Editing Working time (section)

===Asia===
====India====
{{Further|Indian labour law}}

[[Indian labour law]] has, in theory, offered protection to labour rights. However, the average office worker, women and the IT sector are unofficially forced to work overtime without overtime pay. The software billionaire CEO [[N. R. Narayana Murthy|Narayana Murthy]] recently stated, “Somehow our youth have the habit of taking not-so-desirable habits from the West. My request is that our youngsters must say – ‘This is my country. I want to work 70 hours a week’. This is exactly what the Germans and Japanese did after the Second World War”.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/what-male-ceos-like-narayana-murthy-dont-get-about-working-women-and-the-youth-9037361/|title=What male CEOs like Narayana Murthy don't get about working women and the youth|first=Payal|last=Chawla|newspaper=IndianExpress|via=indianexpress.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/07/india-debate-on-70-hour-workweek-illegal-or-road-to-greatness.html |title=India debate on 70-hour workweek: Illegal or road to greatness? |website=cnbc.com |date=2023-11-06 |access-date=2023-11-28}}</ref> This sparked a national debate with many male CEO's strongly supporting 70-hour workweeks to boost productivity and cover losses due to the Corona Pandemic.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-67269976 |title=NR Narayana Murthy: Why Indians are debating a 70-hour work week |publisher=BBC |date=2023-11-01 |access-date=2023-11-28}}</ref> A 70-hour workweek translates to working approximately 12 hours a day, for six days a week, a phenomenon unofficially occurring in the IT industry.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/smart-living/average-to-poor-work-life-balance-indian-it-sector-employees-forced-to-work-50-hours-a-week/ar-AA1kdlS4 |title=Average to poor work life balance: Indian IT sector employees forced to work 50 hours a week |website=msn.com |date=2023-11-21 |access-date=2023-11-28}}</ref> Women in all workplaces are at risk of overwork despite the existence of work laws. Many women already worked much more than 70 hours a week - at both the office and their homes. [[Ernst %26 Young#Death of Anna Sebastian Perayil|Anna Sebastian Perayil]], a 26-year old a young Chartered Accountant (CA) from Kerala, had started working in the E&Y Pune office on 18 March 2024, but her premature death within 4 months on 20 July 2024 due to stress caused by overwork, [[presenteeism]], exhaustion and fatigue has re-ignited the debate about [[Toxic workplace|toxic work culture]] in India. <ref>{{cite news|url=https://english.jagran.com/viral/after-ey-pune-ca-death-mnc-employee-x-post-on-working-17-to-18-hours-attending-5-am-meeting-draws-reaction-10188665 |title=After EY Pune CA Death, MNC Employee's X Post On Working 17 To 18 Hours, Attending 5 AM Meeting Draws Reaction |publisher=Jagran |date=2024-09-19 |access-date=2024-09-19}}</ref> Since the pandemic began, various Indian CEOs have repeatedly advocated for this work culture.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62712665 |title=Shantanu Deshpande: Bombay Shaving Co CEO criticised for 18-hour workday advice |publisher=BBC |date=2022-08-31 |access-date=2023-11-28}}</ref>

====South Korea====
South Korea has the fastest shortening working time in the [[OECD]],<ref>{{cite web|author=OECD |url=http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DatasetCode=ANHRS |title=Average annual hours actually worked per worker |publisher=Stats.oecd.org |access-date=2014-07-14}}</ref> which is the result of the government's proactive move to lower working hours at all levels and to increase [[leisure]] and [[relaxation (psychology)|relaxation]] time, which introduced the mandatory forty-hour, five-day working week in 2004 for companies with over 1,000 employees. Beyond regular working hours, it is legal to demand up to 12 hours of overtime during the week, plus another 16 hours on weekends.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}} The 40-hour workweek expanded to companies with 300 employees or more in 2005, 100 employees or more in 2006, 50 or more in 2007, 20 or more in 2008 and a full inclusion to all workers nationwide in July 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://100.naver.com/100.nhn?docid=782057 |script-title=ko:주5일근무제 : 지식백과 |language=ko |publisher=100.naver.com |access-date=2014-07-14}}</ref> The government has continuously increased public holidays to 16 days in 2013, more than the 10 days of the [[United States]] and double that of the [[United Kingdom]]'s 8 days.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=2013042600691 |title=[시사이슈 찬반토론&#93; 대체휴일제 부활 옳을까요 |publisher=Hankyung.com |date= 2013-04-26|access-date=2014-07-14}}</ref> Despite those efforts, South Korea's work hours are still relatively long, with an average 1,874 hours per year in 2023<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2024/06/113_369885.html |title=Yearly working hours for S. Koreans fall by 200, but remain far longer than OECD average|date=3 March 2024 |publisher=yonhap news|access-date=2024-03-03}}</ref>

