortisol, which can disrupt sleep, appetite, blood pressure, immune system function, memory/cognition, and mood.
The available research shows that most workers in the U.S. are working close to the point where problems may begin. Despite perception to the contrary, science says that your company isn’t going to gain much, if anything, if you put in much more than an extra hour or two a day.
Source: Commentary in Inc.com