The TUC has published its analysis of the Government’s Labour Force Survey in the run-up to Work Your Proper Hours Day on Friday 24th February.
This is the day that those who do unpaid overtime would start, on average, to get paid if they did all their unpaid work at the start of the year. The TUC is urging staff to work their proper hours and take a full lunch break on that day, and for employers to thank their staff for their hard work by taking them for lunch, a cocktail or coffee.
The TUC has campaigned for a “Work Your Proper Hours Day” before. It claims that UK employees worked unpaid overtime worth £23 billion in 2005, amounting on average to one day’s unpaid overtime a week per employee.
The TUC is using the campaign as a light-hearted way to raise the problem of a long-hours culture in the UK. It hopes that eventually “Work Your Proper Hours Day” will be celebrated earlier each year, indicating that people are working smarter, not longer. Last year it was Friday, 25th February.
A campaign website has been set up, where employees can send their boss an anonymous ‘bossagram’, work out how much their unpaid overtime is worth, play an interactive game or take an unpaid overtime quiz to find out what kind of long hours worker they are.
“Most people enjoy their jobs most of the time, but nearly half would like to work fewer hours. Worryingly, more than two million are so desperate to downshift that they would give up pay in return for a better work-life balance,” said TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber.
“But all our long hours are not making us more productive,” he added. “Too many workplaces are gripped by a long hours culture, which staff and managers could easily work together to tackle.”
Employment law specialist Robyn McIlroy says the results of the survey are no surprise.
"It is increasingly uncommon for white-collar professional workers to have a right to be paid overtime, and the fact is that employers are much more likely to restrict employees' working hours if there is a legal compunction to do so or it costs in lucrative overtime," she said.
McIlroy, a Senior Associate with Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM, explained that the Working Time Regulations of 1998 presently prohibit working more that an average of 48 hours per week unless the employee opts out of the Regulations. "It's increasingly common for white-collar workers to be asked to sign an opt-out," she said.
"Presently, only employees with child care responsibilities have the statutory right to ask for a flexible working arrangement," she continued. "However, many organisations are tuned into the mood of workers and the increasing desire for flexible working arrangements. Many employers are prepared to consider such requests even from those employees who have no statutory right to flexible working."
But McIlroy warns that the reality of a shorter week is sometimes less attractive. "Dreaming of a three-day week is one thing – but a pro rata deduction in pay and other benefits is quite another," she said.
