Unpaid overtime totals £27.4 billion in 2009
In a reflection of how difficult a year 2009 was for the UK economy, it has been revealed that a massive £27.4 billion was worked in unpaid overtime by UK employees. This equates to a record £5,400 per worker in the UK and is the largest figure since these records began. While many people would expect to "do a little extra" to secure their jobs in these difficult economic times the amount of work put in with no return in payment is enormous.
The largest increases in unpaid overtime occurred in London, the north-west and the north-east although rather bizarrely the total of unpaid overtime fell in Wales. While over 5 million people in the UK are estimated to have put in unpaid overtime in 2009 an enormous 900,000 people are said to be working in excess of 10 hours a week unpaid. Even though many people may reluctantly agree to unpaid overtime in the short term the problem comes when we move out of the recession and there is a need to cut back on their extended hours.
Whether the figure of £27.4 billion is indeed correct is a matter for debate, because unpaid overtime has been and continues to be shrouded in secrecy within the UK workplace.
Share this..
Related stories
Is the UK cheque book on the way out?
The Payments Council is set to rule on the potential abolition of cheque-books in the UK in what many people see as an inevitable move although others appear to be angered. Even though there are still 4 million cheques written each and every day in the UK this figure is down two thirds over the last 20 years and is expected to fall to around 1.6 million cheques a day in 2018. The Payments Counc...
Read MoreOFT looking towards review of Orange and T-Mobile merger
The merger of Orange and T-Mobile UK has prompted an admission from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) that it believes a review of the merger should be instigated. A straight merger of the two operations in the UK would give the enlarged group about 37% of the UK mobile phone market with nearest rival Vodafone currently controlling around 25% of the market. As a consequence, there is a growing beli...
Read MoreUK pay-per-view TV market in major shakeup
An announcement from Ofcom this week could signal the biggest shakeup in the UK pay-per-view TV market for over 20 years. It is believed that Ofcom will insist that Sky reduces the price it charges competitors to take premium content such as Sky Sports and Sky Movies to deliver to their own customers. This will allow the likes of BT and Virgin to attack the UK pay-per-view market with BT already p...
Read MoreRoyal Mail to push through stamp price increases
Royal Mail will soon push through a two pence rise in the cost of a first-class and second class stamp to 41p and 32p respectively. This move will come in on 6 April 2010 and while it had been expected, there was the potential for a three pence increase in the cost of a first-class stamp but for some reason this option has been rejected in the short term. However, the finances of the Royal Mail ar...
Read MoreChristmas is a time of giving
As the festive period comes to a close and we look forward to the New Year, many people will be spending winter on the streets, homeless and in many cases struggling to find food. Perhaps this is a time when we should be looking towards the charitable sector, a sector which has been devastated by the recession and the economic turmoil in the UK, and consider how lucky many of us are to have a roof...
Read More