{"id":7919,"date":"2016-02-29T17:09:38","date_gmt":"2016-02-29T17:09:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=7919"},"modified":"2016-02-29T17:09:38","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T17:09:38","slug":"working-for-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=7919","title":{"rendered":"Working for free"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Workers in the UK are being cheated of more than \u00c2\u014130bn in unpaid labour over the course of a year, a new TUC analysis<\/a> has found.<\/p>\n

 
\nMore than five million people worked an average of 7.7 hours each week in unpaid overtime in 2015, which, the TUC says, amounts to each person having \u00c2\u01416,114 stolen from their pockets each year if they were on the average wage.<\/p>\n

 
\nWhile men worked 1.1bn extra hours unpaid each year and women worked 0.9bn extra hours, women were more likely to work unpaid overtime than men were.<\/p>\n

 
\nPublic sector workers clocked in unpaid overtime that amounted to nearly \u00c2\u014111bn. Even though they represent only 25 per cent of the workforce, their contribution to the unpaid overtime bill added up to a full third.<\/p>\n

 
\nTeachers and education professionals were the workers most likely to rack up unpaid overtime \u00e2\u20ac\u201c more than half reported working more than 11 extra hours unpaid each week.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnpaid overtime is rife<\/strong><\/em>
\nAccording to Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own research, unpaid overtime in finance is rife \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a recent Unite survey of 2,000 Royal Bank of Scotland workers found that 63 per cent work unpaid overtime on a daily basis, with 12 per cent of the workforce occasionally doing unpaid overtime. This equates to three in four workers not being paid for the hours they work.<\/p>\n

 
\nOnly 7 per cent of respondents said they take time off in lieu (TOIL) for the overtime they work, with 19 per cent reporting they either take TOIL in exchange or get paid for the occasional overtime they do. No staff stated they get paid for the overtime they do daily.<\/p>\n

 
\nA separate Unite survey of HSBC staff found similar results \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 68 per cent said they worked unpaid overtime each week, with 67 per cent reporting rising workloads to be the main factor and one in four saying they worked unpaid overtime because they felt pressure to do so.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe findings in Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s surveys are reflected in the TUC analysis as well, which found that workers in finance, after teachers, are most likely to do unpaid overtime.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe TUC conducted its analysis based on Labour Force Survey data from the July to September 2015, as it marked its 12th annual Work your Proper Hours Day last Friday (February 26) which aims to shed light on the issue of unpaid overtime.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe day is typically held on the day the average worker begins getting paid in the year if unpaid overtime is taken into consideration \u00e2\u20ac\u201c meaning we typically work the first two months of the year for free.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bToo many workplaces tolerate a long-hours culture,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said TUC general secretary Frances O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Grady.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe do not want to turn Britain into a nation of clock watchers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bFew people mind putting in extra effort from time to time when it is needed, but it is too easy for extra time to be taken for granted and expected day in day out.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI would urge anyone worried about a long-hours culture in their workplace to join their union, to make sure they are represented and their voices are heard.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite assistant general secretary Steve Turner agreed.<\/p>\n

 
\nBad for economy<\/strong><\/em>
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHow is it that France works significantly fewer hours than we do here in the UK but their productivity levels are much higher? Working longer hours, unpaid, is not only patently unfair and a major cause of stress and other health problems \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually bad for the economy, too.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe key to a satisfied and more productive workforce is one that feels valued, which means being paid properly for hours you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve worked and not being pressured into working beyond what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s set out in your contract,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut this won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t become a reality by magic \u00e2\u20ac\u201c fighting an entrenched, long-hours culture needs people organised into a trade union in every workplace.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnions fought hard for a shorter working week, paid holidays and weekends off \u00e2\u20ac\u201c these gains we now take for granted can always be clawed back if we aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t vigilant,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Turner went on to say. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnder a government that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s taking aim at workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights through the trade union Bill, while also creating an economy of low-wage, insecure jobs, joining a union now is more important than ever before.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nAre you interested in knowing how much your own unpaid overtime is worth? Find out using the TUC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s calculator here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Workers in the UK are being cheated of more than \u00c2\u014130bn in unpaid labour over the course of a year, a new TUC analysis has found.   More than five million people worked an average of 7.7 hours each week in unpaid overtime in 2015, which, the TUC says, amounts to each person having \u00c2\u01416,114 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[424,344,304,86],"wps_subtitle":" Unpaid overtime means you lose out big time","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7919"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7919"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7920,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7919\/revisions\/7920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}