====Japan====
[[File:Nomorekaroshi-shimbashiprotest-june-13-2018.jpg|thumb|A "No More [[Karoshi]]" protest in Tokyo, 2018]]
Work hours in [[Japan]] are decreasing, but many Japanese still work long hours.<ref>{{cite web|author=Justine Underhill |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/working-towards-death-in-japan-140758364.html |title=The 100 hour work week in Japan |website=finance.yahoo.com |date=2015-08-20 |access-date=2016-03-14}}</ref> Recently,{{when|date=April 2022}} Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) issued a draft report recommending major changes to the regulations that govern working hours. The centerpiece of the proposal is an exemption from overtime pay for white-collar workers.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}} Japan has enacted an 8-hour work day and 40-hour work week (44 hours in specified workplaces). The overtime limits are: 15 hours a week, 27 hours over two weeks, 43 hours over four weeks, 45 hours a month, 81 hours over two months and 120 hours over three months; however, some workers get around these restrictions by working several hours a day without 'clocking in' whether physically or metaphorically.<ref>[http://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/wp/wp-hw4/dl/working_conditions_labour_relations/2011071903.pdf Measures for Working Hours] – Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 2012-11-12</ref> {{Citation needed|reason=no ref for how to avoid 'clocking in'|date=May 2015}} The overtime allowance should not be lower than 125% and not more than 150% of the normal hourly rate.<ref>[http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/WEBTEXT/27776/64846/E95JPN01.htm Japan– Labour Standards Law] ILO, 2012-11-12</ref> Workaholism in Japan is considered a serious social problem leading to early death, a phenomenon dubbed ''[[karōshi]]'', meaning death from overwork.<ref>{{cite news |title=The young Japanese working themselves to death |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-39981997 |work=BBC News |date=2 June 2017}}</ref>

====Mainland China====
{{See also|996 working hour system}}
China adopted a 40-hour week, eliminating half-day work on Saturdays.<ref>[http://big5.gov.cn/gate/big5/www.gov.cn/banshi/2005-08/05/content_20688_2.htm {{in lang|zh}} 中華人民共和國勞動法] – 中華人民共和國中央人民政府, 2005-08-05</ref>

Traditionally, Chinese have worked long hours, and this has led to many [[Karōshi|deaths from overwork]], with the state media reporting in 2014 that 600,000 people were dying suddenly annually, some of them were dying from overwork. Despite this, work hours have reportedly been falling for about three decades due to rising productivity, better labor laws, and the spread of the two-day weekend. The trend has affected both factories and white-collar companies that have been responding to growing demands for easier work schedules.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/06/how-hard-does-china-work|title=How hard does China work?|first=Tom|last=Phillips|date=6 October 2015|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/fcb542e6-6789-11e1-b6a1-00144feabdc0.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/fcb542e6-6789-11e1-b6a1-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=2022-12-10 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=China's young warm to the West's work–life balance}}</ref>

{{anchor|996}}
The [[996 working hour system]], as it is known, is where employees work from 09:00 to 21:00, six days a week, excluding two hours of lunch & nap during the noon and one hour of supper in the evening.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/long-days-a-staple-at-chinese-tech-firms-1487787775|title=China's Grueling Formula for Success: 9-9-6|first=Li|last=Yuan|newspaper=WSJ |date=22 Feb 2017|via=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/2183950/chinas-work-ethic-stretches-beyond-996-tech-companies-feel-impact|title=China's work ethic stretches beyond '996' as tech companies feel the impact of slowdown|publisher=South China Morning Post|date=2019-01-29}}</ref> Alibaba founder Jack (Yun) Ma, and JD.Com founder Richard (Qiangdong) Liu both praise the 996 schedule, saying such a schedule has helped Chinese tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent grow to become what they are today.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3005946/alibabas-jack-ma-defends-chinas-996-schedule-tech-workers-protest|title=Jack Ma defends China's 996 tech work ethic|date=Apr 12, 2019|website=South China Morning Post|access-date=Jul 28, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/jd-com-richard-liu-comments-on-996-work-culture-china-2022618|title=China's JD.com Boss Criticises 'Slackers' as Company Makes Cuts|website=NDTV Gadgets 360|access-date=Jul 28, 2019}}</ref>

