Studies of business practices clearly link worker strain to reduced productivity, increased turnover and increased injury and illness.
Overtime issues are the hot topics in China. It not only exists among private and foreign-invested sectors but SOEs and NPOs. It's common to see workers working excessive overtime. Worse, they are underpaid or not paid. Often time workers are forced to work overtime in private sectors.
In 2001, first Guolaosi case in China has sparked grave concern. Although relevant laws and measures were published to regulate overtime strictly by local governments, enterprises' legal awareness and government's enforcement is weak. More importantly, workers are afraid to lose jobs in a competing labor market. It makes the enforcement more difficult. Under new market conditions, workers are more vulnerable than enterprises.
More and more practices show that the reasons resulting overtime are complicated. It can not be resolved by simply telling factories to reduce overtime. An overtime project initiated by Impactt in 2004 showed that suppliers, factories and brands need to work collaboratively to solve the overtime problems especially by interventions with management systems, implementation and human resources management.
OT reasons analysis Model
Systematic solutions for OT
Procedures to Ensure Compliance in Your Facility
- Ensure each employee has been educated on the facilities policy and procedures on overtime and working hours (e.g. handbooks, meetings, courses, classes, postings, periodic notifications, etc.)
- Ensure labor contracts are inclusive of the terms and conditions of facility working hours.
- Inform all workers of the facility's policy on overtime, and conditions under which workers have the right to refuse overtime prior to employment.
- Interview workers to determine if they are knowledgeable and understand the facilities policies and procedures on overtime.
- Ensure you receive legal exemptions for extended working hours due to special production and business requirements. After obtaining exemptions ensure workers are consulted and agree to work overtime shifts.
- Ensure employee is not penalized for the refusal to work overtime through reduction of wages or threat of dismissal.
- Develop standard factory policies and procedures to confirm voluntary acceptance of overtime work by factory workers.
- Review system for recording time worked to ensure that time is recorded accurately and completely.
- Review production records and capabilities to assess the factory's ability to avoid excessive overtime, especially on factory's peak production seasons.
- Ensure there is effective monitoring system on working hours to ensure the number of hours and days worked do not exceed national and local laws.
- Ensure that workers are given advance notice that overtime hours if necessary.
- Ensure workers are provided applicable rest periods and meal breaks.
- Ensure workers are provided applicable holidays and annual leave benefits.
- Ensure workers are provided at least 1 rest day per week.
Good Practices
- Designate a person responsible for routinely verifying the effectiveness the factory's policy and procedure on working hours
- Managers and supervisors are held accountable for violations of the facilities policy on working hours
- Ensure orders can be met within overtime limits before accepting production programs.
- The facility continuously trains managers and supervisors on the facilities policy on working hours.
- The facility has adopted a confidential system for factory worker feedback for violations of the factories policy on working hours.
- Management monitors subcontractors, and labor agents to ensure compliance with this standard.
