[UK] Workers carried out £26 billion unpaid overtime during 2023

In 2023, UK employers claimed £26 billion of free labour as a result of workers doing unpaid overtime, according to a new TUC (Trades Union Congress) analysis, TUC reports.

The figures were released on February 23, TUC’s 20th annual Work Your Proper Hours Day. On this day, workers are encouraged to take their break entitlement and finish their shifts on time. Managers are encouraged to support their staff by setting reasonable workloads and establishing workplace policies to protect against burnout.   

Unpaid overtime is an issue affecting millions of UK workers, 3.8 million people reportedly carried out unpaid overtime in 2023, putting in an average of 7.2 unpaid hours a week. That’s equivalent, on average, to £7,200 per year of unpaid wages for work performed. 

Teachers were at the top of the 2023 list for both the proportion of staff doing unpaid overtime (40 per cent) and the average weekly overtime across all employees (4.4 hours). Chief executives, managers and directors also featured prominently, suggesting that the additional responsibilities of senior staff are not properly managed by employers. 

Unpaid overtime is reportedly more common in the public sector; 1 in 6 public sector workers (16.7 per cent) did unpaid overtime in 2023, compared to 1 in 9 (11.9 per cent) in the private sector. Public sector workers gave £11 billion worth of unpaid overtime to meet the needs of service users, an average of more than 10 million hours each week of unpaid overtime in UK public services.  

In 2023, London had the highest proportion of workers doing unpaid overtime, at 18.8 per cent, compared to 13.2 per cent nationally. 

In 2019 the European Court of Justice ruled that employers should establish an “objective, reliable and accessible system” for recording hours. This ruling was binding on the UK, however, when the Conservative government had the opportunity to strengthen requirements on employers with the Retained EU Law Act, ministers retained the considerably weaker UK rules. 

Paul Nowak - TUC General Secretary - said, “We’re encouraging every worker to take their lunchbreak and finish on time today. And we know that the best employers will support them doing that. 

“Most workers don’t mind putting in extra hours from time to time, but they should be paid for it.   

“Part of the problem is that some employers fail to record the overtime staff do. And when they don’t record it, they don’t pay it. 

“Conservative ministers know about this problem, but they refuse to tighten the rules on employers’ records. That’s not good enough. Working people deserve a government that is on their side.” 

Responding to public sector overtime figures, Mr Nowak said, “We all depend on public services. But they’ve been run down by Conservative cuts and mismanagement.  

“That’s why public sector workers do so much unpaid overtime. They are going flat out to provide the services families rely on. But burnout and staff retention are big problems. 

“None of us can afford to go on like this. The government must fix pay and conditions for public sector staff, instead of relying on the goodwill of workers who are burning out. That’s the only way we can rebuild our public services to the decent standard that we all need.” 

Source: TUC

(Quotes via original reporting)

In 2023, UK employers claimed £26 billion of free labour as a result of workers doing unpaid overtime, according to a new TUC (Trades Union Congress) analysis, TUC reports.

The figures were released on February 23, TUC’s 20th annual Work Your Proper Hours Day. On this day, workers are encouraged to take their break entitlement and finish their shifts on time. Managers are encouraged to support their staff by setting reasonable workloads and establishing workplace policies to protect against burnout.   

Unpaid overtime is an issue affecting millions of UK workers, 3.8 million people reportedly carried out unpaid overtime in 2023, putting in an average of 7.2 unpaid hours a week. That’s equivalent, on average, to £7,200 per year of unpaid wages for work performed. 

Teachers were at the top of the 2023 list for both the proportion of staff doing unpaid overtime (40 per cent) and the average weekly overtime across all employees (4.4 hours). Chief executives, managers and directors also featured prominently, suggesting that the additional responsibilities of senior staff are not properly managed by employers. 

Unpaid overtime is reportedly more common in the public sector; 1 in 6 public sector workers (16.7 per cent) did unpaid overtime in 2023, compared to 1 in 9 (11.9 per cent) in the private sector. Public sector workers gave £11 billion worth of unpaid overtime to meet the needs of service users, an average of more than 10 million hours each week of unpaid overtime in UK public services.  

In 2023, London had the highest proportion of workers doing unpaid overtime, at 18.8 per cent, compared to 13.2 per cent nationally. 

In 2019 the European Court of Justice ruled that employers should establish an “objective, reliable and accessible system” for recording hours. This ruling was binding on the UK, however, when the Conservative government had the opportunity to strengthen requirements on employers with the Retained EU Law Act, ministers retained the considerably weaker UK rules. 

Paul Nowak - TUC General Secretary - said, “We’re encouraging every worker to take their lunchbreak and finish on time today. And we know that the best employers will support them doing that. 

“Most workers don’t mind putting in extra hours from time to time, but they should be paid for it.   

“Part of the problem is that some employers fail to record the overtime staff do. And when they don’t record it, they don’t pay it. 

“Conservative ministers know about this problem, but they refuse to tighten the rules on employers’ records. That’s not good enough. Working people deserve a government that is on their side.” 

Responding to public sector overtime figures, Mr Nowak said, “We all depend on public services. But they’ve been run down by Conservative cuts and mismanagement.  

“That’s why public sector workers do so much unpaid overtime. They are going flat out to provide the services families rely on. But burnout and staff retention are big problems. 

“None of us can afford to go on like this. The government must fix pay and conditions for public sector staff, instead of relying on the goodwill of workers who are burning out. That’s the only way we can rebuild our public services to the decent standard that we all need.” 

Source: TUC

(Quotes via original reporting)