Effects of overtime

Employees who work overtime hours experience numerous mental, physical, and social effects.

[1] Significant effects include stress, lack of free time, poor work-life balance, and health risks.

Inconsistencies between studies may be secondary to numerous workplace and employee factors, which make it difficult for researchers to establish specific causal relationships.

A larger amount of data exist regarding the male workforce, whereas additional studies are needed to better assess impacts of overtime work and extended shifts on women.

A 2004 study of workers in Australia showed a trend that satisfaction levels decreased as the number of hours worked increased.

There was also increased suicidal ideation noted among workers working for 51–60 hours per week in both males and females.

Also, female workers have been reported as relative minorities within the working place; at times experiencing lower job control, bullying, discrimination, etc.

[3] In addition to these health risks, María Beniell, who received her Ph.D. in Economics from the Center for Monetary and Financial Studies (CEMFI), researched the correlation between working long hours and the likelihood of individuals smoking, drinking, having a high body mass index (BMI), and being less physically active.

[17] The long-term effects of alcohol consumption include increased on-the-job injuries and loss of productivity, family problems, risk of high blood pressure, stroke, other cardiovascular diseases, and more.

Margot Shields' 1994–1997 study also analyzed the relationship between long hours and changes in weight, smoking, drinking, and exercising.

They found that there was statistically significant evidence for an association between longer working hours and development of Type II Diabetes, but only for individuals of low socioeconomic status such as manual laborers, when compared to other SES groups.

The lower SES group working longer hours had a 29% increased risk of developing Type II diabetes; even after adjusting for physical activity, smoking, alcohol use, and obesity.

In their study, the investigators controlled for age, sex, SES, smoking, BMI, physical activity, and alcohol consumption.

The investigators also commented that this association between long working hours and atrial fibrillation appeared to be independent of classic risk factors of atrial fibrillation due to the similarities of the exposed group (long work hours) and the referent group.

They hypothesized underlying mechanisms for this association may include longer exposure to stress, sleep deprivation, and / or dysregulation of the HPA axis causing an increase in cortisol production.

In 2007, professors from Penn State Abington analyzed the tradeoff between working overtime and home and family life activities.

However, the additional income from working long hours could limit the actual impact of this loss of time.

Especially at a young age, it is very important in child development for the parents to be involved to provide care and positive experiences.

The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare launched an investigation in 2002 to examine 300 cases of possible Karoshi (death from being over-worked) during a time frame between 2002 and 2005.

[27] The authors showed that mortality is higher in technical, semi-routine, or routine occupations (positions with high demand, low levels of control, or perceived imbalance between effort and reward).

Furthermore, a study based on data from the Swedish twin registry showed that there was an association between overtime work of more than 5 hours a week and increased mortality in women.

In contrast, the authors showed that working less than five hours a week of overtime decreases the risk of mortality in men.

However, they state that further research is necessary before definitive conclusions can be made, as factors of each individual have vast consequences on the effect of working overtime.

While a definitive conclusion could not be made, suggestions exist to minimize the potential risks of long working hours.

In 1981, Jay Kim and Anthony Campagna, researchers from Ohio State University, studied the effects Flextime.