▷ Extraordinary risk factor: health risk from long working hours

Do you also know the workdays when you sit in the office or home office and really want to get another task done and therefore have to put up with overtime? However, we must pay attention: overtime must not become the rule!
The employees themselves, but also the employer, should ensure that working hours are kept in mind so that long working days do not become commonplace.

The results of the current study (as of May 17, 2021) by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) once again make the issues of “long working hours” and “overtime” very relevant.

Increased risk of fatal diseases due to long working hours

Study results show that employees who work 55 hours or more per week are at significantly higher risk of dying from a stroke or heart attack.
In 2016, approximately 745,000 people worldwide died of heart disease or stroke due to overwork resulting from working at least 55 hours per week. Men from Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific are particularly affected.
The phenomenon of overwork has thus been declared «the main risk factor for occupational diseases» (WHO, 2021).

Are overtime and overtime an exception in Germany?

First of all, we need to explain the difference between the terms extraordinary and extraordinary. Overtime occurs when the maximum working hours established by law (usually 48 hours per week) are exceeded. Overtime work, however, means exceeding the employee’s regular working hours according to the collective agreement, employment contract or employment contract.
In 2019, the average weekly working time for full-time employees was 41.0 hours. Despite this, nearly one in ten people working full time said they typically work more than 48 hours a week. This means we are not yet at the 55 hour limit mentioned above, but these long working hours can also pose health risks.
But especially for self-employed workers, long working days are the norm. Almost half (46.3%) usually work more than 48 hours a week (Federal Statistical Office, 2021).

Based on these statistics one might assume that overtime is still an exception, except for self-employed workers. However, this happens, and so does this Work overtime.

1.67 billion hours of overtime were worked in 2020. The year before waBut there are certainly even more, equal to 1.87 billion you should always see the effects overtime and overtime should be remembered (IAB, 2021).

Why overtime and extra work are so dangerous!

Overtime and additional work can have significant health consequences. A long-term study conducted in Germany shows that working even just one extra hour a week has a negative impact on your health.
On the one hand, it affects the psyche causing…

Fatigue,
even exhaustion
depressive moods

can come.
On the other hand, it can also cause physical problems, especially headaches and back pain. But due to the high workload the risk of cardiovascular problems also increases.
Furthermore, overworked employees and employers often have less ability to concentrate, which leads to an increased risk of workplace accidents.
More absenteeism, decreased concentration and exhausted employees are not an added value for any company, so overtime and excessively long working days should be kept to a minimum.

Protect employees through appropriate implementation planning software

With staff deployment planning software, staff planners can protect the health of their employees by taking into account stored employment rules. For example, the rule applies “Rest timeWhen changing the schedule, it is checked whether the time between the end of the last shift and the start of the first shift corresponds at least to the rest period prescribed and stored in the options.

If the specified rest time is not respected, the following warning message appears:

The use of maximum number of hours per month be defined. During deployment planning, a check is made to ensure that the employee’s scheduled time does not exceed the specified maximum number of hours per month.
It works the same for him too Use of the weekly timetablechecks whether the employee’s scheduled hours do not exceed the stored maximum weekly hours.
This means that the implementation plan can be created automatically and employees can be scheduled optimally and in accordance with the rules. This can help protect employee health.

Bottom line: Protect your employees’ health with workforce scheduling software

Automatic staff distribution planning has numerous advantages and integrates numerous features that make staff planning much easier. But employees also benefit because their health is protected. Overtime and short-term rest periods are significantly reduced.
Let’s remember that healthy employees are a company’s most valuable asset.