A
third of all employees work more than 10 hours unpaid overtime per week, a new
survey reveals.
Recruitment
consultancy Robert Walters surveyed almost 4,000 people globally and asked
respondents ‘on average, how many non-paid hours overtime per week does your
company expect you to work?’
A
third of all respondents said that they are expected to work 10 or more hours a
week without extra pay, while 20 per cent said they worked between either none
and two hours unpaid overtime.
While
most countries followed roughly the same pattern, far more respondents worked
more than 10 hours unpaid overtime per week in Japan (48 per cent), Hong Kong
(47 per cent), Singapore (44 per cent), Luxembourg (42 per cent) and France (41
per cent).
Robert
Walters’ UK Regional Director Gerry Chesterman, said: Employers are getting an
extra day and a half out of one-third of their staff for nothing.
"This
extremely high statistic also points out employee’s ambition and commitment in
today’s working environment. In our experience, candidates going into new roles
expect a certain level of overtime, demonstrating that it has become
commonplace. The days of nine-to-five for modern, ambitious professionals have
long since gone.”
Antoine
Morgaut, director of Robert Walters Paris, said: “We have to analyse this poll
taking into consideration the 35-hour legislation in France. It appears that,
in spite of the legislation, white collar workers are still working extra
hours. They are legally partly excluded from the benefits of the 35-hour
legislation and have to compensate the sudden loss of work production within
their teams.
In
France, people are doing more for less money, only motivated by career
progression, and/or fear of unemployment. By implementing the 35-hour
legislation the French government wanted to limit that, however, it looks like
a law does not change minds that easily.”
The
complete survey can be viewed online at http://www.robertwalters.com
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