Journal of Business Ethics (2009) 84:167–172
DOI 10.1007/s10551-008-9703-6
Working to Live or Living to Work:
Should Individuals and Organizations Care?
ABSTRACT. This introduction sets the stage for the
Special Issue and the manuscripts that follow. Interest in
work hours, work intensification and work addiction has
grown over the past decade. Several factors have come
together to increase hours spent at work, the nature of
work itself, and motivations for working hard, particularly
among managers and professionals. The introduction first
reviews some of the known causes and consequences of
long work hours and the intensification of work. A case is
then made as to why individuals, families, organizations
and society should care about hours spent at work and
work addiction. Individuals and organizations have some
choice here. Most employees would in fact prefer to work
fewer hours though few actually realize their preferences.
This collection lays out these choices and hopefully
encourages thought and discussion of their merits. Long
work hours and work addiction harms individuals and
their families and does not make organizations more
effective. The introduction concludes with a brief sum-
mary of the diverse contributions of an international
group of leading researchers in this area.
KEY WORDS: work hours, work addiction, social
costs, ethical issues
They lied. Hard work has killed lots of people
This Special Issue examines the long-hours work
culture that exists in many organizations and in many
professions. It considers why people work long
hours and the risks and rewards of working long
hours. Should organizations care about the number
of hours their employees work? Are work hours an
ethical issue? Should long work hours be a concern if
organizations are to be truly socially responsible?
Imagine this scenario. An organization is able to
have their employees work incredibly long hours
and not have to pay them any wages. Although this
is obviously unrealistic in most countries, it has
recently come to light (November, 2007) that some

Springer 2008
Ronald J. Burke
organizations in China had boys and girls working
long hours for no pay, being kept as virtual slaves.
However, now imagine that some organizations are
able to have some employees work extra hours,
typically overtime beyond the contract hours, and
not to pay their employees for these extra hours.
This scenario does exist today. For years many
organizations have had employees work unpaid
overtime hours. Employees, however, are increas-
ingly unwilling to work these unpaid hours and are
successfully taking their employers to court to
receive back payment (Orey, 2007) consider the
following:
• IBM paid $65 million to 32,000 technical
and support workers (November 2006)
• Citigroup/Solomon Smith Barney paid
$98 million to 20,000 current and former
stockbrokers (June 20–06)
• UPS paid $87 million to 23,000 drivers
(October 2006)
• Cases pending include Fedex, Wal-mart, Intel,
Sprint Nextell, and CIBC among others.
Some occupations have historically been exempt
from overtime including executives. professionals,
creatives, administrators, and outside sales people.
Other occupations fall into ill-defined categories:
store managers, accountants, and sales representatives.
Work hours has become a ‘‘hot topic’’ in the past
few years. Some government and business leaders
have stated that employees need to work more hours
(e.g., Canada and France) if their countries are to re-
main competitive. The evidence in the developed,
industrialized, and wealthier countries has shown that
blue-collar workers are now working fewer hours
than earlier, while their professional and managerial
colleagues are working more hours. Several factors are
likely at work here. More organizations operate on
168 Ronald J. Burke
a 24/7 basis; there is more competitive pressure on
organizations; downsizings and cost containment
initiatives have either increased the work load,
reduced staff or both; new technology makes it pos-
sible to work from anywhere at any time; increasing
competition for fewer promotions as hierarchies
flatten, higher organizational performance expecta-
tions; peer pressure; potential rewards, and in a small
number of instances, work life has been reported to be
more satisfying than home life (Hochschild, 1997).
There exist wide country differences in average yearly
hours work; the U.S.A and U.K. are high, France, and
Germany are low.
There is also some evidence that work intensity
(e.g., pace and level of responsibility) has also
increased during this time with a corresponding
increase in levels of reported workplace stress. Not
surprisingly, there have also been signs of decreasing
job satisfaction in some quarters during this same
time period. Although many companies may want
their employees to work more hours, most
employees actually want to work fewer hours.
Work hours have also become problematic because
of the changing demographics of the workforce.
There are more women in the workforce, and many
of these women have home and family responsibilities
making working long hours difficult. About 40% of
124 working mothers in the U.S.A. surveyed by
Careerbuilder.com said they would take a pay cut if it
bought them more time with their children. About
23% of U.S.A. working mothers missed three of more
significant events in their children’s lives in the past
years, and 28% said their jobs negatively affected their
relationship with their children. There are also more
dual-earner families with children. In addition, the
younger generation of employees seem to be more
interested in integrating both their work and personal
lives than were the present generation of managers and
professionals.
