Louise Scobell from Thrive Psychology said working really long hours can lead to serious adverse long-term health impacts, both physical and mental.

“It can lead to stress, anxiety and depression, which can impact on family life and relationships with family members suffer because you’re less engaged,” Ms Scobell said.

“If you’re time-poor, that can also impact on relationships because there’s less time to spend together.”

It comes after a survey revealed Australians were among the worst offenders in the world for overworking, with one Wagga businessman regularly clocking in 100 hours per week.

“Work and life balance is important and thankfully a lot of organisations are pouring resources into managing their staff’s well-being,” Ms Scobell said.

“It may be hard for smaller businesses, but try to make changes that can reduce stress and working extra hours, which may require the co-operation of the workplace.”

One of the ways businesses can help prevent overworking is to introduce cultural changes like ranking matters according to urgency if a staff member is on their day off. Preventing and reducing stress can increase productivity, result in fewer sick days and improve job satisfaction, Ms Scobell said.

“Ask how urgent something is and see if it can wait until Monday, don’t think you need to attend to things at the drop of a hat,” she said. “It is easier said than done, though, I tell people to set aside two or three times a day to check their emails rather than flick between things. It’s distracting and your time management goes out the window, which can lead to people working back.”

While some countries, like France, were introducing laws to impose barriers between work and personal time, Ms Scobell said a simpler way of managing the growing problem was to simply set some boundaries and keep them.

“Ultimately you need to take care of yourself, eat well and do some exercise like taking a walk after work, which can help you disconnect from the day,” she said. “Work-related stress is becoming more common… we don’t want to lose people to burn-out, which can have long-term effects on the workplace.”