IELTS essay sample: Employees should not be asked to work overtime
Essay topic
People should work a fixed number of hours per week, and employers should not ask anybody to work more than this. Do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
Sample essay
The modern workplace has become increasingly demanding. In many organizations, employees are made to work for long hours to achieve more in less time. In my opinion, this practice should not be encouraged. In this essay, I will analyse how long working hours affect employees.
Firstly, working for long hours on a regular basis stresses employees who are already under pressure to complete the tasks assigned to them. Take, for instance, the case of professionals working in the Indian software industry. These people are always under pressure because of their tighter delivery schedules. They don’t get enough sleep or rest. As a result many of them suffer from chronic fatigue, backache, and migraine. Staring at the computer for long hours affects their eyesight.
Another impact of working overtime is the early onset of diseases in younger people. More and more young working individuals in developing countries like India and China are suffering from diabetes and cardiac diseases. Since youngsters are spending more time at the workplace, they don’t get time to exercise. Many of them subsist on junk food. This is particularly true in the case of working couples. When both of them work overtime, they don’t have the time or interest to cook meals at home. As a result, they eat out and develop many health problems over time. Work life balance is another problem faced by overworked employees.
To conclude working overtime has a negative impact on employees and their families. Employers should realize that they cannot increase productivity by asking their employees to spend long hours at the workplace. In fact, stressed out employees are not very productive and cannot do justice to their jobs.
