Over the last year, there have been several reports of authorities issuing fines and warnings to business owners for purportedly having their employees work “past prescribed working hours”, which according to the labour authority’s guidelines, is no more than 44 hours a week or eight hours a day.
Employers have also been penalised over not giving rest days, which according to the guidelines, non-shift workers are entitled to one per week. According to reports, some employers have also denied their workers public holidays.
It is sad how common this seems to be the case. In 2019, reports emerged from the International Labour Organization citing Brunei as one of the top 10 countries with the highest average working hours per capita, at around 47 hours per week. Fast forward a few years, the data in 2022 suggests some improvement, at 45.5 hours a week, down from 46 in the previous year. While this was during the pandemic era, there may have been other reasons for the reduction in working hours.
Given that companies are still being found guilty of overworking their employees, now that the pandemic restrictions have mostly been lifted, it is hard not to imagine that the average number of working hours may rise again.
There is, of course, the argument that Brunei is a developing economy, that the general populace does need to sacrifice extra hours in overtime, to “work hard” so the nation can achieve its vision of prosperity and high quality of life.
It is however incredibly difficult to reconcile the fact that despite so many hours put in, very little seems to be achieved. The mildly vague measure of gross domestic product (GDP) is projected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its October World Economic Outlook to be at negative 0.8 per cent this year, and even more optimistic measures still put us far below the ASEAN projected average of 4.2 per cent.
Of course, the real world is harsh. Hours spent slaving at a job doesn’t necessarily mean it will translate to economic potential or productivity. But it does mean that we will need to take a very hard look at the time we are spending at work, with the adage of “work smarter” coming to mind.
There’s always talk of technology being used in the workplace to improve productivity, but if there’s a genuine push to implement systems and procedures that mirror highly productive nations, then over the course of the next few years, we should be seeing a decrease in working hours while other indicators of quality of life also increase.
But I don’t have any confidence in this, unless the authorities take far more significant measures than mere slaps on the wrists of companies and business owners who breach labour laws.
Beyond it being illegal, there has been plenty of research to suggest that demanding more working hours isn’t effective. It is science that informs many labour laws around the world that after 40 hours or so of work, productivity takes a nosedive as workers become fatigued, mentally stressed and unable to function at 100 per cent capacity.
Maybe there’s a cultural fault of perceiving Bruneians to be somewhat “lazy”, but forcing more hours upon already exhausted and demotivated workers has been proven to be counterproductive. While the prevailing sentiment is that workers aren’t doing enough, I contend that perhaps it’s time to take a long hard look at the general corporate governance in the country, and whether or not it is conducive to producing a motivated labour force. Or is it simply there to exploit locals who may not have much of a choice?
Genie In A Bottle
