Long Hours and Premium Pay, May 1979.

From 1978-79 incidence of long hours among full-time wage and salary workers dropped for the first time since the 1974-75 recession. Of those who worked long hours, about 43% received premium pay (time and one-half the regular wage for hours worked in excess of forty per week). Employers used overtime hours to cope with disequilibrium phenomena and to meet increased demand. One-third of the workers regularly working long hours received premium pay, compared with two-thirds of those working long hours occasionally. Incidence of long hours remained about the same in goods-producing but fell in service-producing industries. Although white- and blue-collar employees were equally apt to work long hours, incidence of premium pay was much lower for white-collar workers. The proportion of union workers on long hours was two-thirds that for nonunion workers, while the proportion receiving premium pay was twice as large. Frequency of long hours among women was only half of that among men. Black workers were much less likely than white to put in long workweeks. Individuals aged 25-54 had the highest incidence of long hours. (The report also contains descriptions of basic labor force concepts, sample design, estimating methods, and reliability of data and supplementary tables.) (YLB)