Definition
Unpaid overtime hours are the number of hours actually worked by an employee in excess of his or her contractual or normal daily or weekly hours of work for which the employee is not entitled to compensation, in pay, kind or compensatory leave.
FACTS about Work-work-work (in Australia): Employees were asked about the main reason for working unpaid extra hours in a 2000 ABS survey (Table 3). The overwhelming majority (73.5 percent) of full-time employees who worked these extra unpaid hours referred to the fact that 'there is too much work' or that they needed to do the extra hours 'to get the work done'. A further ten percent stated that the 'employer expected it'.
These responses point to feelings of obligation and even compulsion, which allow unpaid overtime, somewhat parallel to paid overtime, to appear as more-or-less mandatory. (...) In a later survey, employees identified work barriers such as a lack of resources to cover for people on leave and the increased workloads before and after leave.
- Long working hours are bad for work-life balance, health, productivity and safety. In the UK we have reached epidemic levels.
- Overwork is forcing workers into unhealthy lifestyles as they attempt to reconcile long working hours and family responsibilities, according to a new report. A majority reported that work dominated their lives, and also led to increased levels of stress, resulting in irritability, exhaustion and depression, said the report from Working Families.
- Britons put in 36 million hours of free overtime each year
- with one in three refusing to take all their holidays fearing a backlog of work when they return.
British workers clock up some of the longest weeks in Europe as average office employee spends 43 hours at their desk
Six hours of that will be unpaid overtime
- Managers and senior staff work longest weeks at 46.2 hours (7.6 unpaid hours)
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2071605/British-workers-clock-time-office-Europe-average-employee-spends-43-hours-week-desk.html#ixzz1g9cLFtJk
Only workers in Austria and Greece put in a longer week, with the shortest hours recorded in Denmark, at 39.1.
The UK has the highest percentage of part-time workers in the EU, which pushes down the length of the average working week.
But the research shows that more and more British workers are simply in part-time jobs while they look for full-time work.
A huge 27 per cent of employees in this country are part-time, compared with 20 per cent across the EU as a whole.
Factory workers and those in lower-skilled jobs worked 44 and 41 hours a week respectively, with little unpaid overtime.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'These figures shine a light on the valuable but too often unrewarded extra hours that UK workers put in every week.
'Employers should do more to recognise the unpaid overtime that their staff do, which contributes £29billion to the UK economy every year.
But the union leader added: 'While average hours are falling across the economy - both as a result of the recession and changes in working practices - UK workers are still doing the third longest shifts in Europe, with only Austrians and Greeks working longer.
'Smarter working practises and an end to pointless presenteeism would help make staff more productive and get a better work-life balance.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2071605/British-workers-clock-time-office-Europe-average-employee-spends-43-hours-week-desk.html#ixzz1g9csy7E0
