• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.96-101
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• 2021

Background: Many studies have reported noticeable increases in the proportion of employees working either relatively short or relatively long hours. Such trends have been accompanied by an increasing concern regarding work hour mismatches defined as a discrepancy between actual and preferred work hours. The aim of this study was to investigate association between work hour mismatch and depression. Methods: Data regarding work hour mismatches for 47,551 adults were extracted from the 2017 Korean Working Conditions Survey. The World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index was used to measure depression. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the association between work hour mismatch and depression. Results: Men and women workers with work hour mismatch were more likely to have depression [underemployed males: odds ratio (OR) = 1.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.14-1.49, overemployed males: OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.18-1.40; underemployed females: OR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.20-1.56, overemployed females: OR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.02-1.23]. Underemployed workers, workers who worked more than 52 hours per week, and workers with a high income level, all had higher ORs for depression. The greater the discrepancy between actual and preferred work hours, the higher OR for depression among both underemployed and overemployed workers. Conclusions: A difference between actual and preferred work hours was associated with depression. Underemployed workers had a higher risk of depression than that of overemployed workers. As a work hour mismatch negatively affected workers' mental health, it is important to reduce work hours mismatches as well as shorten the absolute number of work hours.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.17-26
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• 2017

Many workers today encounter the problem of overemployment which occurs when actual working hours exceed preferred or desired working hours. Overemployed workers desire to work fewer hours although this may entail a concomitant decline in earnings. This research is conducted to examine the likelihood of overemployment among employees in a particular state in Malaysia, that is, Penang. This study uses primary data that was collected in a survey encompassing a total of 525 employees in the state. A logit model is used to analyse the relationship between the likelihood of overemployment and various socio-demographic, household and work-related variables. The factors that are significantly related to overemployment are ethnicity, age, education, number of children in the household, occupation, hours of work and control over work schedule. Based on the findings of this paper, it is suggested that policies such as offering part-time jobs or job-sharing options to older workers, implementing family-friendly policies, adopting decent working time measures and strategies that give workers more control over their work schedule are some possible ways to deal with the issue of overemployment.