Human
Shorter Working Hours Do Not Guarantee Happier Workers
Staff Reporter
First Posted: Aug 21, 2013 05:47 PM EDT
A reduction in working hours does not necessarily mean happier employees, as it might merely be adding stress to their general working environment. This is according to a study by Robert Rudolf of Korea University, Seoul, that looks at the impact of South Korea's recently introduced Five-Day Working Policy.
South Korea officially started to introduce its reformative working policy in 2004, in which Saturdays became official non-working days. It also reduced the official working week from 44 to 40 hours. The policy was instigated to enhance living standards, boost the country's weak leisure industry and to reduce the negative effects of excessively long working hours, including low productivity and high rates of industrial injury.
The natural experimental setting of South Korea's Five-Day Working Policy reform provides an unbiased look into how working hours influence the subjective well-being of workers. Rudolf's study is pioneering as it is the first of its kind to assess the impact of such an external reduction of working hours on the subjective well-being of individuals and families. His analysis is based on the detailed and nationally representative longitudinal survey of urban Korean households.
These findings show either that traditional theory is wrong to suggest that longer working hours alone have a negative impact on the personal happiness of employees, or it means that increased work intensity, because of cuts in official working hours, completely offsets any positive effects such a move might have. "If the latter holds true, it would be naïve to believe that work time reductions alone can increase worker well-being," warned Rudolf.
Reference:
Rudolf, R. (2013) Work Shorter, Be Happier? Longitudinal Evidence from the Korean Five-Day Working Policy, Journal of Happiness Studies. DOI 10.1007/s10902-013-9468-1
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First Posted: Aug 21, 2013 05:47 PM EDT
A reduction in working hours does not necessarily mean happier employees, as it might merely be adding stress to their general working environment. This is according to a study by Robert Rudolf of Korea University, Seoul, that looks at the impact of South Korea's recently introduced Five-Day Working Policy.
South Korea officially started to introduce its reformative working policy in 2004, in which Saturdays became official non-working days. It also reduced the official working week from 44 to 40 hours. The policy was instigated to enhance living standards, boost the country's weak leisure industry and to reduce the negative effects of excessively long working hours, including low productivity and high rates of industrial injury.
The natural experimental setting of South Korea's Five-Day Working Policy reform provides an unbiased look into how working hours influence the subjective well-being of workers. Rudolf's study is pioneering as it is the first of its kind to assess the impact of such an external reduction of working hours on the subjective well-being of individuals and families. His analysis is based on the detailed and nationally representative longitudinal survey of urban Korean households.
These findings show either that traditional theory is wrong to suggest that longer working hours alone have a negative impact on the personal happiness of employees, or it means that increased work intensity, because of cuts in official working hours, completely offsets any positive effects such a move might have. "If the latter holds true, it would be naïve to believe that work time reductions alone can increase worker well-being," warned Rudolf.
Reference:
Rudolf, R. (2013) Work Shorter, Be Happier? Longitudinal Evidence from the Korean Five-Day Working Policy, Journal of Happiness Studies. DOI 10.1007/s10902-013-9468-1
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone