Three quarters of professionals work unpaid overtime

Nick Elvin

Nearly three quarters of UK professionals are working longer than their contracted hours, according to new research.

A survey by global recruitment firm Morgan McKinley shows that 73.4% are working unpaid overtime, and about three quarters of those people said the situation was impacting on their work-life balance.

Furthermore, two-thirds of all those who responded said they felt obliged to work in excess of their contracted hours.

Operations director for Morgan McKinley UK, Hakan Enver, said: “Naturally, among a committed and highly professional workforce, this is always likely to be the case. More than half of respondents say that they are more productive outside of their contracted hours and this is likewise to be expected.

“Meetings tend to be organised during normal office hours, and we all know that we can get more done when we can shut out any distractions in order to focus on important challenges and priorities.”

The survey, which was carried out in July, also shows that more than half of organisations offer opportunities to work from home or to work flexible hours.

Enver added: “If more organisations introduced similar working practices, this would not only reduce pressure on work-life balance, but also increase, rather than damage productivity.”

According to the research, the people who work the longest hours are those in more senior positions, and those in the 41-50 and 51-60 age brackets. The survey also suggests that on average, men are working slightly longer hours than women. Among men, the percentage working more than their contracted hours is 76.1%, compared to 67% of women.

“This may, however, simply reflect the fact that there is a rather higher proportion of men in more senior roles,” said Enver.