IT workers are now beginning to work less unpaid
overtime, according to theTUC.
The figures have been published on the eve of the TUC
Work Your Proper Hours Day 2007, the day when
people who do unpaid overtime would, on average, first get paid if
they did all their unpaid work at the start of the year.
Tomorrow (Friday) the TUC is urging people to take a proper
lunch break and leave work on time to remind managers of all the
extra unpaid hours they do.
IT professionals who put in unpaid overtime told the
Government’s Labour Force Survey that they did six hours and six
minutes unpaid overtime a week, which would be worth more than
£5,000 a year if paid at the average hourly rate. This has fallen
by 36 minutes in the last five years.
Less qualified IT employees, who make up the IT service delivery
occupations category in official statistics, have seen a bigger
drop in unpaid overtime. It has fallen by an hour and six minutes
over the last five years to four hours and 36 minutes. If paid at
the average hourly wage for the group, this would work out at an
extra £2,900 a year.
The TUC said most sectors of the economy are showing a small but
definite downwards trend in unpaid overtime. But the progress is so
slow, said the TUC, that it will take until 2031 to end regular
unpaid overtime of more than 10 hours every week, if current trends
continue.
The TUC said almost 840,000 employees in the UK currently do
unpaid overtime averaging more than 10 hours a week, which is 3.4%
of the workforce – down from 4.1% since 2001.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said, “The best we can say
is that our long hours culture is not getting any worse, and there
are some real, but slow, signs of progress in IT over the last five
years.
“Most staff are happy to put in some extra time when there’s an
emergency or extra pressure of work, but it should not be taken for
granted week in, week out.
“Employers in long hours workplaces should be asking hard
questions about their culture, how their work is organised and
whether they can repay staff through allowing more flexible working
arrangements.”
The campaign website can be viewed at
www.workyourproperhoursday.com
Firms and unions sign flexible working agreement
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