Essential workers in the health care and transportation sectors were increasingly required to work excessive hours during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a government study released Friday.
Overall in the March-April period of the study, the percentage of people who worked for 80 or more hours per week fell, but in health care and transport, including postal and package delivery workers, it increased.
Overwork among transport workers increased 0.23 percentage point from a year earlier to 2.01% in March, according to the latest white paper analyzing overwork-related deaths and suicides. For those employed in health care, the figure rose 0.08 percentage point from the previous year to 0.68%.