Some loyal employees hold jobs for decades. But one man in Brazil has stayed at one company longer than anyone in the world – literally. Walter Orthmann, 100, set the Guinness World Record for working at the same company for 84 years and nine days. Orthmann's career started when he was just 15 years old.
The Netherlands has the shortest average workweek, with the Dutch working an average of 29.5 hours per week.
Singapore ranks as the most overworked country in the world, with 7 in 10 employees unhappy at work. The study by Instant Offices compared average working hours, annual leave, and workplace happiness to determine which APAC countries have the strongest culture of overworking, with Singapore coming out on top.
Mexico has the world's hardest workers, clocking in at 2,127.8 hours per year on average. That means that the average Mexican worker works for 40.9 hours a week, about 5.7% more than the average worker in the United States.
Under Australian laws, employees work up to 38 hours in a week, or 7.6 hours (7 hours, 36 minutes) each day. These are classed as regular hours of work, and time worked outside of these hours can attract overtime, higher rates of pay (“penalties”), or be counted as time off in lieu to be taken later.
Iceland. Iceland tested four-day, 35-36-hour weeks from 2015-2019 with more than 2,500 employees, or roughly 1% of the country's total workforce. Participating employers included police departments, schools, and the Reykjavik mayor's office, and employees kept their same salary. The test was considered a huge success.
Iceland. Iceland introduced a four-year trial in October 2021 to experiment with the four-day work week. As per the reports, around 2500 workers are involved in this program and are indulged in a wide array of workplaces, such as offices, hospitals, and preschools.
According to the OECD, the country with the shortest working week is the Netherlands, with a reported 29.5 weekly working hours. Broken down by day, that translates to a four-day workweek with just 7.37-hour days. Denmark follows with 32.5 working hours a week, and then Norway, with 33.6.
Which country is most well known for its 4-day work week? Iceland: Between 2014 and 2021, Iceland ran a well-publicized trial of a 35-36-hour work week sponsored by the federal government. The trials covered 66 workplaces and 2,500 workers in total.
6 Days Work Week
Countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea have a high number of average work hours per year.
The Day shift: The work day for the Mexican worker is eight hours and that eight-hour shift fits into a flexible 14-hour work day beginning at 6:00 am and ending at 8:00 pm. The Nightshift: The night shift for Mexico's workers happens within the 10-hour window of time between 8:00 pm and 6:00 am.
According to the Japanese Labor Law, only 8 hours a day, or 40 hours a week, are allowed. If Japanese companies wish to extend their employee's working hours, they must first conclude special treaties to get acceptance from the government, per Labor Standards Act No. 36.
1. Italy — 960 hours per year (or an average of 20 hours per week, factoring in vacations).
Working life in China is usually centred on a 40-hour week spread across five days (most often Monday to Friday). General banking hours are Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm. A standard working day is eight hours long.
1926: Henry Ford popularized the 40-hour work week after he discovered through his research that working more yielded only a small increase in productivity that lasted a short period of time.
In Australia, an employee can work up to 38 hours in a week or 7.6 hours a day. The spread of hours must be defined with the employer, usually worked from Monday to Friday. Many organisations may ask employees to remain available to work 'reasonable overtime' where required.
Maximum weekly hours
An employee can work a maximum of 38 hours in a week unless an employer asks them to work reasonable extra hours.
Break rights
Full-time employees working between 7 to 10 hours a day are entitled to 2 paid rest breaks of 10 minutes and one unpaid meal break of 30-60 minutes.
Despite Australia's laid-back reputation, research conducted by the Australian Institute last year found 3.2 billion hours of unpaid overtime was worked last year. Similarly, an Australia National University survey of 8,000 Australians in 2017 found 40% struggled with work-life balance.
Scoring a 7.5 out of 10 on the employee happiness meter, Denmark takes the cake for one of the best countries to work in. On average, people work 37 hours a week and get 100 percent paid sick leave for 30 days out of the year. Related: Want to Be Happy? Stop Doing These 10 Things.