“UAE: Half of employees feel pressure to work extra hours, finds survey”

When Indian expat Sadia Anwar started working at her first job in the construction industry, the requirements of the job were very clear: she had to work 12-14 hours a day.

“It was a glorified lifestyle,” she recalled. “It didn’t really matter what you were doing. Even during Ramadan, I was expected to work long hours. I used to live in Ajman with my parents and the office was in Dubai. There were days when I would drive to Ajman for iftar and then come back to finish some not very important tasks.”…

A new research has shown that half – 50 per cent – of UAE employees feel the pressure to work extra hours beyond their schedule, while 45 per cent feel that their workload is manageable and could be completed within a standard work week…

Sadia said that during her corporate life, there were days when she followed unsustainable work habits. “I used to stay up till 2am to finish a presentation and then be back at 9am the next morning for the presentation,” she said. “I eventually ended up quitting when I got pregnant because it was almost impossible to have work-life balance.”…

…45 per cent of professionals reported facing negative health effects due to their workload. …