Working for the right balance

Japan introduced standard working hours of eight hours per day and 40 hours per week, as early as 1994.

South Korea also introduced a 40-hour workweek in 2003, but that has rarely been followed. Also, the law did not count weekends, which meant employees could put in more hours during those two days and on holidays.

Last September, South Korea cut the maximum number of hours that can be worked per week to 52, down from 68.

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In Singapore, the working hours should not exceed eight per day or 44 per week.

Hours in Europe

That's much longer than countries like France, which has a 35-hour workweek and a labor law introduced this year discourages workers in the digital and communications industries from accessing work-related e-mails or notifications after office hours, and also discourages employers from pressuring them to do so.

Germany has a similar law and Sweden is considering a 30-hour workweek.

Average workweeks in most developed economies have generally been dropping.

Across the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries (which includes Japan, South Korea and Australia), the average worker put in 1,765 hours of work in 2012, compared to 1,844 hours in 2000.

Still, the average employee in Asia works 2,154 hours per year, 13 percent higher than the global average of 1,915 hours, according to the UBS Prices and Earnings report from 2012 that the investment bank publishes every three years.

But despite the long hours, Asian workers are not necessarily much more productive.

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