WORKING HOURS AND PRODUCTIVITY

In this essay, I will talk about the working hours in the working life of the employees.
I will explain the effects of working hours on human health and productivity.
In Turkey, most employees work from 9 in the morning to 5 or 6 in the evening.
According to the law, the normal weekly working time is 45 hours at the most, this time is
divided into the days of the week in equal hours. Today, most private companies employ their
employees on Saturdays. On the other hand, in the service sector, employees use their weekly
leave by changing their leave days once a week. Officers are off 2 days a week, Saturday and
Sunday. During working hours, there is usually a break of 1 hour or 1.5 hours. Companies and
government can increase the number of employees and reduce the workload per staff member
and increase the break times or weekly leave of the employees and this can provide a more
efficient solution for the society and the employees. In the medical sector, doctors sometimes
work nonstop for 2 days, and this causes them to be unable to make the right choices both
mentally and physically and prematurely. The police's 24-hour uninterrupted work can lead to
a decrease in their judgment and make wrong choices.
Falling asleep while at work is considered quite normal in Japan. On the basis of this
thought, it is thought that the person is tired and deserves to sleep because he is too devoted to
his work. As lack of sleep causes problems such as inattention and exhaustion, they increase
their productivity with a short sleep break at work. In fact, some companies even offer
bonuses to employees who prefer to go home and sleep in a short time instead of working
overtime. The ideal sleep time is between 30 minutes and 1 hour. Working conditions of
Turkey, it can bring the quality of employee life as well as employee productivity closer to
Japan and most European countries.
When the weekly working hours in EU member and candidate countries are analyzed in 2020,
Turkey ranks first with 44.5 hours, Montenegro and Serbia follow Turkey with 44.3 hours and
Serbia with 42.3 hours, while the Netherlands has the least weekly working hours in Europe
with 30.3 hours. it happened. While the EU average is 37 hours, it is seen that Turkey works
7.5 hours more than the EU average.
In addition to these, since the salaries of the employees in Turkey are insufficient,
most people do additional work and work overtime during their holidays. In this regard, it
would be better for our country to make changes to increase the living standards of the
employees' lives by the laws of the state.

HELİN AYBÜKE KARATEPE

210202025 ENG-101