====Hong Kong====
Hong Kong has no legislation regarding maximum and normal working hours.
The average weekly working hours of full-time employees in Hong Kong is 49 hours.<ref name="swhreport"/> According to the Price and Earnings Report 2012 conducted by [[UBS]], while the global and regional average were 1,915 and 2,154 hours per year respectively, the average working hours in Hong Kong is 2,296 hours per year, which ranked the fifth longest yearly working hours among 72 countries under study.<ref>[http://www.static-ubs.com/global/en/wealth_management/wealth_management_research/prices_earnings/_jcr_content/par/columncontrol/col1/linklist/link_0.1393999310.file/bGluay9wYXRoPS9jb250ZW50L2RhbS91YnMvZ2xvYmFsL3dlYWx0aF9tYW5hZ2VtZW50L3dlYWx0aF9tYW5hZ2VtZW50X3Jlc2VhcmNoL1BfTF8yMDEyX2VuLnBkZg==/P_L_2012_en.pdf Prices and Earnings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924105854/http://www.static-ubs.com/global/en/wealth_management/wealth_management_research/prices_earnings/_jcr_content/par/columncontrol/col1/linklist/link_0.1393999310.file/bGluay9wYXRoPS9jb250ZW50L2RhbS91YnMvZ2xvYmFsL3dlYWx0aF9tYW5hZ2VtZW50L3dlYWx0aF9tYW5hZ2VtZW50X3Jlc2VhcmNoL1BfTF8yMDEyX2VuLnBkZg==/P_L_2012_en.pdf |date=2015-09-24 }} UBS, 2012-11-07</ref> In addition, from the survey conducted by the Public Opinion Study Group of the University of Hong Kong, 79% of the respondents agree that the problem of overtime work in Hong Kong is "severe", and 65% of the respondents support the legislation on the maximum working hours.<ref>[http://www.oxfam.org.hk/en/news_1092.aspx Oxfam Hong Kong releases survey on Minimum Wage and Standard Working Hours] Oxfam Hong Kong, Retrieved on 2012-12-10</ref> In Hong Kong, 70% of surveyed do not receive any overtime remuneration.<ref name="lpsurvey"/> These show that people in Hong Kong concerns the working time issues. As Hong Kong implemented the minimum wage law in May 2011, the Chief Executive, [[Donald Tsang]], of the Special Administrative Region pledged that the government will standardize working hours in Hong Kong.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130215170658/http://www.cdeclips.com/en/hongkong/Standard_work_hours_still_years_away_Tsang/fullstory_53407.html Standard work hours still years away: Tsang]}} China Daily, 2010-10-15</ref>

On 26 November 2012, the Labour Department of the HKSAR released the "Report of the policy study on standard working hours". The report covers three major areas, including: (1) the regimes and experience of other places in regulating working hours, (2) latest working time situations of employees in different sectors, and (3) estimation of the possible impact of introducing standard working hour in Hong Kong.<ref>[http://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/plan/swh.htm Policy Study on Standard Working Hours] Labour Department, HKSARG, retrieved on 2012-12-10</ref> Under the selected parameters, from most loosen to most stringent, the estimated increase in labour cost vary from 1.1&nbsp;billion to 55&nbsp;billion HKD, and affect 957,100 (36.7% of total employees) to 2,378,900 (91.1% of total) employees.<ref name="swhreport">[http://www.labour.gov.hk/eng/plan/pdf/swh/swh_report.pdf Report of the Policy Study on Standard Working Hours] Labour Department, HKSARG, retrieved on 2012-12-10</ref>

Various sectors of the community show concerns about the standard working hours in Hong Kong. The points are summarized as below:

====Labor organizations====
Hong Kong Catholic Commission For Labour Affairs urges the government to legislate the standard working hours in Hong Kong, and suggests a 44 hours standard, 54 hours maximum working hours in a week. The organization thinks that long working time adversely affects the family and social life and health of employees; it also indicates that the current Employment Ordinance does not regulate overtime pays, working time limits nor rest day pays, which can protect employees rights.

