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Long Working Hours in Australia: Working-Time Regulation and Employer Pressures

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  • Iain Campbell

Abstract

In Australia, the proportion of full-time employees engaged in long hours, often very long hours, of paid work is relatively large and has been growing larger over the past two decades. This article describes and explains existing data and discussion in Australia, within a cross-national context. Primarily drawing on official labour force data, it begins by examining the proportion of employees engaged in long hours, trends in long work hours, and selected characteristics of the long hours workforce. It then links the discussion to overtime and the peculiar prominence of what is called ‘unpaid’ overtime. Growth in unpaid overtime seems to be the main component in the increase in the proportion of full-time employees working long hours. In seeking to explain these developments, the article describes the framework of formal working-time regulation and identifies several channels along which trends to long hours, whether based on paid or unpaid overtime, are able to flow. It then looks at the way in which the opportunities opened up by the deficiencies in regulation are taken up by employees and employers. It suggests that the key factor in explaining the development of long hours in Australia is employer pressure within the framework of weak working-time regulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Iain Campbell, 2007. "Long Working Hours in Australia: Working-Time Regulation and Employer Pressures," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 17(2), pages 37-68, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecolab:v:17:y:2007:i:2:p:37-68
    DOI: 10.1177/103530460701700203
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jean-Yves Boulin & Michel Lallement & Jon C. Messenger & François Michon, 2006. "Decent working time. New trends, new Issues," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00265560, HAL.
    2. Heiler, K & Pickersgill, R, 2001. "Shiftwork and rostering arrangements in the Australian mining industry: An overview of key trends," Australian Bulletin of Labour, National Institute of Labour Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 20-42.
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    5. Huberman, Michael, 2004. "Working Hours of the World Unite? New International Evidence of Worktime, 1870–1913," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 64(4), pages 964-1001, December.
    6. Iain Campbell & Peter Brosnan, 1999. "Labour Market Deregulation in Australia: The slow combustion approach to workplace change," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 353-394.
    7. Iain Campbell & John Burgess, 2001. "Casual Employment in Australia and Temporary Employment in Europe: Developing a Cross-National Comparison," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 15(1), pages 171-184, March.
    8. repec:dau:papers:123456789/7182 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. David Peetz & Cameron Allan, 2005. "Flexitime and the Long-Hours Culture in the Public Sector: Causes and Effects," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 15(2), pages 159-180, January.
    10. Jean-Yves Boulin & Michel Lallement & Jon C. Messenger & François Michon, 2006. "Decent working time. New trends, new Issues," Post-Print halshs-00265560, HAL.
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    Cited by:

    1. Joan Rodgers & Iris Day, 2015. "The premium for part-time work in Australia," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 18(3), pages 281-305.

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