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September 2023 - Business Support

A survey of UK workers has revealed that almost half regularly work unpaid hours: A survey has revealed that 49% of UK employees regularly work unpaid hours, with the average amongst those who regularly do so amounting to just over 3 hours per week. For someone who works full-time this equates to around 37 minutes of unpaid work per day, found the research.

The research by HR software provider Ciphr surveyed 1,000 employees at companies across the UK, also finding that senior managers are most likely to work the most free hours - an average of 4.1 hours per week - compared to 2.7 hours a week for non-management staff. Those aged 25-34 years and remote workers were likely to work 3.5 hours extra unpaid each, found the research, while the sectors with the most unpaid overtime were legal services (4.1 extra hours) and education (3.9 hours extra per week).

The sectors with the most unpaid overtime

Three-quarters of legal service professionals said they have worked unpaid overtime compared to 4% who said they receive overtime pay, while 62% of education sector employees also said they have worked unpaid overtime (compared with 9% of employees who said they receive payment). Construction was also a sector with high levels of employees working for no additional pay (62%) although 19% said they had received overtime pay.

Also revealed by the survey was that 6 in 10 IT and software engineers work unpaid overtime, compared to 14% who have been paid for additional hours, while the same proportion of marketing, advertising and sales professionals worked extra for free (61%), although 17% said they received overtime pay.

The industry which received the most overtime payments was hospitality and food (52%) found the study, with just under a quarter saying they had worked for free (23%). Just over a third of retail and wholesale workers (35%) said they had received overtime pay compared to 37% who hadn't. Also amongst the best industries to pay overtime was transportation as well as warehousing, shipping and distribution, with 44% of workers saying they had received payment for extra hours, compared to 38% of employees who hadn't.

When looking at the amount of unpaid work carried out by employees over a year the survey revealed an average of 18 additional days, equating to over 139 hours worked for free.

Claire Williams, chief people officer at Ciphr, said:

“This research serves as a good reminder on the importance of keeping track of employees’ working hours – mainly to help ensure that people are not working unreasonable hours, but also, as an organisation, that you’re not breaching Working Time Regulations."

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