What do we know about long work hours and
work addiction? There is research support for the
following observations.
• The Japanese have coined a term, ‘‘karoshi,’’
to refer to death from overwork and have
specified the number of hours of consecutive
and total hours needed to qualify as such a
death.
• Long work hours and overtime work have
been found to be associated with adverse
psychological and physical health difficulties.
• Long work hours and overtime work have
been shown to be associated with negative
family functioning. Most children want their
parents to work fewer hours and would
trade off material benefits for more time
with their parents.
• Some employees feel guilty about their work
hours and how these affect their personal
and family lives.
• Managers and professionals are often unable
or unwilling to use all of their vacation time.
There are even ‘‘how to’’ suggestions on
managing your work while on vacations
(e.g., have technology always available to
capture your thoughts, give staff your num-
ber where you can be reached). Not surpris-
ingly, the benefits of vacations on levels of
employee stress tend to be short-live; within
a few weeks it is ‘‘business as usual’’.
• About half of managers and professionals work
during their lunchtime. It has been shown that
managers who take a complete break from
work during lunchtime are more productive.
• Long work hours and overtime work are asso-
ciated with fewer hours of sleep. Sleep depri-
vation is associated with increased on-the-job
accidents, increased off-the-job accidents, and
reduced job performance. Medical interns
working long hours have actually fallen asleep
during surgery and during patient interviews.
In addition, medical interns working long
hours report more car accidents and near
misses after work.
• Some individuals report ‘‘leisure sickness,’’
emotional and physical symptoms while on
vacation or on weekends.
• A recent study reported that Americans on
average spend 38 hours per year stuck in traf-
fic jams on the way to work. This figure did
not include commuting time. The highest
figure was 70 hours per year in Los Angeles.
This adds to the work hours actually spent on
the job.
• There has been an increase in multi-tasking
doing several things at once. Multi-tasking
 Working to Live or Living to Work
has been shown to decrease performance
effectiveness. Multi-tasking while driving
(use of cell phones, sending and receiving
e-mails) increases the risk of accidents.
• Different types of workaholics have been
identified, some dissatisfied with their jobs
and reporting psychological distress (e.g.,
Work Addicts), while other types were more
satisfied with their jobs and reported psycho-
logical well being (e.g., Work Enthusiasts)
though both worked the same number of
hours per week. The key differences were
why (motivations)and how (work behaviors)
they worked hard.
• There are both performance and financial
costs to organizations from high levels of
employee fatigue.
• Most theories of work motivation taught to
business students in MBA programs and
executive development offerings have the
effect of enhancing work hours and worka-
holic behaviors.
• There is evidence, however, that managers
and professionals in ‘‘extreme jobs’’, jobs in
which they worked 60–70 hours a week or
more, reported high levels of satisfaction,
excitement, and commitment. They did,
however, express some concern about the
effects of these hours on their well being and
that of their families, and some hoped to
work fewer hours in the near future (Hewlett
& Luce, 2006). Key factors in accounting for
these high levels of satisfaction were levels of
challenge, rewards and perks, development
opportunities, and a sense of meaning and
accomplishment.
• Under-aged workaholics? A study released
by Statistics Canada showed that teens be-
tween 15 and 19 spent about 7.1 hours per
day on unpaid or paid labor. About 20% of
teens worked at a paid job for 5 hours on
the day the survey was conducted; and 16%
of teens considered themselves to be worka-
holics.
• Two studies of law students in the U.S.A.
found that psychological well being de-
creased during the first year of their studies;
these decreases were correlated with reduced
169
levels of intrinsic motivation during their
first year and increases in ‘‘appearance’’ val-
ues and decreases in ‘‘community service’’
values. These declines (intrinsic motivation,
psychological well-being) continued in their
second and third years of study. Why did
these changes take place. The researchers
identified the following: excessive workloads,
stress, competition for academic superiority,
status seeking placement services, hierarchical
symbols of worth, emphasis on analysis and
linear thinking, student intimidating teaching
practices, and abstract content in courses.
Thus, the teaching taking place in the legal
profession thwarts growth. A common ste-
reotype of lawyers, particularly in North
America, includes shallowness, greed, and
hyper-competitiveness.
• Some organizations are taking actions to
reduce work hours caused by pressures for
‘‘face time’’ and wasting hours on the job
(e.g., fewer meetings, reducing unnecessary
reports). Surveys have reported that the aver-
age employee reports wasting one hour a
day at work and believe that their co-work-
ers waste an hour and a half. Other organiza-
tions, while not necessarily reducing hours
worked, offer employees greater flexibility in
when these hours are worked, resulting in
greater satisfaction and less stress.
