Daily Work Hours, Work-Life Balance and Occupational Mental Health of Remote Workers in Nigeria

Remote working is characterised by long daily work hours. Yet there are few empirical studies on the work-related mental health effects of daily work hours among remote workers, especially in the Global South. Cross-sectional data were collected from 254 Nigerian remote workers via a convenience sampling approach and an online questionnaire. The statistical investigations were conducted using analysis of covariance, Bonferroni mean comparison, and hierarchical regression. It was found that daily work hours had a statistically significant differential effect on occupational mental health (F(3,249) = 10.15, p < 0.005, partial η2 = 0.10) while controlling for age. Mean comparison analysis showed that remote workers working above 15 h daily scored significantly lower on occupational mental health than those working 8 h (Mean Diff. = −15.43, p < 0.05), and significantly lower than those working 13 to 15 h (Mean Diff. = −21.05, p < 0.05). Work-life balance had a statistically significant positive effect on occupational mental health (β = 0.40, t = 6.98, p < 0.001), after controlling for age, gender and moonlighting. However, further analysis showed that the significant positive effect of work-life balance occurred only among those who work 8 h or less or 9–12 h daily. The study concluded that longer daily work hours increase the risk of work-related depression and anxiety among remote workers.