Five Million Brits Work Unpaid Overtime

Five million British workers work unpaid overtime regularly. That is the finding of a survey by the Trades Union Congress, the nation’s largest labor organization. In a workforce of roughly 30 million, that means one in six works without pay some of the time. This is the smallest percentage since 1992 at 19.4%.

The TUC said in a press release, “If each employee worked all their unpaid overtime at the beginning of the year, the TUC estimates that they would have worked for free and would not start to get paid until Friday 24 February 2006. That is why the TUC has dedicated Friday 24 February as their third ‘Work Your Proper Hours Day.’ On that day the TUC is urging people who do unpaid overtime to take a proper lunch break, and arrive and leave work on time.”

The TUC found that workers in small operations (under 25 workers) are less likely to stick around after hours or come in early than the larger places (over 500). “The research also shows that Londoners put in the longest hours. Those doing unpaid overtime put in an extra 8 hours 12 minutes in a week. Londoners were followed by employees in Wales at 7 hours 48 minutes and those in Northern Ireland were just behind on 7 hours 36 minutes.” The Scots and the folks in the Southwest did the least with 6.8 hours and 6.9 hours per week respectively.

Managers often believe that those putting in the longer hours are the more dedicated people, the high fliers on whom the enterprise depends for its future health. However, as TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said, “some employers are beginning to realise that endless hours of unpaid overtime are often a sign of an inefficient workplace and not something to celebrate.” Once again, modern business may be mistaking quantity of work with quality.

What is particularly telling is the difference between small businesses and big entities. When people know one another and work closely together, it is easy for everyone to spot who’s shirking and who’s working. They wind up pretty efficient and grow, or they go bust. The big guys, though, have to rely on quantitative assessments of employee effort and results because not everyone knows who does what, let alone whether they do it well. And that’s where the extra hour and a half a day comes from – trying to look good rather than be good at one’s job.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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