• There are larger societal movements under-
way to reduce the time spent at work. These
include the ‘‘in praise of slow’’ and ‘‘take
back your time’’ initiatives.
Why do people choose to work long hours? For some
people they have little choice; working two jobs is
necessary to make ends meet. Others may in fact have
a choice. Several factors are likely to play a role in
answer this question. Feldman (2002) proposed a
multi-level model as a starting point. His model
consisted of four panels of variables: Individual factors
– demographic and family status, personality; Job
factors – job challenge, levels of intrinsic motivation
and satisfaction provided; visibility of one’s work’
Organizational factors –socialization processes, lead-
ership and culture; and Economic factors – competi-
tive pressures, threat of layoffs.
170 Ronald J. Burke
Some people work hard because they love their
jobs (Hedley, 2006; Hewitt and Luce, 2006). Others
work hard for the financial rewards that hard work
and career advancement bring. Materialism is a
defining feature of many countries, particularly
North America, but increasingly in developing
countries (e.g., China, India, and Russia). Materi-
alism is commonly defined as placing a high value on
income and material possessions. Individuals strive to
‘‘keep up with the Joneses’’ or move ahead of them.
I recently read the following statement ‘‘On Wall
Street, these guys tie all their self-esteem to their net
worth.’’ Research findings have consistently shown
that materialistic individuals score lower on happi-
ness, life satisfaction, and both mental and physical
health. Materialistic individuals are more likely to
sacrifice the fulfillment of other needs associated
with well being such as autonomy, competence, and
relatedness. That is materialistic individuals fail to
address core psychological needs associated with
personal growth.
Deckop et al. (2007), for example, examined the
association of materialist values with work-related
indicators of personal well-being. Data were col-
lected at two points in time from 274 managers and
professionals, about two-thirds being female. Mate-
rialism was found to be associated with lower levels
of affective commitment, intrinsic and extrinsic sat-
isfaction, job and career satisfaction, and higher
levels of burnout.
There are several reasons then that individuals,
organizations and society as a whole should be
concerned about the effects of long work hours and
work addiction. These have been shown to be
associated with lower levels of employee psycho-
logical and physical health, lower levels of family
functioning, less effective job performance, and
higher health care costs that are borne by society at
large. Unfortunately many organizations believe
that, in the short run at least, there are potential
economic benefits from long work hours, in part
because the costs of these may be difficult to mea-
sures (e.g., employee strain, fatigue) and these costs
are externalized to families and the broader society.
Employees working long hours are less able to
participate as citizens, and represent a drain on the
social welfare and health care systems.
Organizations today are increasingly realizing that
employees are vital to their long-term success.
Organizations need to attract, nurture, develop and
retain talent. They need to become an employer of
choice. They need to use the talents of ALL
employees, realizing that women are disadvantaged
in long work hours cultures. Many will state that
‘‘people are our most important asset.’’ It is time that
they come to grips with the long work hours culture
to act in accordance with these espoused values.
Effective and high performing organizations meet
the needs of their people and the needs of the
business simultaneously. Healthy employees in
healthy organizations are more likely to achieve peak
performance.
Purpose of this special issue
The purpose of this Special issue is to being an
emerging body of research and writing into the
business ethics and corporate social responsibility
arenas. It contains contributions, representing both
empirical work (Burke, Kasser and Sheldon, Geurts
and her colleagues, Kanai) and provocative essays
(Boje and Tyler, Dembe, Fry, Golden). The col-
lection is inter-disciplinary including materials from
the fields of management, medicine, and organiza-
tional psychology. The authors come from four
countries (Canada, German, Japan, and the U.S.A.)
reflecting the widespread interest being shown in the
topic of long work hours and their effects.
Overview of the contents
First, David Boje and Jo Tyler consider workaholism
in their own academic lives, in the movies of the
popular culture, and in the influence of pursuit of
the American Dream. Using autoethnographic
inquiry, their work builds on and adds to what has
already been reported, in new and exciting direc-
tions. In deeply moving, personal ways they describe
their workaholism and its effects and how they have
attempted to remake their lives. In doing so, their
work suggests several promising leads for researchers
interested in understanding more about the sources
of workaholism, an area that is in desperate need of
attention.
Allard Dembe then tackles ethical issue relating to
the health and well-being effects of long working
 Working to Live or Living to Work
hours directly. Studies are reviewed showing that
there is an increased likelihood of illness, injuries and
fatigue-related errors among employees working
long hours or working on night or evening shifts.
