More than 215,000 people in Serbia work over eight hours a day, six days a week
Nearly three million people aged over 15 were employed in Serbia over the past year. Most of them worked standard hours, ranging from 36 to 48 hours per week.
However, there were also those who worked longer hours, with more than 215,000 employees working more than 48 hours per week – effectively over six days a week.
Standard working hours in Serbia are 40 hours per week – eight hours per day over five working days. In exceptional cases, working hours may be reduced or extended – although not beyond 12 hours a day.
These 40 hours represent the typical schedule for most workers in Serbia. According to data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (RZS), around 2.2 million people worked between 36 and 48 hours per week last year, out of a total of nearly 2.9 million employed individuals.
Still, there are those who spend even more time at work, most commonly in agriculture and construction. In agriculture, around 13.9 percent of workers follow the standard 36 to 48 hour week. An equal percentage work between 49 and 59 hours, while 14.8 percent of agricultural workers put in more than 60 hours per week.
Notably, in this sector, 48.8 percent of agricultural workers have varying working hours from week to week – which makes sense considering their work depends directly on weather conditions and seasonal cycles.
In the construction sector, 18.7 percent of workers put in more than 48 hours per week. Specifically, official data shows that 9.6 percent work between 49 and 59 hours weekly, while 9.1 percent work more than 60 hours.
Standard working hours are most prevalent in the sectors of electricity supply (99.1 percent), mining (98.3 percent), public administration, defence, and compulsory social security (97.4 percent), healthcare and social protection (93.9 percent), and the financial and insurance sector (93.5 percent).
Men more likely to work overtime
Most men – about 1.2 million out of 1.5 million employed – work between 36 and 48 hours a week.
However, men are significantly more likely to work overtime compared to women.
According to official RZS data, nearly 154,000 men work more than 48 hours per week. Of these, about 73,300 work between 49 and 59 hours, while more than 80,600 men work over 60 hours weekly.
The percentage is much lower among women. Some 23,800 women work more than 60 hours per week, and around 37,600 work between 49 and 59 hours. Around one million women, out of a total of 1.3 million employed, work the standard 36 to 48 hour week.
When it comes to working less than 36 hours per week, women lead the way. Around 8,400 women work up to 14 hours per week, while 52,500 work between 15 and 35 hours. On the other hand, 5,800 men work up to 14 hours, while 38,600 work between 15 and 35 hours.
Women work fewer hours due to childcare, men due to lack of jobs
There are reasons why women are more likely to work part-time compared to men. The primary one is childcare. All employees who work part-time due to caring for children or adults in need of care are women.
Furthermore, 60.7 percent of women cited family or personal reasons for reduced hours, compared to 39.3 percent of men. Education or training was cited by 56.5 percent of women and 43.5 percent of men.
Men more often work part-time because they cannot find full-time employment. This was the reason for 61.5 percent of men and 38.5 percent of women. Illness or disability is also a more common reason for reduced working hours among men – 51.3 percent versus 48.7 percent of women.
Source Link