For a significant portion of employees, this leads to dissatisfaction, stress, and physical overexertion, as shown by the current Work Climate Index of the Chamber of Labor Upper Austria. Irregular working hours or on-call work are particularly perceived as burdensome, especially in tourism.

While about three-quarters of employees are satisfied with models such as flexitime and fixed working hours, only 61 percent of employees with regular on-call duty and 59 percent with irregular working hours are satisfied. Such regulations, often disadvantageous from the employee's perspective, are frequently applied in tourism, healthcare, retail, or among bus drivers, and thus in sectors where the wage level is sometimes low, said social researcher Daniel Schönherr on Tuesday at a press conference.

Work Climate: Weekend Work and Overtime Lead to Frustration

According to the study, weekend work - often the norm in the tourism and healthcare sectors - tends to lower satisfaction with working time regulations. In the case of irregular working hours, dissatisfaction results particularly from the fact that leisure time suffers, added Schönherr. Additionally, one-fifth of all employees reported having to work overtime - also a breeding ground for job frustration.

Reinhard Raml from the market research institute IFES highlighted the consequences of unattractive working time regulations for mental and physical health at the press conference. Especially with irregular working hours, the stress level is high compared to other time models. Employees burdened by time pressure and work pressure also have significantly more frequent digestive problems, sleep disorders, high blood pressure, or back pain. In ten-hour days, which many employees favor in the sense of a four-day week, such effects should not be underestimated.

There are also problems with job satisfaction among part-time employees, who often have to work extra hours, added Upper Austria's Chamber of Labor President Andreas Stangl. According to the survey, this is the case for almost half of the employees. Additionally, 27 percent of all part-time employees would like an increase in hours. Stangl therefore sees employers as being challenged to enable a switch from part-time to full-time. In general, from the perspective of the Chamber of Labor Upper Austria, overtime must be better paid or reduced. Furthermore, employers should be more severely punished for working time offenses, and the entitlement to the sixth week of vacation should be granted earlier.

(APA/Red)

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