When New Zealand marked its first Labour Day, the 40-hour week was something to be celebrated.

Labour Day became a public holiday in New Zealand in 1899, intimately tied to the fight for the eight-hour working day championed by immigrant carpenter Samuel Parnell.

More than a century on, data shows we’re much less keen on working nine-to-five today.

According to Stats NZ, while the 40-hour week is still the most common structure for Kiwi workers, a growing number are working less.

Of the 1.9 million employed people who took part in the latest Household Labour Force Survey, 37.9 per cent said they usually worked eight hours a day, five days a week in the June quarter.

A new campaign wants the traditional 9 to 5 work day to reduce to school hours - without the pay cuts.

But the number working less wasn’t far behind at 36.6 per cent, and the number of people working more than 40 hours a week continued to fall, with 25.5 per cent in the June quarter compared to 27.2 per cent in the three months prior.

Stats NZ labour market manager Malak Shafik says the 40-hour week had remained a common work arrangement since the survey began collecting data on hours worked in 1986.

“Usual weekly hours are very much shaped by the proportion of men and women employed and changes in how men and women are employed over time,” says Malak.

Rates of people working less than 40 hours per week increased up to the early 2000s. This was partly driven by the increasing labour force participation for women, who were more likely than men to work fewer than 40 hours a week.

“The proportion of both men and women working exactly 40 hours in a usual week has been increasing in recent decades,” says Malak.

“Since the June 2000 quarter, the proportion of men working more than 40 hours per week fell from 48 per cent to 35 per cent, and the proportion of women working less than 40 hours fell from 56 per cent to 52 per cent.”

Employees usually worked an average of 37 hours per week at their main job in the June 2023 quarter – fewer than employers, who reported working 44 hours per week, but more than self-employed people without employees and unpaid family workers, 34 and 19 hours per week respectively.

After the 40-hour week, the next most common arrangements were 45-hour weeks over five days, 50-hour weeks over five days and 30-hour weeks over five days.

A potted history of the eight-hour day

Samuel Parnell, a Wellington carpenter, is widely credited with being the first person in New Zealand to insist on eight-hour working day.

In 1840, he reportedly told a prospective employer, “There are twenty-four hours per day given us; eight of these should be for work, eight for sleep, and the remaining eight for recreation.”

Samuel encouraged other tradesmen to get behind his cause, and unions began campaigning for an eight-hour day.

The first official “labour demonstration day” was celebrated on October 28,1890. The Government supported parades in the main centres and gave public servants the day off to attend. Many businesses closed for the day.

After Parliament passed the Labour Day Act 1899, the day was celebrated as a national holiday for the first time the following year.

The proportion of women working less than 40 hours fell from 56 per cent to 52 per cent, data shows.

Over time, the eight-hour day became the standard in many industries. However, it was often based on a six- or seven-day week, meaning many workers were still required to work more than 40 hours a week.

The 40-hour week became a focus, and eventually this was brought into legislation by the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Amendment Act 1936.

Although not set in legislation, the eight-hour working day is implicit in the Minimum Wage Act 1983, which sets out a maximum 40-hour, five-day work week as the norm for employment agreements.

Source: New Zealand Parliament

Esther Taunton/Stuff