Long working hours in Hong Kong

Nowadays, most of employees are suffering from long workings hours in Hong Kong. It is very common that employees need to work overtime in all industries. The working hours in Hong Kong is comparatively longer than other countries. According to the data from the Hong Kong Census and Statistic Department, there are more than 40% of workers in Hong Kong work more than 48 hours per week. We can see the problem of long workings hours is really serious in Hong Kong. Suffering from long working hours lead to a lower living quality since it imposes negative influences on both physical and mental aspects.

Negative impacts on physical health

Suffering from long working hours can definitely physically harm the health of employee. A research was published in 2012 found out that people who worked long hours has a 1.8-fold increase in coronary heart disease than people who are not. Besides, employees can more easily to get injuries when they need to work for long hours. Human error is easily occurring when people are exhausted. For instance, employees who are working in kitchen may easily get incised injury or scald etc.

 Negative impacts on mental health

Apart from that, long working hours could badly affect the mental health of the employee. The problem of long working hours may lead to work family conflict. If employees are suffered from long working hours, the time that they can spend with their family will be definitely decreased. Besides, employees will be exhausted after the overtime working. They may have less energy to interact and communicate with their family members when they back home. The family relationship may be harmed in this way since their family members may not understand why they must spend so much time on working. This may make employees feel stressed and harm their health.

Importance of work-life balance

Therefore, I opine that maintaining a work-life balance is very important. We should split out time and energy for work and family more equality. For example, we could develop a calendar for work and family and stick to it. Besides, we should have a better time management and work more efficiently. Earning money is important but family support and having a good relationship with family members is also essential for us.

In conclusion, we can see that long working hours can impose long term consequences to the employees on both physical and mental aspects. We can also see the importance of maintaining a good work-life balance. Without the support of the companies and employers, it is hard for the employees to achieve it. Therefore, I believe that the government and the companies should limit the working hours of the employees and support the employees to have a healthier and balanced life. 

Sources:

Hk.epochtimes.com, (2015). 香港人工每週工作逾60小時-香港大紀元.

http://hk.epochtimes.com/b5/8/7/18/85337.htm

Leviticus, J. and Leviticus, J. (2015). The Effects of Long Work Hours

http://www.ehow.com/info_8319760_effects-long-work-hours.html [Accessed 22 Nov.

2015].