Kronos Survey Shows Employees Around the World Believe Employers are Violating Overtime Rules

CHELMSFORD, Mass., Aug. 28, 2012 — A new global survey commissioned by The Workforce Institute™ at Kronos Incorporated and conducted by Harris Interactive reveals that a majority of hourly workers around the world believe their employer has violated laws or rules governing overtime in their region. The Kronos Global Overtime Survey also looks at the frequency of overtime around the world and employee perceptions of how fairly their employers provide overtime.

News Facts

• Hourly wage workers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, India, Mexico, the U.K., and the U.S. were represented in the survey.
• The vast majority of hourly wage workers around the world said they are at least somewhat aware of the rules and laws governing overtime and compensation where they live (from a high of 96 percent in China to a low of 72 percent in Australia) and a majority in every region except the U.S. also believe their employers had at some point violated overtime rules (88 percent high in China to 47 percent low in the U.S.).
• Overtime is very commonplace around the world. In all regions surveyed except France, more than half of hourly wage workers said their employer offered them the opportunity to work overtime hours (defined as more than their regularly scheduled work hours at either a higher rate of pay or in return for paid time off): 82 percent in India; 80 percent in China; 79 percent in the U.K.; 77 percent in Brazil; 71 percent in Mexico; 61 percent in the U.S.; 54 percent in Australia; and 52 percent in Canada. Thirty-nine percent of hourly wage workers in France were offered the opportunity to work overtime.
• The survey also found that high numbers of hourly wage workers around the world are actually required by their employer to work overtime: more than half in India (68 percent), China (67 percent), and the U.K. (58 percent), and significant numbers in other regions as well: 37 percent in Australia, 35 percent in France, 33 percent in Brazil, 26 percent in the U.S., 24 percent in Mexico, and 20 percent in Canada.
• The opportunity to work additional hours for a higher rate of pay or additional paid time off was very appealing to employees around the world. The majority of workers in every region surveyed said that they were happy with the amount of overtime hours they worked or wished they could work more: 92 percent in Brazil, Canada, and the U.S.; 91 percent in Australia; 90 percent in the U.K. and Mexico; 88 percent in France; 85 percent in India; and 61 percent in China.

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