Work your proper hours day

5th January 2012, 06:00

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The amount of unpaid overtime worked last year in the South West would be enough to create almost 90,000 extra jobs in the region according to the TUC.

They say total amount of unpaid overtime worked last year in the South West was 165,765 million hours, worth a record £2.4 billion to the regional economy, and roughly equivalent to 90,000 extra full-time jobs. A quarter of workers in the South West put in seven hours week unpaid overtime every week – the equivalent of working one day a week for free. If they worked all their hours from the start of the year, the first day they would get paid would be Friday 24 February. The TUC has named this Work Your Hour Proper Hours Day in their honour. The TUC analysis of official figures shows that 5.3 million workers put in an average of 7.2 hours of unpaid overtime per week last year, worth around £5,300 a year per person. Whilst reducing the amount of unpaid overtime would not translate precisely into extra jobs – particularly as a lot of these hours are a result of a British work culture of pointless presenteeism the TUC is concerned that persistent and excessive hours of unpaid overtime are holding back job creation.

Nigel Costley, Regional Secretary of the South West TUC, said: “The heroic amount of extra unpaid hours put in by thousands of workers make a vital – but often unsung – contribution to the South West economy. While many politicians and financial institutions have spectacularly failed to do their bit to help the region’s economy, thousands of hard-working staff clearly have and we hope employers congratulate them for their efforts on Work Your Proper Hours Day this year. But while many of the extra unpaid hours worked could easily be reduced by changing work practices and ending the UK’s culture of pointless presenteeism, a small number of employers are exploiting staff by regularly forcing them to do excessive amounts of extra work for no extra pay. This attitude is not only bad for workers’ health, it’s bad for the economy too as it reduces productivity and holds back job creation."