Definition
According to the ILO Convention No. 1 (1919), the "working hours of persons employed in any public or private industrial undertakings or in any branch thereof, other than an undertaking in which only members of the same family are employed, shall not exceed eight in the day and forty-eight in the week, with exceptions hereinafter provided for" certain categories of workers.
Excessive hours of work can be detrimental to physical and mental health and they impede balance between work and family life. Excessive hours of work are often a signal of inadequate hourly pay and low earnings in the main job.