Ethical considerations include: mandatory or unpaid
overtime, employer coercion the political bases for
government regulation of working hours, the
problem of having individuals bear the risk of long
work hours, the equitable sharing of working hours,
gender-based inequalities, and the responsibility of
employers to protect family members from the spill-
over effects of working long hours.
Atsuko Kanai reviews the economic and
employment conditions in Japan and examines the
working style of Japanese men and its connection
to ‘‘Karoshi’’ – work to death. Karoshi is one of
the outcomes of working long hours and Japan has
developed work hours criteria for such deaths.
Work hours have increased to a greater extent
among full-time employees in Japan. Besides
increasing risk of death reflected in Karoshi or
disability, long work hours in Japan has increased
levels of workaholism and work–family imbalance.
The Japanese government is considering a possible
solution to the long work hours ‘‘problem’’ but
remedies are complex; national productivity levels
should not be compromised.
Lonnie Golden provides a brief history of work-
ing hours in the U.S.A. ending with the current
polarization of working hours (longer for managers
and professionals and shorter for blue collar work-
ers). He then develops a comprehensive model to
identify possible motivations for more workers
wanting to work more hours. Working long hours is
a rational choice for many individuals and house-
holds. He concludes with a range of individual- and
policy-oriented recommendations to counteract the
economic, social and institutional forces leading to
overwork.
Sabine Geurts and her colleagues consider whether
work time control buffered the effects of overtime
demands on work–family interference. Data were
collected from 2377 workers in the Netherlands using
questionnaires. Three work time demands were
examined: contracted hours, overtime hours and
commuting hours. Higher contracted and overtime
hours were associated with higher levels of work–
family interference. Work time control buffered the
171
influence of work hours on work–family interference
whereas leave control lowered work–family interfer-
ence and flextime buffered the adverse effect of long
contractual hours.
Tim Kasser and Ken Sheldon first examine the
‘‘money buys happiness’’ assumption, and find little
support for its validity. They juxtapose ‘‘time afflu-
ence’’ with ‘‘material affluence’’; many people view
time and money in similar ways. They propose that
time affluence may be a way of improving one’s
happiness. The results of four studies showed that,
after controlling for material affluence, time afflu-
ence was positively correlated with subjective well-
being. Both mindfulness and the satisfaction of
psychological needs moderated the relationship of
time affluence and well-being.
Ronald Burke and Lisa Fiksenbaum report the
results of three studies that examined the relationship
of measures of Passion, and of Addiction, with a
variety of antecedents, work outcomes and indica-
tors of psychological well-being. Data were collected
from Canadian MBA graduates, Australian psychol-
ogists, and Norwegian journalists using similar
measures. Similar findings were observed in all three
studies. First, respondents scoring higher on Passion
and on Addiction were more heavily invested in
their work. Second, respondents scoring higher on
Passion also reported less obsessive job behaviors,
greater work satisfactions and higher levels of psy-
chological well-being. Third, respondents scoring
higher on Addiction indicated more obsessive job
behaviors, lower work satisfactions and lower levels
of psychological well-being. Thus one’s motivations
for work clearly distinguished work and well-being
outcomes.
Finally, Jody Fry and Melanie Cohen offer spiri-
tual leadership as a way of reducing the negative
consequences of extended work-hour cultures
without reducing financial performance. Spiritual
leadership encompasses the values attitudes and
behaviors that are necessary to intrinsically motivate
oneself and others creating a sense of well-being
through inclusion and appreciation. Organizational
leadership is central to transforming workplace cul-
tures in efforts to develop new business models that
emphasize ethical leadership, employee well-being,
social responsibility and sustainability. Their work
represents a useful launch pad for these initiatives.
172 Ronald J. Burke
Acknowledgement
Preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by
York University.
References
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2007, ‘Can’t Get no Satisfaction: The Effects of
Materialism on Work-Related Personal Well-Being’,
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Feldman, D. C.: 2002, ‘Managers’ Propensity to Work
Longer Hours: A Multi-Level Analysis’, Human
Resources Management Review 12, 339–357.
Hedley, C. N.: 2006, ‘What Does It Mean to ‘‘Love Your
Job’’? Investigating the Construct’, Paper Presented at
the 2006 Meeting of the Academy of Management,
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Hewlett, S. A. and C. B. Luce: 2006, ‘Extreme Jobs: The
Dangerous Allure of the 70-Hour Work Week’,
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Schulich School of Business,
York University,
4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON,
Canada M3J 1P3
E-mail: rburke@schulich.yorku.ca