Overtime Impact on Quality

Answers

• Karen Barr Posted at 12:00AM on Sep 6, 2007

  European Union (EU) Member Countries are bound by the Work Time Directive which states very clearly the guidelines around working hours and overtime. I would suggest that these guidelines can be adopted by many companies to safeguard their workers and quality. * Maximum weekly working time of 48 hours on average, including overtime [This is calculated over a 4-month average] * At least four weeks’ paid annual leave * A minimum rest period of 11 hours in each 24, and one day in each week * A rest break if the working day is longer than six hours * A maximum of eight hours’ night work, on average, in each 24. From personal observation, quality begins to suffer significantly if workers breach the 6-day or 48-hour week. However, some workers are more prone to this than others, and home circumstances - which may be driving the employee to work so much overtime - can be a contributing factor. -- Karen Barr

• Marnee Downing Posted at 12:00AM on Feb 22, 2008

  We limit overtime to 12 hours in a day, primarily based on state law that requires double pay for anything after 12. It is a good business reason that helps guide call center leadership in looking out for the best interests of our employees and our customers. I have seen an excess of hours contribute to decreased quality and worse, increased employee attrition, which feeds the need for more overtime. As a starting place think about how mentally difficult the work is in your center: - Does the customer interaction require solving challenges, research, providing information on what customers view as unfavorable news? OR - Are the callers happy, glad to be speaking with someone, positive and upbeat? If the energy is positive, then a reasonable time for your policy may be no more than 12 hours in a day. If the customer energy is mostly negative, and the work mentally demanding, you will want to limit time – perhaps an hour or two extra a day. Supervisors need to be aware of who on their team is working a lot of overtime so they can encourage an employee to work regular hours one or more days a week, or to not work on off days. The more complex the job, the greater the need for the service provider to decompress, so that when he or she returns they can give their best – to the callers and the company. -- Marnee Downing