The Impact of Overtime on Job Satisfaction and Work Stress among Indian Contract Workers

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate and review the relationship between overtime and employee welfare metrics such as perceived levels of job satisfaction and job stress, in the Indian context. The purpose is to assess the relationship between overtime, satisfaction and stress faced by Indian contract labourers and gig workers, and thereby to determine the optimal level of overtime for such workers which would lead to work-life balance.

The study is a mixed-method study, employing sequential exploratory design to combine quantitative as well as qualitative approaches. Primary data for the same was collected through in-depth interviews and questionnaire-led surveys of contract laborers who were identified and sampled through snowball sampling. The criteria of inclusion for the study are jobs which are contractual in nature and jobs where workers are paid on an hourly or daily basis. Various metrics for measuring the stress and satisfaction level of the target group were identified based on previous studies involving overtime and lifestyles of contract laborers.

The research establishes a relationship between overtime and work-life balance on employee welfare metrics such as perceived levels of satisfaction and stress. In-depth qualitative interviews were then used to corroborate and explain the quantitative findings.

This research provides insights into the relationship between satisfaction and working hours including perceived levels of stress of contract labourers. The research can be used further by future studies to identify and explain the causal factors behind worker non-performance and dissatisfaction. The practical implications of the same can be applied to larger, more diverse sets of workers to test the scalability and applicability of the insights, as well as to make necessary changes through future research to ensure the relevance of the findings to changing scenarios.

Through the results found, the study highlights important differences between contract labourers and permanent workers, with regard to overtime and its effect on satisfaction, stress and work-life balance.