====Businesses and related organizations====
Generally, business sector agrees that it is important to achieve [[work–life balance]], but does not support a legislation to regulate working hours limit. They{{Who|date=March 2022}} believe "standard working hours" is not the best way to achieve work–life balance and the root cause of the long working hours in Hong Kong is due to insufficient labor supply. The managing director of Century Environmental Services Group, Catherine Yan, said "Employees may want to work more to obtain a higher salary due to financial reasons. If standard working hour legislation is passed, employers will need to pay a higher salary to employees, and hence the employers may choose to segment work tasks to employer more part time employees instead of providing overtime pay to employees." She thinks this will lead to a situation that the employees may need to find two part-time jobs to earn their living, making them wasting more time on transportation from one job to another.<ref>[https://archive.today/20130215141525/http://stock.appledaily.com/News/Detail?articleId=18035110&issueId=20121008&backpage=2 {{in lang|zh}} 大失預算-最低工資曾衝擊業界] 港股王 – 蘋果日報，2012-10-08</ref>

The Chairman of the [[Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce]], [[Chow Chung-kong]] believes that it is so difficult to implement standard working hours that apply "across-the-board", specifically, to accountants and barristers.<ref>[http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1056078/chamber-chief-suggests-labour-import Chamber chief suggests labor import] SCMP, 2012-10-08</ref> In addition, he believes that standard working hours may decrease individual employees' working hours and would not increase their actual income. It may also lead to an increase of number of part-timers in the labor market.

According to a study conducted jointly by the Business, Economic and Public Affairs Research Centre and Enterprise and Social Development Research Centre of Hong Kong Shue Yan University, 16% surveyed companies believe that a standard working hours policy can be considered, and 55% surveyed think that it would be difficult to implement standard working hours in businesses.<ref>[http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1096048/warning-standard-working-hours-could-derail-hong-kongs-economy {{in lang|zh}}Investigate choices beyond standard working hours] Shu-kam Lee, Cho-yiu Ng, retrieved on 2012-11-30</ref>

Employer representative in the Labour Advisory Board, Stanley Lau, said that standard working hours will completely alter the business environment of Hong Kong, affect [[small and medium enterprise]] and weaken competitiveness of businesses. He believes that the government can encourage employers to pay overtime salary, and there is no need to regulate standard working hours.<ref>[http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1096048/warning-standard-working-hours-could-derail-hong-kongs-economyStandard working hours could derail Hong Kong's economy, warns government adviser] SCMP, 2012-12-03</ref>

====Political parties====
On 17–18 October 2012, the [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong|Legislative Council]] members in Hong Kong debated on the motion "legislation for the regulation of working hours". [[Cheung Kwok-che]] proposed the motion "That is the Council urges the Government to introduce a bill on the regulation of working hours within this legislative session, the contents of which must include the number of standard weekly hours and overtime pay".<ref>[http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr12-13/english/counmtg/agenda/cm20121017.htm Council Meeting (Agenda) 17 October 2012] Legislative Council Commission, HKSARG, retrieved on 2012-12-10</ref> As the motion was not passed by both [[functional constituencies]] and [[geographical constituencies]], it was negatived.<ref>[http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr12-13/chinese/counmtg/voting/v20121017.pdf Voting Results] Legislative Council Commission, HKSARG, retrieved on 2012-12-10</ref>

The [[Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions]] suggested a standard 44-hour work week with overtime pay of 1.5 times the usual pay. It believes the regulation of standard working hour can prevent the employers to force employees to work (overtime) without pay.<ref>[http://www.singpao.com/xw/gat/201210/t20121010_394008.html {{in lang|zh}} 工聯會宣布十大工作重點] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616200611/http://www.singpao.com/xw/gat/201210/t20121010_394008.html |date=2013-06-16 }} 香港成報，2012-10-10</ref>

[[Elizabeth Quat]] of the [[Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong]] (DAB), believed that standard working hours were a labor policy and was not related to family-friendly policies. The Vice President of Young DAB, Wai-hung Chan, stated that standard working hours would bring limitations to small and medium enterprises. He thought that the government should discuss the topic with the public more before legislating standard working hours.

