(MENAFN- Live Mint) Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Chairman SN Subrahmanyan sparked an online debate by asking, "How long can you stare at your wife?" while advocating a 90-hour work week and suggesting that employees should even give up Sundays. Earlier, Infosys's Narayana Murthy stirred controversy by advocating for a 70-hour workweek, drawing criticism over work-life balance.

Their comments brought into focus the working time issues . A recent report released by the International Labour Organization (ILO) highlighted the plight of the workforce worldwide. It showed that India is among the countries with "excessive hours of work".

How to define 'long-working hours' ?

The ILO's 2023 report on 'Working Time and Work-Life Balance Around the World' defined "long hours of work" as regularly working more than 48 hours per week. It said this definition is consistent with the relevant international labour standards, Convention No. 1 and the Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30), which limit normal working hours to 48 per week.

The report showed that approximately one third of the global workforce (35.4 per cent) worked more than 48 hours per week in 2019 prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also highlighed“substantial gender difference in the incidence of long hours of paid work.”

According to the world Population Review, the number of hours that full-time employees work in a week or year varies greatly by country. In some countries, the average full-time workweek is under 40 hours, while in others it can be above 50 hours.

Where does India stand among 'over-worked' nations?

Indian ranked 13th on the ranking showed in ILO's report 'Wages and Working Time Statistics (COND) Database, ILOSTAT'.
While India's position was slightly better than Pakistan, which ranked 12th, the situation was worse as compared to that in China (16th spot)

As per the data updated on January 11, 2024,
the "average hours per week per employed person" in India stands at 46.7. It also revealed that 51 percent of those employed in India work 49 or more hours per week.

Here's a list of Top 20 overworked nations:

S. No.	Country	Average hours per week per employed person	Share of employed working 49 or more hours per week
1	Bhutan	54.4	61%
2	United Arab Emirates	50.9	39%
3	Lesotho	50.4	36%
4	Congo	48.6	45%
5	Qatar	48	29%
6	Liberia	47.7	27%
7	Mauritania	47.6	46%
8	Lebanon	47.6	38%
9	Mongolia	47.3	33%
10	Jordan	47	34%
11	Bangladesh	46.9	47%
12	Pakistan	46.9	40%
13	India	46.7	51%
14	Maldives	46.5	32%
15	Burkina Faso	46.3	41%
16	China	46.1	-
17	Macau, China	46	14%
18	Brunei Darussalam	46	23%
19	Kenya	45.6	26%
20	Senegal	45.5	17%

(Source: 'Wages and Working Time Statistics (COND) Database, ILOSTAT')

Reasons for 'long work hours'

As per the ILO report, long hours of work in developing and emerging economies are driven mainly by“low hourly wages and/or a desire to maximize earnings (whether these are wages or income from self-employment) – which means that workers often need to work long hours just to make ends meet."

However, the situation is very different in developed countries, particularly for certain categories of salaried employees such as professional workers and managers,“who may be expected to work whatever hours are required to complete their assignments and/or may work long hours to demonstrate their commitment to the organization and thus attempt to advance their careers.”

The report stated, "Adequate working time is a crucial part of decent work. It represents a key element of working conditions and has a great impact on workers' income, well-being, and living conditions."

MENAFN12012025007365015876ID1109080149