East Midlands has biggest increase in the amount of unpaid overtime worked

382,000 people in the East Midlands worked unpaid overtime in 2008, worth a total of £1.8 billion, according to an analysis of official statistics published by the TUC today (Thursday).

Employees who work unpaid overtime would receive an extra £4,756 a year if they were paid for the additional hours they are putting in – an extra £565 since last year – the biggest increase in the UK. The average amount of unpaid overtime is seven hours 18 minutes a week.

The East Midlands had the second biggest increase in the number of people working unpaid overtime (+61,000) after London (+79,000) in 2008. The number of people working unpaid overtime fell in the South East (-26,000) and Scotland (-11,000).

The TUC has calculated that if everyone 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 27 February. The TUC traditionally declares this ‘Work Your Proper Hours Day’ and makes a light-hearted call for staff to work their proper hours for at least one day a year and for employers to thank their staff for regularly putting in the extra hours at work.

Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Roger McKenzie said: “After years of progress, the numbers doing unpaid overtime has increased for the second year in a row. This is disappointing.

“But while some of this is due to the longs-hours culture that still dogs too many British workplaces, the recession will now be making many people scared of losing their job in the year ahead and joining the ever-growing dole-queue.

“Inevitably people will be putting in extra hours if they think it can help protect against redundancy or keep their employer in business.

“This is not the year therefore for our usual light-hearted ‘Work Your Proper Hours Day’. But this does not mean people should ignore excessive working. Friday 27 February should still be used to think through working hours. Long hours are bad for people’s health, and employers should never forget that each extra hour worked makes people less productive once they are over a sensible working week.

“The recession should instead provide a spur to make workplaces more productive, and for managers to get staff to work together, not compete for who can stay the latest.”

- 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