FORUM: Human Rights Council

QUESTION OF: Combating the Negative Health Effects caused by Excessively Long Working
Hours
MAIN SUBMITTED BY: The Delegation of Iceland
CO-SUBMITTERS: Norway, United States of America, Chile, Switzerland, Cuba, Spain, Chile,
Netherlands, Ireland, El Salvador, China, France,
CO-SPONSOR: Myanmar

THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL,

Guided by the principles of the Charter of the United Nations,

Bearing in Mind the Universal Declaration of Rights adopted by the United Nations on December
10, 1948,

Recognizing the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) employs some 2,700
officials from 150+ nations at its Geneva headquarters office, and in 40 field offices around the
globe, with its extensive databases on workers’ rights,

Aware that such solutions would require flexibility for HICs and LICs alike as the situations of
excessive working hours vary based on the socio-economic infrastructure of a nation,

Defines working excessively long hours as employees that work more than 8 hours a day or 48
hours a week according to the International Labour Organization,

Noting Further that White Collar workers do professional, managerial and administrative work
and hold desk jobs in the corporate world, while the Blue Collar workers engage in manual labour
such as agriculture, manufacturing, construction, mining or maintenance according to
Investopedia,

Recalling the definition of working time as any period during which the worker is working, at the
employer's disposal and carrying out his activity or duties, in accordance with national laws and/or
practice,

Understanding that negative health effects are any deviations in health, or in normal functions of
the human body, resulting from exposure to a particular source; negative health effects connote
that these changes in health are detrimental either to the mental, physical, or emotional health of
an individual according to Business Dictionary,
Taking into Account the term unemployment as those of working age who are not in employment,
carry out activities to seek employment during a specified recent period and are currently available
to take up employment given a job opportunity according to the International Labour Organization,

Deeply Disturbed that employees weekly working an average of 20 hours above the 40 hour
recommended amount by the International Labour Organization are subject to triple the risk of
high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes,

Deeply Concerned that stress and illness created by compulsory overtime has caused the lives of
2.8 million workers per year internationally, with an additional 374 million people injured or fall
ill according to the International Labour Organization’s 2019 report “Safety and health at the heart
of the future of work: Building on 100 years of experience”,

Believing that excessive overtime does not necessarily correlate with an increase of productivity
in the workplace, nor does it guarantee an increase in profit for the company,

Keeping in mind that sustainable productivity is achieved by retention of healthy and progressive
employees, instead of constantly hiring new workers and tediously re-training them to fulfill the
same tasks.

1) Recommends nations’ governments and industry leaders to collaborate in formulating the Commented [1]: Clause formatting
best practices to ensure long term health and wellbeing of employees across all industries colon after clause
such as but not limited to: comma after each sub clause and sub-sub clause
semi colon at the end of sub clause/sub-sub clause
a) Implementing regulations on working conditions such as but not limited to;
i) Working hours that are appropriate to each industry, but workers across all Commented [2]: Apologies

industries must get at least 8 hours of rest per day and 24 hours consecutive Commented [3]: looks good! will send out tomorrow.
please do not share with anyone until then :)
rest every 7 days,
ii) Capping worker overtime hours per week to 12 hours,
iii) Paid leaves that allow workers to sufficiently recuperate from work-related
activities, totalling to an allowance of 2-4 weeks per year,
iv) Conditions of the workplace that maximize productivity without
compromising the workers’ well-being, keeping in mind that high well-
being of an employee would be in the company’s best interest,
b) Call for and governments and industry leaders to agree on an optimal premium
added to the base pay per hour of overtime by workers, as a tool to deter employers
from extended work hours and unjustified overtime,
c) Providing self-development and networking opportunities to employees such as but
not limited to,
i) Sports festivals and company recreation activities ,
ii) Team-building exercises and experiences,
 iii) Seminars on de-stressing and increasing well-being;

2) Further invites the organization of labour unions who proactively advocate for the well-
being and protection of workers’ rights, especially addressing long working hours through
methods such as but not limited to:
a) A grievance mechanism directly linked to the nation’s department of labour which
allows employees to raise their concerns for excessive working hours of specific
employers vis-a-vis industry practice,
b) Semi-annual meetings where labor union contracts are jointly assessed by a
representative from labor union and the company, ensuring that workers’ well-
being is preserved in factors such as but not limited to,
i) A guaranteed minimum wage,
ii) Adequate safety gear and productivity aids in high risk professions;
iii) Work environment safety and productive atmosphere,
iv) A contracted offer that allows employees to work from home at least once
a month to prevent negative health effects from long hours in the workplace,
where the nature of the job permits,
v) Free health assessment prior to mandatory overtime or night-shift
assignment and thereafter at regular intervals, and that whenever possible,
they should be transferred to day work for which they are suited if they
suffer from health problems,
c) Coordinating with labour related non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to
arbitrate these semi-annual meetings to protect the interest of both employee and
employer such as but not limited to,
i) Fair Labour Association that promotes adherence to international and
national labour laws,
ii) Worker’s Rights Consortium that documents workers in sweatshop
conditions and protects workers who make apparel and other products;

3) Strongly urges nations’ governments to mandate that all public and private employers
provide medical insurance to all employees to serve purposes such as but not limited to:
a) Work-related injuries coverage that pays for such as but not limited to,
i) Hospital confinement,
ii) Surgery,
iii) Physical therapy and medication,
iv) Doctor professional fees,
b) Diagnostic tests such as blood tests, ultrasounds and scans coverage that assess
work-fatigue impact on workers’ health,
c) Anti-fatigue remedies coverage, examples such as but not limited to,
i) Ginseng,
 ii) Golden root,
iii) Adaptogenic herbs,
d) Other health ailments not mentioned above flagged in advance by government-
initiated or company-initiated survey forms sent to employees;

4) Calls upon public and private employers to allocate funds specifically for the contingency
compensation of any employee whose work-related injury or illness renders said individual
needing long-term medical attention, such as but not limited to;
a) Maintenance medication and treatment coverage that rectifies stress-related health
issues resulting from the workplace such as but not limited to;
i) Diabetes;
ii) Cancer;
iii) Hypertension and cholesterol problems;
iv) Arthritis;
v) Obesity;
b) Mental wellness coverage on conditions arising from strenuous, long hours of work
or overtime, for treatments such as but not limited to;
i) Periodic, individual therapy sessions with expert psychiatrists or counselors
;
ii) Medications to address chemical imbalances;

5) Encourages nations’ governments to assist public and private employers in financing the
above mentioned workers medical insurance in areas of coverage where employers are
unable to entirely shoulder, based on examples such as but not limited to:
a) Medicare in the United States of America;
b) National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom;
c) PhilHealth in the Philippines;

6) Further requests nations’ governments to ensure strict adherence to labor laws by

imposing penalty, upon due process, on violators of the labor code, with substantial
evidence derived from government-initiated surveys and social media of the work-force,
including but not limited to;
a) Monetary fines;
b) Temporarily or permanently revoking business permits;
c) Imprisonment of employers proven guilty in court;

7) Seeking the full self-advocacy of employees in all sectors and industries present
throughout the nations, in forms such as but not limited to;
a) Active participation in social media online forums, which are mandated by the
nation’s department of labour, co-managed by industry leaders, and are available
to the public and admissible as evidence in court, in ways such as but not limited
to;
i) Detailed textual accounts praising or exposing the treatment of workers,
especially related to excessive work hours;
ii) Live-feed video or photos posted on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook
and Instagram;
b) Provide inputs on best practices of their employers via their respective human
resource (HR) departments, which are in turn is incentivized to raise such matters
to their superiors all the way up to the industry leaders.