date: 2 January 2008
embargo: 00.01 Friday 4 January 2008
Unpaid overtime increases across the UK - employees are missing out on £4,955 a year
The number of employees working unpaid overtime increased by 103,000 in 2007, bringing the total to nearly five million, according to a new analysis of official statistics published by the TUC today (Friday).
Employees who work unpaid overtime would receive an extra £4,955 a year if they were paid for the extra hours they are putting in. The average amount of unpaid overtime is seven hours and six minutes a week.
About one in five of the working population work unpaid overtime. The TUC has calculated that if everyone in the UK who works unpaid overtime did all their unpaid work at the start of the year, the first day they would get paid would be Friday 22 February.
That is why the TUC has declared this 'Work Your Proper Hours Day' and is calling on employers to say thank you to staff for putting in the extra hours and to ensure that they work their proper hours on this day.
The biggest increases in the number of employees working unpaid overtime have occurred in Yorkshire and Humberside (38,000), the Eastern Region (37,000) and London (32,000). The numbers fell sharply in the East Midlands (-57,000) and the North West (-41,000).
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'After years of progress, Britain's long hours culture is enjoying a renaissance and today's figures suggest many people are not even being paid for putting in these extra hours. People are giving away nearly £5,000 a year in unpaid overtime - that's too much time and money that could be better spent with friends and family.
'We're calling on all employees, including bosses, to take a stand on 'Work Your proper Hours Day' by making sure they take a proper lunch break and leave on time. 'Work Your Proper Hours Day' should be fun, and we want work people across the UK to back our campaign and send out a message that excessive unpaid overtime is bad for staff and bad for business.'
NOTES TO EDITORS:
|
Region |
Number of people who do unpaid overtime 2007 (000s) |
Change since last year (000s of employees) |
Annual value of unpaid overtime per person 2007 |
Real change in value per person since last year* |
Usual hours of unpaid overtime |
|
North East |
166 |
+3 |
£4,328 |
-£370 |
7 hrs 12 mins |
|
North West and Merseyside |
457 |
-41 |
£4,783 |
+£387 |
7 hrs 18 mins |
|
Yorkshire & Humberside |
381 |
+38 |
£4,039 |
-£555 |
6 hrs 30 mins |
|
East Midlands |
321 |
-57 |
£4,160 |
-£323 |
6 hrs 42 mins |
|
West Midlands |
407 |
+19 |
£4,489 |
-£173 |
7 hrs 6 mins |
|
Eastern |
480 |
+37 |
£4,803 |
-£163 |
7 hrs 6 mins |
|
London |
741 |
+32 |
£7,587 |
+£220 |
7 hrs 54 mins |
|
South East |
890 |
+23 |
£5,250 |
-£48 |
7 hrs 6 mins |
|
South West |
435 |
+18 |
£4,232 |
-£236 |
6 hrs 36 mins |
|
Wales |
171 |
Nil |
£4,452 |
-£51 |
7 hrs 28 mins |
|
Scotland |
436 |
+20 |
£4,517 |
+£202 |
6 hrs 54 mins |
|
Northern Ireland |
74 |
+4 |
£4,088 |
-£391 |
6 hrs 48 mins |
|
Total |
4,968 |
+103 |
£4,955 |
-£73 |
7 hrs 6 mins |
* Real value allowing for 4.2% inflation
- The TUC have calculated the value of unpaid overtime using unpublished data from the National Statistics Labour Force Survey and Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. All results are for employees only, and figures exclude those who work less than one hour unpaid per week.
- To find out more about 'Work Your Proper Hours Day' visit www.workyourproperhoursday.com
- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
- Register for the TUC's press extranet: a service exclusive to journalists wanting to access pre-embargo releases and reports from the TUC. Visit www.tuc.org.uk/pressextranet
Contacts:
Media enquiries:
Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248 M: 07778 158175 E: media@tuc.org.uk
Rob Holdsworth T: 020 7467 1372 M: 07717 531150 E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk
Press release (700 words) issued 4 Jan 2008
