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News Release |
Date: 22 December 2004
Embargo: 00:01 hours Thursday January 6th
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Attention: Forward Planning, Newsdesks, Business and Social Affairs Correspondents
Average unpaid overtime worth £4,320 in Wales in 2004
Nearly 200,000 employees in Wales worked unpaid overtime worth £800 million last year
Official statistics paint a picture of long hours and low pay in Wales according to an analysis by the TUC, published today (January 6th).
Almost 200,000 people in Wales worked a day every week in 2004, for nothing. Each employee would have earned £4,320 for their unpaid hours if paid at the average hourly rate in Wales of £10.79 an hour.
Last year employees in Wales worked an average 7 hours 42 minutes of unpaid overtime, second only to Londoners who put in an extra 7 hours 54 minutes.
The value of unpaid overtime is proportionately lower in Wales than for most of the UK because of low pay in Wales. Only the North East and Northern Ireland have rates of pay lower than Wales.
Across the whole of the UK employees did unpaid overtime worth £23 billion in 2004 - an average of £4,650 for each employee who put in extra unpaid hours. If they had done all their unpaid overtime at the beginning of the year, they would have worked for free until February 25th.
The TUC has therefore called ‘Work Your Proper Hours Day’ in 2005 for Friday February 25th. This is the day, once a year, that the TUC urges employees to only work their contracted hours to remind their bosses how much they depend on the unpaid extra work and loyalty of their staff.
Felicity Williams , Wales TUC General Secretary says that bosses should take their staff out for a lunch-time or after-work meal, coffee or cocktail to say thank you on February 25th.
'We’re not saying that we should turn into a nation of clock-watchers. Most people in Wales do not mind putting in some extra time when there’s a crisis or an unexpected rush. But too many workplaces in Wales have come to depend on very long hours. They get taken for granted and staff have to do even more if there is an unexpected rush.
'Worst of all is that many long hours workplaces are inefficient and unproductive. People are putting in long hours to make up for poor organisation and planning in the workplace.' said Mrs Williams.
'It also puts employer complaints of the costs of benefits such as pensions or time off for new parents into perspective. Employers have been cutting back on pensions even as their staff put in longer hours.'
In the unpaid overtime league table, Londoners and Welsh employees were followed by those in the West Midlands at 7 hours 36 minutes (worth £4,410) . Even in the South West, where employees are at the bottom of unpaid overtime league table, extra hours still average 6 hours 30 minutes a week.
|
Region |
number in region who do unpaid overtime |
Average hours of unpaid overtime per week 2003 |
average hourly pay rates |
value of unpaid overtime per week |
value of unpaid overtime per year |
value of unpaid overtime per worker who does unpaid overtime by region per year |
|
London |
719,951 |
7.9 |
£17.06 |
£97,306,676 |
£5,059,947,152 |
£7,008 |
|
Wales |
198,219 |
7.7 |
£10.79 |
£15,136,891 |
£787,118,332 |
£4,320 |
|
West Midlands |
391,664 |
7.6 |
£11.16 |
£33,219,373 |
£1,727,407,396 |
£4,410 |
|
North East |
147,102 |
7.4 |
£10.53 |
£11,462,482 |
£596,049,663 |
£4,051 |
|
South East |
821,367 |
7.4 |
£13.00 |
£79,015,505 |
£4,108,806,260 |
£5,002 |
|
Northern Ireland |
62,599 |
7.4 |
£10.42 |
£4,826,883 |
£250,997,916 |
£4,010 |
|
East of England |
479,476 |
7.3 |
£12.12 |
£42,422,118 |
£2,205,950,136 |
£4,601 |
|
Yorkshire and Humberside |
460,689 |
7.2 |
£10.96 |
£36,353,890 |
£1,890,402,280 |
£4,103 |
|
East Midlands |
342,070 |
7.2 |
£10.79 |
£24,629,904 |
£1,280,755,008 |
£4,040 |
|
North West |
391,568 |
7.0 |
£11.33 |
£31,055,258 |
£1,614,873,420 |
£4,124` |
|
Scotland |
418,598 |
6.7 |
£11.14 |
£31,243,317 |
£1,624,652,484 |
£3,881 |
|
South West |
400,827 |
6.5 |
£11.20 |
£29,180,205 |
£1,517,370,660 |
£3,768 |
|
UK |
4,841,275 |
7.3 |
£12.25 |
£432,931,017 |
£22,512,424,168 |
£4,650 |
Sources: LFS summer 2004, ASHE 2004
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Notes to Editors
- Media Enquiries : Darron Dupre: 029 2034 7014
Press release (700 words) issued 6 Jan 2005