Averaging 8.19 hours weekly, Singapore ranks among APAC’s top for unpaid hours, just trailing India (10.65 hrs) and surpassing China (7.50 hrs) and Australia (7.17 hrs). This revelation emphasizes the need for employer awareness of the global and regional implications of unpaid work.
What’s the impact of unpaid overtime on productivity?
Yvonne Teo, Vice President of HR, APAC at ADP, raises concerns about lower productivity resulting from the significant levels of unpaid working hours. She emphasizes that research consistently demonstrates how an unhealthy work-life balance can lead to reduced productivity, countering the assumption that more hours automatically translate to higher efficiency, as stated in a recent media release.
These findings align with previous research indicating that Singaporean employees feel underpaid for their work, adding further weight to the importance of addressing the issue of unpaid hours to ensure a healthier and more balanced workforce.
Teo believed that “When we connect this to the People at Work 2023 finding that almost half of Singapore workers (45%) feel that they are underpaid for their jobs, these twin factors of not being compensated fairly on top of working unpaid hours can lead to substantial employee dissatisfaction over time.”
How do employers address overwork?
Employers can address the problem of unpaid work by ensuring that employees have access to tools that maximise the efficiency and quality of their output.
“It is also important to set clear, reasonable expectations to help employees plan their workload properly and ensure tasks are equally distributed across team members,” Teo said.
“Lastly, companies should consider using automation or outsourcing aspects of their work to external providers. For example, ADP has payroll and HCM software that helps companies to minimize time spent on admin tasks.”
There has been a growing acceptance among employees towards automation. A survey by UiPath recently found that 69% of Singapore-based respondents believe that automation can address burnout and improve job fulfillment.
