Almost a quarter of UK workers admit to working 10 or more hours of unpaid overtime per week.
In the poll of more than 1,000 people by high street recruitment company Select Appointments, a further 20% admitted to working more than five hours extra a week.
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Select Appointments HR director, Bill Dykes, said: “Britons seem to be addicted to their jobs and work the longest hours in Europe. Although many workers crave work-life balance, work seems to take over their very existence in a bid to climb the career ladder.
“It is difficult to assess whether businesses are responsible for piling the work onto their employees, or the employees themselves feel they have to put in the hours to keep their jobs. However, it’s encouraging that 51% of those polled work less than five hours of unpaid overtime per week.”