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  • #2171516

    Is working overtime far more peculiar in the US than in Asian countries?

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    by chdchan ·

    Overtime work in the US sounds less common and less hefty than its Asian counterparts. Is this pertinent to life style preservation, unions, regulations or employers’ conscience? We Hongkongers are comtemplating regulatory definition of legal standard work hours, what kinds of any american experience can be pondered and learned in this sense?

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    • #2432939

      I have an opinion,

      by john.a.wills ·

      In reply to Is working overtime far more peculiar in the US than in Asian countries?

      not wholely provable, that when people do a lot of overtime they spend a lower proportion of work time on productive work. Places with 40-hour weeks seem to be more productive than places with 80-hour weeks. People with decent work hours still play around on the job, but do more of their playing during non-work time. I am not talking about exceptional situations which arise occasionally in many kinds of work – but I am talking about permanent exceptionalism.

      • #2432878

        As a totally unprovable observation

        by drowningnotwaving ·

        In reply to I have an opinion,

        I agree wholeheartedly. It’s kind of like that thing:- if you have something important to do, give it to the busiest person in the team – that way it will get done faster. Lots of people work lots of hours – the output varies dramatically.

        By the way, I’ve copyrighted the “Permanant Exceptionalism” t-shirts, yo-yos and the upcoming university degree as well. Luv it.

    • #2432906

      peculiar?

      by jaqui ·

      In reply to Is working overtime far more peculiar in the US than in Asian countries?

      not sure that is the best word for it.
      From my observation of Asian & Oriental people here in Canada, it is a mindset difference between them and those of European decent. The majority of Asian and Oriental peoples have a much stronger focus on working it appears.
      [ Japanese companies closing down completely for a month every year to force all employees to take vacations being a perfect example ]

      I’m not sure a 40 hour work week legislation will have much of an impact, other than to get people to hold a second job if they can’t work the same hours. Though if a minimum wage was set in place, one that included a benefits package, that might be a big influence on reducing the overtime worked. A great example of what such a wage would be:
      http://www.newwestcity.ca/2010/05/13/living_wage_policy.php
      for this region of British Columbia, Canada, a living wage works out to $18.81 CDN / hr
      but with medical benefits, pension, sick days, etc. that is actually only about $10.60/hr wage.

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