Singapore employees working up to 10 hours unpaid

A majority of employees across Singapore believe that they are working up to 10 hours of unpaid work every week, sending a warning to employers on how this could impact productivity and workplace satisfaction.

Global research from ADP Research Institute found that 40% of Singapore-based employees think they're working between six and 10 hours of unpaid time per week.

On average, that’s 8.19 unpaid hours a week - close to the global average of eight hours and six minutes and Asia Pacific's regional average of eight hours and 38 minutes.

Singaporeans also registered the second-highest number of unpaid hours across APAC, just behind India (10.65 hours) and ahead of China (7.50 hours) and Australia (7.17 hours), according to the report.

Impact of unpaid overtime on productivity

But this high level of unpaid working hours could lead to lower productivity, according to Yvonne Teo, Vice President of HR, APAC, ADP.

"Research has consistently shown that unhealthy work-life balances can lead to a drop in productivity, which is contrary to the assumption that working more hours means that an employee is more productive," Teo said in a media release.

The findings come as previous research also found that Singaporeans don't think they're being paid enough for their work.

"When we connect this to the People at Work 2023 finding that almost half of Singapore workers (45%) feel that they are underpaid for their jobs, these twin factors of not being compensated fairly on top of working unpaid hours can lead to substantial employee dissatisfaction over time," Teo said.

Various solutions to overwork available to employers

Employers can address the problem of unpaid work by ensuring that employees have access to tools that maximise the efficiency and quality of their output.

"It is also important to set clear, reasonable expectations to help employees plan their workload properly and ensure tasks are equally distributed across team members," Teo said.

"Lastly, companies should consider using automation or outsourcing aspects of their work to external providers. For example, ADP has payroll and HCM software that helps companies to minimize time spent on admin tasks."

There has been a growing acceptance among employees towards automation. A survey by UiPath recently found that 69% of Singapore-based respondents believe that automation can address burnout and improve job fulfillment.