Increase in off-hours work among employees in Taiwan

Over one-quarter of employees in Taiwan are averaging 4.7 additional hours each month engaging in business-related activities outside regular working hours, according to an annual survey by the Ministry of Labour of Taiwan.

The survey, conducted from June 2021 to May last year, focused on the employment and living conditions of employees and found that 25.2% of respondents had to engage in off-the-clock activities, an increase of one percentage point from the previous survey. These activities include receiving messages from employers via electronic communications methods such as phones, mobile phone apps, and social media.

The survey also found that 42% of respondents worked overtime, with an average of 15 hours per month, an increase of 0.1 hours from the previous survey. Of those who reported working overtime, 84.1% were compensated with either pay or paid time off.

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The three areas that the majority of respondents considered satisfactory in their jobs were gender equality, good working relationships, and supervisors showing concern for employees. Conversely, the major causes of job dissatisfaction were wages (73.6%), employee performance appraisals and promotion systems (71.3%), and workloads (64.1%).

Furthermore, 72% of respondents reported that they were not given the option to work from home, while 86.2% stated they did not have any retirement plans. The remaining 13.8% who did have retirement plans expect to retire at the age of 61.3 on average, reported Taipei Times.