The [[Democratic Party (Hong Kong)|Democratic Party]] suggested a 44-hour standard work week and compulsory overtime pay to help achieve the balance between work, rest and entertainment of people in Hong Kong.<ref>[http://www.dphk.org/?p=11568 {{in lang|zh}} 民主黨2011/12施政報告建議書 捍衛核心價值 縮窄貧富懸殊 | 民主黨] 民主黨，2011-10-11</ref>

The [[Labour Party (Hong Kong)|Labour Party]] believed regulating working hours could help achieve a work–life balance.<ref>[http://www.labour.org.hk/policy-zh/labour-zh.html {{in lang|zh}} 勞工 – 工黨 Labour Party] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419034903/http://www.labour.org.hk/policy-zh/labour-zh.html |date=2012-04-19 }} 工黨，2012</ref> It suggests an 8-hour work day, a 44-hour standard work week, a 60-hour maximum work week and an overtime pay of 1.5 times the usual pay.<ref name="lpsurvey">[http://cheungchiuhung.org.hk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/workhoursurvey.pdf {{in lang|zh}} 工黨「父親節」工時問卷調查報告] 工黨，2012-06-17</ref>

[[Poon Siu-ping]] of [[Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions]] thought that it is possible to set work hour limit for all industries; and the regulation on working hours can ensure the overtime payment by employers to employees, and protect employees' health.

The [[Civic Party|Civic party]] suggests "to actively study setting weekly standard working hours at 44 hours to align with family-friendly policies" in LegCo Election 2012.<ref>[http://lc2012.civicparty.hk/?page_id=1400 Social welfare and livelihood] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130412221442/http://lc2012.civicparty.hk/?page_id=1400 |date=2013-04-12 }} Civic Party LegCo Election 2012, retrieved on 2012-11-12</ref>

Member of [[Economic Synergy]], Jeffery Lam, believes that standard working hours would adversely affect productivity, tense the employer-employee relationship, and increase the pressure faced by businesses who suffer from inadequate workers. He does not support the regulation on working hours at its current situation.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150909023614/http://www.economicsynergy.org/speak_detail.php?type=1&id=284 {{in lang{{!}}zh}} 盡快落實制訂標準工時]}} 林健鋒，2011-06-23</ref>

=====Government=====
[[Matthew Cheung Kin-chung]], the Secretary for [[Labour and Welfare Bureau]], said the [[Executive Council of Hong Kong|Executive Council]] has already received the government report on working hours in June, and the Labour Advisory Board and the LegCo's Manpower Panel will receive the report in late November and December respectively.<ref>[http://www.chinadailyapac.com/article/legco-rejects-standard-work-hours-proposal LegCo rejects standard work hours proposal] China Daily, 2012-10-19</ref> On 26 November 2012, the Labour Department released the report, and the report covered the regimes and experience of practicing standard working hours in selected regions, current work hour situations in different industries, and the impact assessment of standard working hours. Also, Matthew Cheung mentioned that the government will form a select committee by first quarter of 2013, which will include government officials, representative of labor unions and employers' associations, academics and community leaders, to investigate the related issues. He also said that it would "perhaps be unrealistic" to put forward a bill for standard working hours in the next one to two years.<ref>[http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1064321/city-digest-october-19-2012 City Digest, October 19,2012] SCMP, 2012-10-19</ref>

=====Academics=====
Yip Siu-fai, Professor of the Department of Social Work and Social Administration of [[HKU]], has noted that professions such as nursing and accountancy have long working hours and that this may affect people's social life. He believes that standard working hours could help to give Hong Kong more family-friendly workplaces and to increase fertility rates. Randy Chiu, Professor of the Department of Management of [[HKBU]], has said that introducing standard working hours could avoid excessively long working hours of employees.<ref>[http://www.hket.com/eti/article/46c86e63-2be2-43f2-abdd-ab3d16735d46-609976?cgs=&source=print&printable=true {{in lang|zh}} 標準工時雖動聽 政治現實恐難容] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130526153713/http://www.hket.com/eti/article/46c86e63-2be2-43f2-abdd-ab3d16735d46-609976?cgs=&source=print&printable=true |date= 2013-05-26 }} HKET, 2012-02-27</ref> He also said that nowadays Hong Kong attains almost full employment, has a high rental price and severe inflation, recently implemented minimum wage, and is affected by a gloomy global economy; he also mentioned that comprehensive considerations on macroeconomic situations are needed, and emphasized that it is perhaps inappropriate to adopt working-time regulation as exemplified in other countries to Hong Kong.<ref>{{YouTube|A09eFz59Sq0|城市論壇 標準工時徵建議 勞資官民齊集思}} {{in lang|zh}}</ref>

