Graphics: China's Overworked Workers

(Beijing) – Most workers in China have to put in overtime and half of them work four hours more than the legally mandated 40-hour workweek, a report published by Beijing Normal University on November 22 says. The report on the development of the labor market says that China's laws on working hours per week are similar to those in other countries, but employees at companies in 90 percent of industries must labor more than 40 hours per week. At the same time, workers in the country get fewer paid leave days than people in other countries. This overwork is the major factor in occupational diseases and deaths, the report says. The researchers said that getting to the workplace is also a problem, as commutes in big cities are very long. The average commute in Beijing is a whopping 97 minutes.