The purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether employees’ tendency to work excessive hours is motivated by the perception of a work environment that encourages overwork (overwork climate). Thus, this study introduces a self-report questionnaire aimed at assessing the perception of a psychological climate for overwork in the workplace. In Study 1 (N = 359), the overwork climate scale (OWCS) was developed, whereby two overwork climate dimensions were distinguished, namely, overwork endorsement and lacking overwork rewards. In Study 2 (N = 791) the association of the overwork climate with opposite types of working hard (work engagement and workaholism) was investigated. The lack of overwork rewards was negatively associated with engagement, whereas workaholism showed a strong positive association with overwork endorsement. These relationships remained significant after controlling for the impact of psychological job demands. Thus, the perception of a work environment that encourages overwork but does not allocate additional compensation seems to foster workaholism. Moreover, the inadequacy of overwork rewards constitutes a lack of resources that negatively affect employees’ engagement (read more).