9 Effects of Overtime

Occasional overtime to meet a deadline is part of many jobs. Regular overtime is different: over months it affects health, the quality of work, and life outside work. This article explains 9 effects of overtime for employees who often work late and for managers who want to keep their team's hours sustainable. It ends with an example of a manager bringing a team's overtime down. The health information here is general; if long hours are affecting your health, talk to a doctor.

Content:

What is Overtime?

• Health Issues
• Increase work Stress
• Lower Productivity Level
• No Work-life Balance
• Increase Workplace Accidents
• Depression and Anxiety
• No Creativity
• Limit the Social Circle
• No Growth Opportunities

Example: Cutting a Team's Overtime

Final Thoughts

What is Overtime?

Working beyond your regular hours is called overtime. It can be paid or unpaid, and the rules on overtime pay depend on your country and contract.

The effects of both paid and unpaid overtime are nearly the same. However, paid overtime can be encouraging if the time and required efforts are reasonable.

Overtime can lead to different health issues. Some crucial ones are stated below with the necessary elaboration.

9 Effects of Overtime

Health Issues

Long days at a desk or on your feet often start with neck, back and shoulder pain, poor sleep, and less time for exercise. Over the long term the stakes are higher: a joint WHO and ILO study estimated that working 55 or more hours a week is associated with a higher risk of stroke and heart disease compared with a standard 35 to 40 hour week.

Increase work Stress

A high workload leads to work stress and pressure. Its consequences could be very harmful to your work and personal life. You will get stressed when you get less or no time to relax, exercise, or sit with your family and friends. Stress levels will keep increasing when you are not involved in any activity that releases stress.

Lower Productivity Level

Most people cannot keep performing well under a constantly high workload. Tiredness and frustration build up. A frustrated and stressed mind will affect your productivity level. Hence, you can’t produce the best value out of your time.

No Work-life Balance

A healthy work-life is impossible without a work-life balance. Long working hours move your focus away from your personal life. Managers can help by planning realistic workloads that respect employees' personal time.

Unfortunately, mismanagement in your personal life will directly or indirectly spoil your work life. That is where you will realize the importance of reasonable working hours.

Increase Workplace Accidents

The fatigue and frustration created by long and unnecessary working hours are very dangerous. Any task performed under urgency can lead to workplace accidents.

Fatigue slows reactions and weakens attention, so mistakes become more likely late in a long shift.

Unfocused, stressful, and frustrating minds make mistakes that cause workplace injuries and accidents. Where employees drive, use machinery or handle hazardous materials, the consequences of a tired mistake can be serious.

Depression and Anxiety

Human nerves can handle pressure and workload up to a specific limit. Beyond that limit, the issues like depression and anxiety start arising. Continuous stress affects the productivity of workers. With time their motivation level also decreases, and a time arrives when the quality of their services becomes too low.

No Creativity

The same boring and burdened routine sucks out the creativity of employees. A tired mind falls back on old habits.

How can employees brainstorm when they are too busy with their daily tasks? Over time this drains creativity, which also hurts the organization, because new ideas usually come from people who have the time and energy to think.

Limit the Social Circle

People’s social life is as important as their personal and work life. But, long working hours limit their social circle.

Some employees only socialize with their colleagues. They may feel left out when they seldom meet their friends. It generates frustration in them, and they will also pay less attention to their work responsibilities.

No Growth Opportunities

Growth opportunities come with learning and creativity. When you keep your employees engaged from early morning to midnight, they can’t focus on their career growth. So, there will be fewer or no chances for development and learning.

Example: Cutting a Team's Overtime

A manager at a small logistics office notices three of her five coordinators working late most evenings.

1. Measure: For two weeks she tracks who stays late and what they are working on. Most late work is re-keying orders and answering after-hours client emails.
2. Remove the cause: Order entry moves to a template that imports orders directly, and clients are told the office answers email between 8 and 6.
3. Rebalance: One coordinator's accounts are spread more evenly across the team.
4. Set a norm: Overtime needs a quick heads-up to the manager, so it is a choice, not a habit.
5. Review monthly: After two months, late evenings are the exception, and she checks in at 1:1s on how people are feeling.

Final Thoughts

Work-life balance matters for both your health and your work. Regular overtime is one of the most common causes of imbalance, and over time it affects health, performance and relationships.

So focus on the quality of work rather than the hours. Plan your day, protect time for your most important tasks, and raise workload problems early with your manager, so overtime stays occasional.

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• Best Ways of Tracking Employees' Performance

• 9 Reasons Why Teamwork is Important at the Workplace

• Tips to Manage Remote Teams

• 5 Signs of Overworking at Work & How to Prevent it?

• Best Ways of Tracking Employees' Performance