Editing Working time (section)

{{short description|Period of time that an individual spends at paid occupational labor}}
{{distinguish|Work-time}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2021}}
{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | image1 = Average annual working hours per employed person, OWID.svg
 | caption1 = Average annual working hours per employed person<ref>{{cite web |title=Annual working hours per worker |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-working-hours-per-persons-engaged |website=Our World in Data}}</ref>
 | image2 = 49時間以上労働者国際比較.png
 | caption2 = Percentage of workforce working for at least 49 hours per week<ref>{{cite web |title=Employment by sex and weekly hours actually worked (thousands) |url=https://www.ilo.org/shinyapps/bulkexplorer56/?lang=en&segment=indicator&id=EMP_TEMP_SEX_HOW_NB_A |website=ILOSTAT explorer |publisher=[[International Labour Organization]]}}</ref>
}}
[[File:Weekly Working Hours (Rescaled).jpg|thumb|202x202px|Working Time 2020<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Joshanloo |first=Mohsen |date=September 2023 |title=A New Index of Perceived Job Quality in 116 Countries: Associations with Working Hours and Other National Characteristics |journal=Social Sciences |volume=12 |issue=9 |pages=492 |doi=10.3390/socsci12090492 |doi-access=free |issn=2076-0760}}</ref>]]
{{labour|sp=us}}

'''Working time''' or '''laboring time''' is the period of [[time]] that a person spends at paid [[Wage labour|labor]]. [[Unpaid work|Unpaid labor]] such as personal housework or caring for children or pets is not considered part of the working week.

Many countries regulate the [[work week]] by law, such as stipulating minimum daily [[Break (work)|rest periods]], annual [[Civic holiday|holidays]], and a [[Eight-hour day|maximum number of working hours]] per week. Working time may vary from person to person, often depending on economic conditions, location, culture, lifestyle choice, and the profitability of the individual's livelihood. For example, someone who is supporting children and paying a large mortgage might need to work more hours to meet basic [[cost of living|costs of living]] than someone of the same [[earning power]] with lower housing costs. In developed countries like the United Kingdom, some workers are part-time because they are unable to find full-time work, but many choose reduced work hours to care for children or other family; some choose it simply to increase [[leisure]] time.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/9236466/More-and-more-workers-join-the-part-time-revolution.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/9236466/More-and-more-workers-join-the-part-time-revolution.html |archive-date=2022-01-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live| title=More and more workers join the part-time revolution |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |first=Judith |last=Woods |date=1 May 2012 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

'''Standard working hours''' (or normal working hours) refers to the legislation to limit the working hours per day, per week, per month or per year. The employer pays higher rates for overtime hours as required in the law. Standard working hours of countries worldwide are around 40 to 44 hours per week - but not everywhere: from 35 hours per week in France<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.expatica.com/fr/working/employment-law/french-labor-laws-104533/ |title=French labor laws |publisher=Expatica |access-date=2022-06-27}}</ref> to up to 60 hours per week in nations such as Bhutan. '''Maximum working hours''' refers to the maximum working hours of an employee. The employee cannot work more than the level specified in the maximum working hours law.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2012-11/20/content_15944496.htm |title=Setting maximum work hours first|work=[[China Daily]]|first=Lok Sang |last=Ho | date=20 November 2012}}</ref>

In advanced economies, working time has declined substantially over time while [[Workforce productivity|labor productivity]] and [[real wages]] have increased.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Kopytov |first1=Alexandr |last2=Roussanov |first2=Nikolai |last3=Taschereau-Dumouchel |first3=Mathieu |date=2023 |title=Cheap Thrills: The Price of Leisure and the Global Decline in Work Hours |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/723717 |journal=Journal of Political Economy Macroeconomics |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=80–118 |doi=10.1086/723717 |issn=2832-9341}}</ref> In 1900, American workers worked 50% more than their counterparts today.<ref name=":0" /> The [[World Health Organization]] and the [[International Labour Organization]] estimated that globally in 2016 one in ten workers were exposed to working 55 or more hours per week and 745,000 persons died as a result of having a heart disease event or a stroke attributable to having worked these long hours, making exposure to long working hours the occupational risk factor with the largest disease burden.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pega |first1=Frank |last2=Nafradi |first2=Balint|last3=Momen |first3=Natalie |last4=Ujita |first4=Yuka |last5=Streicher |first5=Kai |last6=Prüss-Üstün |first6=Annette |last7=Technical Advisory Group |title=Global, regional, and national burdens of ischemic heart disease and stroke attributable to exposure to long working hours for 194 countries, 2000–2016: A systematic analysis from the WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of the Work-related Burden of Disease and Injury |journal=Environment International |date=2021 |volume=154 |page=106595 |doi=10.1016/j.envint.2021.106595 | pmc=8204267 |pmid=34011457 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2021EnInt.15406595P }}</ref>

{{TOC limit|3}}