Reduced working hours do not guarantee increased productivity

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's (UKM) Industrial Psychology and Organisation senior lecturer, Dr Fatimah Wati Halim said there were other factors that could affect employees' productivity.

"For me, one's productivity at work does not depends on the allocated working hours but how efficient they are with the time they have, how effective they are at work as well as their approach towards their jobs," said Dr Fatimah Wati.

Workers have to be adept at managing their time in achieving work-life balance, she added.

When asked to comment on the studies made in Sweden which showed significant increases in productivity after a reduction in daily work hours, Dr Fatimah Wati said the work system there is dissimilar as compared to Malaysia.

She opined that for a developing country such as Malaysia, it has become a need for the work force to spend longer hours to work as compared to those working in developed nations.

However, she stressed on the importance of flexibility in determining work hours that should be agreed between employers and their employees.

"Our well-being at work actually depends on the flexibility of our work.

"We need to serve 40 hours a week to an organisation, we prioritise family on certain days which require our attention and make up for the loss hours at work on other days," said Dr Fatimah Wati.

Echoing similar sentiment, Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive Director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan said if the law could be reassessed by the government, he believed both employers and employee can negotiate a win-win situation.

He cited a worker who does not mind working 12 hours a day, can report for work four days a week.

"This can be achieved if the current law is amended. For now, it can't be done due to the provisions within the law," he added.

He also touched on the increase in cost to the employers if the working hours are reduced without affecting the salary.

"We need to remember that even if the work hours are reduced, the salary is still paid monthly," said Shamsuddin.

According to him, the working hours can be reduced once Malaysian workers achieve a high-productivity work culture.

"MEF does not disagree whole-heartedly with the suggestion. It can be done, just not now," said Shamsuddin.