Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Latest NewsHR practiceAnnual hoursWork-life balanceWorkforce planning

Unpaid overtime makes unlikely bedfellows of finance and garage workers

by Louisa Peacock 2 Mar 2009
by Louisa Peacock 2 Mar 2009

Finance staff and garage workers are among those doing the most unpaid overtime hours during the recession, the TUC has claimed.

The union’s analysis of UK working hours, The Long Hours Culture, published on Friday, estimated that 5.24 million people worked unpaid overtime in January, doing an average of seven hours six minutes extra each week. But the study found there were significant fluctuations in different industries.

Those working in research and development increased unpaid overtime the most in 2008 compared with 2007, while insurance staff’s work dipped. Agricultural workers who did unpaid overtime were putting in an extra 13 days worth of free work per month compared with Autumn 2007. Other big increases include those working in vehicle garages, up by five days per month.

The proportion of finance workers doing unpaid overtime rose by 1.5% from 2007 to 2008, while among research and development staff the increase was 2.4%, the TUC said.

The proportion of people doing unpaid hours has decreased sharply in insurance and pensions (down 7.5%) and agriculture (down by 5.6%).

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “The recession is bringing new pressure for people to work unpaid overtime. Workers in some industries are racking up the hours to complete the job quicker. But elsewhere work is drying up and workers do not have enough work to fill normal hours, let alone do overtime.”

Author of the report Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health at Lancashire University, said: “During a recession, we must all be fully committed to our colleagues and there is more pressure to work longer hours to get the job done.

“However, consistently working long hours is likely to affect your health adversely as well as your productivity.”

Avatar
Louisa Peacock

previous post
Continuing professional development: Immunisation policy
next post
Council job losses could reach 40,000 in 2009

You may also like

How should HR handle the highest inflation in...

18 May 2022

How to respond to an HMRC furlough enquiry

18 May 2022

AI adoption: Skills shortages means UK lagging behind...

18 May 2022

Nurses leaving due to pressure and workplace culture

18 May 2022

Ethnic diversity: report highlights disparities in school leadership

18 May 2022

Accreditation scheme will ‘encourage LGBT+ people to be...

17 May 2022

Bald move: Tribunal was right in sex-related harassment...

17 May 2022

Number of working people with disability up 1.3...

17 May 2022

Wages fall 1.2% behind inflation as cost of...

17 May 2022

Police Scotland pays out £948,000 to female officer...

16 May 2022
  • What it really means to be mentally fit PROMOTED | What is mental fitness...Read more
  • How music can help to ease anxiety at work PROMOTED | A lot has happened since March 2020, hasn’t it?...Read more
  • Why now is the time to plug the unhealthy gap PROMOTED | We’ve all heard the term ‘health is wealth’...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+