Work Your Proper Hours Day – time to stop working for free 

Today is the TUC’s 19th annual Work Your Proper Hours Day. For workers regularly doing unpaid overtime, this is effectively the time of year they start getting paid. 

Work Your Proper Hours Day is part of the battle against long hours and excessive unpaid overtime. As a start, we’re encouraging workers finish their shifts on time. And managers are encouraged to support staff by setting reasonable workloads and putting in place workplace policies to protect against burnout.  

But what’s wrong with a little flexibility? 

Nobody minds putting in longer hours from time to time - staying late occasionally to get an urgent order out or a vital report finished. The trouble is when unpaid overtime becomes a normalised part of work. Working time then squeezes family, friends, hobbies, sports and involvement in the wider community. 

3.5 million people did unpaid overtime in 2022, putting in an average of 7.4 unpaid hours a week. For those workers, that’s equivalent on average to £7,200 a year of wages going unpaid for work done. This simply can’t go on! 

Who’s most at risk of excessive unpaid overtime? 

With staff shortages in many industries, work intensity and pressure to work longer days is a big problem. 

As in previous years, teachers are high on the list. Managers and directors feature strongly, suggesting that the additional responsibilities of senior staff are not properly managed by employers. 

The government claimed £8.6 billion worth of unpaid overtime from public sector staff last year – from an average of more than 8 million hours each week of unpaid overtime in our public services.  

To make things worse – our rights are under threat! 

The longstanding rights workers have that place safe limits on working time are hanging by a thread. The retained EU law bill, currently in the House of Lords, will automatically revoke all EU derived legislation at the end of this year. This includes working time protections that are transposed into UK law from the EU working times directive. These include maximum weekly working hours, daily rest breaks and weekly rest periods between work shifts and paid annual leave. 

The government promised not to water down workers' rights after Brexit but they are turning their back on this pledge. None of us voted to have our workplace protections taken away.  

What can you do this Work Your Proper Hours Day? 

On Work Your Proper Hours Day, try to take a proper lunch break and leave on time. If you’re a manager, you should consider how to move away from over-reliance on unpaid overtime. 

Managers have some of the most to gain by cutting unpaid overtime, both personally and through the benefits of reduced sickness, burnout and staff turnover in their teams. 

But everyone needs to be part of the conversation about excessive unpaid work. So whatever work you do, we hope you’ll take the chance to talk to colleagues about making a change. 

And if you haven’t already, get together with workmates and join a union. That’s the best way to get your voice heard and stop your boss breaking the rules.