7.6 million workers 'overemployed', reports DOLE

Close to one-fourth of employed workers or almost five of every 20 employed Filipinos in the country were overemployed, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Tuesday.

Citing a report by the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES), DOLE Secretary Arturo D. Brion said majority of the overemployed workers, or those who worked more than 48 hours a week in their primary or main job, worked excessively for additional earnings.

Brion added that some overemployed workers also extended extra hours at work in compliance with the requirements of their employer.

The BLES report, which was culled from the labor force survey conducted quarterly by the National Statistics Office, showed that 22.9% of the 33 million employed Filipino workers in 2006 were overemployed. The figure translates to 7.6 million overemployed Filipinos.

The report also showed that majority of the overemployed workers (58.5% or 4.4 million) worked for additional earnings. Of this figure, about 2.5 million or 57.4% were men. About 40% or three million gave requirements of the job as another reason for working excessively.

The DOLE chief said the statistics on overemployment along with underemployment are essential in analyzing and finding solutions to the country's employment problems.

He noted that there is a need to take a closer look on the overemployed in view of the fact that long hours of work is detrimental to the workers' health and well being, productivity levels, work quality, and balance between work and family life.

According to International Labor Organization Convention No. 1, 1919, the working hours of persons employed in any public or private industrial undertaking or in any of its branches other than that where only family members are employed, shall not exceed eight in the day and 48 in the week.

This has been reiterated in the 1974 Philippine Labor Code which states that the normal hours of any employee shall not exceed eight hours a day and that an individual is entitled to a rest period of not less than 24 consecutive hours after every six consecutive normal work days.

Data further showed that the proportion of the overemployed to the total employed at 22.9% in 2006 has barely changed compared to 21.5% overemployed workers in 2001. Data also showed that more than half (4.1 million) of the overemployed in 2006 were men.

A shift in the age structure of the employed working beyond regular hours was noted over the period in review. In 2001, those aged 35-44 years old accounted for the biggest share at 25.5% (1.6 million).

Five years later, the biggest overemployed group belonged to the 25-34 years old at 2.1 million or 27.5% of the total overemployed workers. This means that overemployed workers were getting younger.

In terms of education, high school graduates accounted for the biggest number of workers with long hours at 1.8 million (29.2%) in 2001 and 2.3 million in 2006. Less than 10% of the overemployed were college graduates, 5000,000 in 2001 and 708,000 in 2006. This group was almost equally divided between men and women workers.

Around 65% (4 million 2001 and 5 million in 2006) of those who worked more than 48 hours were married. One third of the overemployed married workers belonged to age group 35-44 years.

While this age group remained to account for the biggest shares in 2006, their proportions including those aged 45 years and over have declined since 2001. On the other hand, overemployed married workers in age groups 15-24 and 25-34 years old have increased.