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For
three years running the Community Business Leadership Team (CBLT) has
commissioned public research to assess the state of work-life balance in
Undertaken by the Public Opinion Programme (POP) at the University
of
Using a consistent methodology year on year, it strives to assess the
extent to which the state of work-life balance is improving in
Employees’
work and living patterns
Employees’
satisfaction with work and life
Problems employees face in achieving a healthy work-life balance and their desired solutions to overcome such challenges
The
State of Work-Life Balance in Hong Kong Survey 2006.
The
State of Work-Life Balance in Hong Kong Survey 2007.
The 2008 Survey will be published on
Friday 17 October 2008. Sign up now to attend
Breakfast
Seminar.
In addition Community Business has published a collection of case studies of what companies in Hong Kong are doing to promote Work-Life Balance
Work-Life
Balance in Hong Kong Case Studies
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF 2007 SURVEY
The State of
Work-Life Balance in Hong Kong Survey 2007, published in October 2007
revealed the following significant findings:
A. Working and living patterns
B. Satisfaction with work and life
C. Problems with current work-life balance and desired solutions
A. Working and living patterns
1. Employees in Hong Kong work long hours - but there is an improvement since 2006
The average number of hours worked per week is 49.2 compared to 51.3 hours in 2006.
This is 6% higher than hours required in employee contracts and more than 23% higher than the recommended number of hours (40 hours per week) as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
2. More
employees in Hong Kong regularly work overtime - but this is mainly
because
contractual hours are down
65.5% of employees work overtime each week with 22.5% working overtime nearly everyday. This compares to 61.3% and 22.4% respectively for 2006.
This increase in overtime in part reflects a reduction of the number of hours that employees are contractually required to work per week - 46.5 in 2007 compared to 47.3 hours in 2006.
3. Too much work remains the top reason for overtime
The top three reasons for working overtime on a regular basis are too much work, the need to support co-workers and requests from the boss. This is the same as in 2006.
4. Employers
have reduced paid annual leave and over 35% of employees do not always
take their annual leave entitlement
Average paid annual leave is 13.9 days, down from 15.3 days in 2006.
36.3% of employees do not always take their full annual leave.
5. More employees are not entitled to the statutory minimum of 7 days annual leave
9.3% of employees are not entitled to any annual leave compared to 7.2% last year.
1.7% are not entitled to the 7 full days leave compared to 0.9% last year.
6. Employees in Hong Kong still have little time for personal life
As in 2006, over 70% of employees spend less than 2 hours per day on personal or private activities. 8.5% spend no time at all on private activities.
7. Work-life
balance has improved slightly but is still a far cry from what employees
think is
ideal and realistic
The actual work-life ratio is 83:17 which represents a slight improvement on last year when it was 84:16.
The ideal but realistic
work-life ratio has changed from 61:39 last year to 60:40 this year,
reflecting employees’ desire for a better work-life balance.
B. Satisfaction with work and life
8. More
employees are unhappy at work and the main reason remains poor
relationships
with supervisors and colleagues
The number of employees citing reasons for unhappiness has risen to 89.2% from 75.6% in 2006.
The top three reasons for unhappiness at work remain the same as 2006 and are relationship with supervisors and colleagues followed by pay benefits and workload.
9. Fewer employees say their work and private lives are balanced
The number of employees saying their work and lives are balanced has fallen to 41.9% from 44.1% last year. Those who believe it is not balanced has risen to 29.1% from 28.3% in 2006. This may be a reflection of enhanced expectations of employees from work-life balance.
10. More employees believe their work-life balance has improved over the last 12 months
The number of respondents who believe that their work-life balance has improved over the past 12 months has increased to 24.6% (from 22.4% in 2006).
11. Employers still need to do more to promote work-life balance
As in 2006, employees
give their employers a score of 4.7 out of 10 for efforts and
resources expended to improve work-life balance.
C. Problems with current work-life balance and desired solutions
12. Employees in Hong Kong have a long way to go to achieve their ideal work-life balance
Employees rate the degree to which they have achieved their ideal work-life balance 5.6 out of 10. This is slightly lower than the previous year's rating of 5.7.
13. The need
for financial security has overtaken long working hours as the most
difficult
work-life balance challenge for employees
The largest group of respondents (18.6%) cite financial well-being and wealth management as the greatest work-life balance challenge they face. This figure has risen from 13.8% in 2006.
Long working hours is ranked the second greatest challenge and having to take care of children or family members is ranked third.
14. Technology has a positive impact on work-life balance
61.5% of employees say that the latest technology has a positive impact on their work-life balance while only 12.3% think the impact is negative.
15. Poor work-life balance adversely impacts productivity, health and family life
Over 60% of respondents report suffering from prolonged fatigue and extreme tiredness and this is the same as in 2006.
The number of employees who state they do not have any private time for recreation activities or sports has increased to 35.6% this year from 28.2% in 2006. Those who say they do not have enough time with their partner and family has risen to 43.7% this year from 39.1% last year.
For both years, approximately 33% of respondents say they have problems with productivity and that work quality has reduced dramatically due to long working hours.
16.
Employees say that a 5-day work week and more paid annual leave would
most help
them to achieve better
work-life
balance
26.8% of employees report that a 5-day work week would most assist them with work-life balance. More paid annual leave is ranked second (18.3%).
17. Managers are important role models for work-life balance
Over 60% of employees say it is very beneficial or quite beneficial if their line manager and other senior executives set an example for work-life balance.
18. More
employers are adopting a 5-day work week but over half of all employees
have
employers who are not
even
considering it
35% of employees say their company has adopted a 5-day work week. This figure is an increase from 28.1% last year. In the Banks and Finance and Government and Public Affairs sectors the increase has been most significant.
Those who say their companies are not adopting or thinking of adopting a 5-day work week has fallen to 55.6% from 60.7% in 2006.
19. Hong
Kong risks 27% of its workforce leaving the city if they can find better
work-life
balance elsewhere
26.9% of employees say they would consider leaving Hong Kong to pursue better work-life balance while 72.1% say they would not.