Taking The Long Haul?

With the word “overtime” gaining roots in the vocabulary of workers, most workers now disregard nature’s demand of having, at least, 8 hours of sleep daily.  This is happening probably because of the requirements of the job, the pressure of workplace and industry culture, which may include completing the tasks involved and having a high workload and customer demands. The need for more income, being able to maintain a basic standard of living and “extras” cannot be downplayed. It is necessary, in some cases, to go beyond the normal hours of work but not when it becomes a habit. The big question is, considering the risks involved in spending longs hours behind your desk, is the long haul worth it?

According to the Ghana Labour Law Act 651, the maximum hours of work shall be eight hours a day, making up to 40 hours every week, although there maybe exceptions.  For instance, where shorter hours of work are fixed, the hours of work on the other days of the week may be proportionately longer than eight hours but shall not exceed nine hours a day or a total of forty hours a week.

Making a habit of working for more than 8 hours daily can affect a worker's long term health. The choice of a lifestyle, which includes the working life, has its consequences.  A person who lives a life which promotes stress, lack of sleep, bad eating and exercising habits, is at risk of heart diseases. A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine reveals that adults who work 11 hours a day or more have a 67% risk of developing coronary heart disease; placing the level of risk at the same level as smokers, those with high cholesterol and high blood pressure.  

“People who work long hours should be particularly careful in following healthy diets, exercising sufficiently and keeping their blood pressure, cholesterol levels and blood glucose within healthy limits,” Kivimaki, a professor at University College London, advised.

Aside the health factor, long working hours with inadequate breaks affects, largely, a worker's productivity and increases the risk of accidents. This can increase the cost of sick pay and compensation for a company, thus, increasing the company's marginal costs. Bosses should be concerned when their employees begin to spend long hours at work. The effects of working beyond the prescribed hours do not only affect the employee but the business as a whole. Utility bills rise and the tendency of recording a lot of errors becomes prevalent due to fatigue. Employers should look at rewarding results as against efforts; this will deter employees from adding more time, which does not cover the loss of labour hours brought on by fatigue.

“I work long hours to earn enough to enable me keep the home.” That is the maxim now, however, in recent times, staying late at work seems to be tearing the family apart instead. It is widely believed that long hours of work can damage relationships, especially marital relationships. For parents, spending long hours at work can inhibit the development of the child.

A joint Reuter/Ipsos global poll finding records that sexual harassment in the workplace is at dangerous levels, a vice women especially have to contend with. One in 10 workers has been pestered for sex by senior employers. For humans, it is in privacy that our drive for sexual activities is at its heights, thus, staying late into the night at your place of work can insight sexual thoughts when left alone with a colleague of the opposite sex.

When a lot of time is wasted on things that do not matter, it drags our ability to meet deadlines thus, projecting the time we spend at work. We all have 24 hours to make the best of the day. For the worker however, 8 hours is all you have to make a difference at work; how best you use it is what will distinguish you from the rest.  Pick a system for managing your time that works for you and stick with it. It is important to keep ourselves accountable for how we use our time.