Working 55-hour week increases risk of death: UN

The Manila Bulletin | May 18, 2021

Working more than 55 hours a week increases the risk of death from heart disease and strokes,
according to a United Nations study out Monday.

The report by the UN’s World Health Organization and International Labour Organization agencies
comes as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates workplace changes that could increase the tendency to
work longer hours.

The study, published in the Environment International journal, is the first global analysis of the risks to
life and health associated with working long hours.

It focuses on the period before the pandemic, and the authors synthesised data from dozens of studies
involving hundreds of thousands of participants.

“Working 55 hours or more per week is a serious health hazard,” said Maria Neira, director of the
WHO’s environment, climate change and health department.

“It’s time that we all — governments, employers, and employees — wake up to the fact that long
working hours can lead to premature death.”

The study concluded that working 55 hours or more per week was associated with an estimated 35
percent increase in the risk of suffering a stroke, and a 17 percent rise in the risk of dying from ischemic
heart disease, compared to working 35 to 40 hours.

‘Higher amongst men’

The WHO and the ILO estimated that in 2016, 398,000 people died from a stroke and 347,000 from
heart disease after working at least 55 hours per week.

Between 2000 and 2016, the number of deaths due to heart disease linked to long working hours
increased by 42 percent, while the figure for strokes went up by 19 percent.

Most of the recorded deaths were among people aged 60 to 79, who had worked 55 hours or more per
week when they were between 45 and 74 years old.

“With working long hours now known to be responsible for about one-third of the total estimated work-
related burden of disease, it is established as the risk factor with the largest occupational disease
burden,” the WHO said.

Frank Pega, a technical officer from Neira’s WHO department, said the study found no difference in the
effects on men and women of working long hours.

However, the burden of disease is particularly high among men — who account for 72 percent of the
deaths — because they represent a large proportion of workers worldwide and therefore the exposure
“is higher amongst men”, Pega told reporters.

It is also higher among people living in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia regions, where there are
more informal sector workers who may be forced to work long days, Pega added.

‘Not worth the risk’

The WHO is concerned about the trend as the number of people working long hours is increasing. It
currently represents nine percent of the total world population.

The organisation also said that the coronavirus crisis was speeding up developments that could feed the
trend towards increased working hours.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the way many people work,” said WHO director-
general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“Teleworking has become the norm in many industries, often blurring the boundaries between home
and work. In addition, many businesses have been forced to scale back or shut down operations to save
money, and people who are still on the payroll end up working longer hours."

“No job is worth the risk of stroke or heart disease. Governments, employers and workers need to work
together to agree on limits to protect the health of workers.”

Citing a study by the US National Bureau of Economic Research, conducted across 15 countries, Pega
said: “When countries go into national lockdown, the numbers of hours work increased by about 10
percent.”

Working from home, combined with the increasing digitalisation of work processes, makes it harder to
disconnect, he said, recommending the firmer scheduling of rest periods and personal time.

The pandemic has also increased job insecurity, which, in times of crisis, tends to push those who have
kept their jobs to work more to prove their place in a more competitive market, said Pega.

Senate bill pushes tax breaks for work-from-home folk

Philippine Daily Inquirer | May 09, 2021
This Senate bill can make the taxman either laugh or cry.

Why add to the burden of work-from-home (WFH) employees who have been toiling away from their
bedrooms, kitchens or patios for more than a year now to meet office deadlines and quotas?

Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Francis Tolentino have filed a bill granting tax deductions to such
employees, saying they have been incurring additional expenses at home, such as higher power
consumption and longer internet use.

Senate Bill No. 1706, or the Tax Incentives for Individuals on a Work-From-Home or Telecommuting
Program, seeks a tax deduction of P25 for every hour of work rendered by a WFH employee.

“In providing for these allowable tax deductions, it will effectively increase the workers’ take-home pay
and somehow these would suffice to cover part of their electricity, internet connectivity fees and other
work-related expenses. The amount will be substantial especially for cash-strapped individuals,”
Gatchalian said in a statement on Saturday.

The bill also allows employers to claim a 50-percent tax deduction on allowances granted to WFH
employees. This, Gatchalian said, will encourage employers to provide workers much needed
allowances.

The proposed measure also wants employees’ allowances and other benefits not exceeding P2,000 per
month to be nontaxable.

Gatchalian cited a global survey, the 2021 Work Trend Index released by Microsoft in March, showing 46
percent of respondents sharing the view that their employers had never helped them ease the extra
costs entailed by a remote work setup.

The survey was conducted among 31,092 full-time employed or self-employed workers in Microsoft’s 31
“global markets,” including the Philippines.

It showed that 63 percent of WFH employees in the Philippines felt overworked, while 31 percent felt
exhausted by their current setup.
Gatchalian, the vice chair of the Senate committee on economic affairs, cited another survey conducted
last year by JobStreet.com showing 87 percent of employees in the country think their companies
should shoulder their WFH costs.

Monitoring work-from-home workers via webcams not feasible, Lenovo says

May 6, 2021 | Business World

MONITORING work-from-home employees through their web cameras is not a good idea as it is difficult
to impose, according to Lenovo Philippines, noting that there are alternative tools that companies can
use to track productivity.

“No, it’s not a good idea definitely… Parang ang hirap namang mag-impose that they should open their
camera, right?” Lenovo Philippines President and General Manager Michael Ngan said at an online press
briefing on Tuesday.

“Maybe, the manager or the direct supervisor can impose that… It depends on the company. But that’s
one area that’s very hard to really impose in a work-from-home scenario,” he added.

He also noted that monitoring productivity has become a challenge for many companies during the
pandemic crisis. “When they adopt the work-from-home or work-from-anywhere setup, the biggest
challenge is really productivity.”

“Definitely, it’s expected that productivity will drop. But there are tools that are able to track employee
productivity while working from home or while working anywhere,” Mr. Ngan explained.

“There is a software that is able to really monitor and capture how many times you opened your e-mail,
how many times you spoke to your customers over VoIP (voice over internet protocol), and a lot more,”
he added.

In its recent study on the future of work and digital transformation, Lenovo found that 83% of
information technology decision makers surveyed globally expect post-pandemic work to be remote “for
at least half the time.”

“Companies are now deviating from the standard business arrangement as technology empowers them
to modify structures as necessary,” Lenovo said in an e-mailed statement.

“A hybrid work arrangement is likely to be a trend, where employers will allow workers to come to the
office two to three days per week in a five-day work week,” it added.