Lee Shu-Kam, Associate Professor of the Department of Economics and Finance of [[HKSYU]], believes that standard working hours cannot deliver "work–life balance". He referenced the research{{which|date=October 2018}} to the US by the University of California, Los Angeles in 1999 and pointed out that in the industries and regions in which the wage elasticity is low, the effects of standard working hours on lowering actual working time and increasing wages is limited: for regions where the labor supply is inadequate, standard working hours can protect employees' benefits yet cause unemployment; but for regions (such as Japan) where the problem does not exist, standard working hours would only lead to unemployment.<ref name="skbook">Lee, S.K. et al. 2012. Standard Working Hours or Flexible Working Hours – Policy alternatives to facilitate Work–Life Balance, Hong Kong: Ovis Press.</ref>

Francis Lui, Head and Professor of the Department of Economics of [[Hong Kong University of Science and Technology]], believed that standard working hours may not lower work time but increase unemployment. He used Japan as an example to illustrate that the implementation of standard working hours lowered productivity per head and demotivated the economy. He also said that even if the standard working hours can shorten employees' weekly working hours, they may need to work for more years to earn sufficient amount of money for [[retirement]], i.e. delay their retirement age. The total working time over the course of a lifetime may not change.<ref name="luiact">[http://francis-lui.blogspot.hk/2010/12/blog-post_2373.html {{in lang|zh}}「標準工時」會否僵化勞動市場？] 雷鼎鳴，2010-12-08</ref>

In 2012, Lok-sang Ho, Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Public Policy Studies of [[Lingnan University (Hong Kong)|Lingnan University]], pointed out that "as different employees perform various jobs and under different degrees of pressures, it may not be appropriate to establish standard working hours in Hong Kong"; and he proposed a 50-hour maximum work week to protect workers' health.<ref>
[http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2012-11/20/content_15944513.htm Business / Opinion Setting maximum work hours first]. ''China Daily'', 2012-11-20.
</ref>

====Taiwan====
In 2018, Taiwan had the world's 4th longest work hour and 2nd in Asia, with the average number of work hours hit 2,033 hours. There had been reduction in the work hours by 122 from 2008 to 2018.<ref>{{cite news|first1=Keoni|last1=Everington|date=27 September 2019|url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3785553|title=Taiwan has 4th longest working hours in world|publisher=Taiwan News|access-date=29 September 2019}}</ref>

====Malaysia====
Since 1 September 2022, the weekly work hour in Malaysia was reduced from 48 hours to 45 hours after it was promulgated in the [[Dewan Negara]].<ref>{{cite news|date=11 August 2022|url=https://www.sinarharian.com.my/article/215937/video/berita-semasa-video/kerja-45-jam-seminggu-kuat-kuasa-1-sept|title=Kerja 45 jam seminggu kuat kuasa 1 Sept|work=Sinar Harian|access-date=16 November 2022|language=ms|trans-title=45 Hours Weekly Work Starting 1 September}}</ref>

====Singapore====
[[Singapore]] has an 8-hour normal work day (9 hours including lunchtime), a 45-hour normal working week, and a maximum 48-hour work week. If the employee works no more than five days a week, the employee's normal working day is 9 hours and the working week is 44 hours. Also, if the number of hours worked by the worker is less than 44 hours every alternate week, the 44-hour weekly limit may be exceeded in the other week. However, this is subject to the pre-specification in the service contract, and the maximum should not exceed 48 hours per week or 88 hours in any consecutive two week period. In addition, a shift worker can work up to 12 hours a day, provided that the average working hours per week do not exceed 44 over a consecutive three-week period. The overtime allowance per overtime hour must not be less than 1.5 times the employee's hourly basic rates.<ref>[http://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/employment-rights-conditions/hours-of-work-and-overtime/Pages/default.aspx Hours of Work & Time – Ministry of Manpower] – Government of Singapore, 2012-05-04</ref>