The vast majority of UK employers (81%) are working beyond their contracted hours. However, businesses are not rewarding these staff for their efforts with only 13% stating that they are compensated for working extra hours.
The Morgan McKinley Working Hours survey of 2,600 professionals in sectors such as banking and finance, found that 75% of employees felt obligated to work beyond their agreed hours.
Those that work in high level positions are most likely to work more than 10 hours extra (42%) compared with just 21% of entry level respondents.
The figures revealed that only 32% of professionals believe that they are productive during the extra hours that they work. A third (34%) don’t take their lunch break at all, with millennials (21%) being the largest group to have a working day without their lunch break.
When they do finally leave the office, three in four are sometimes/always working from a mobile device after they leave the office – 46% of C-level professionals work out from their mobile however only 9% of entry level do this.
David Leithead, UK Chief Operations Officer, Morgan McKinley said: “Many people work more hours than they are paid for, often because they feel obligated to, rather than because of a belief that it’s a productive exercise.”
David continued: “Businesses are facing an alarming burnout and need to evolve work practices. During the day, many employees don’t take any kind of lunch break. Then three quarters of them feel obligated to work beyond their contracted hours, yet they don’t feel that is productive. And when they do finally leave the office, they are always on-call. If not managed carefully, these factors can cause employee stress and burnout, and poor business performance.”
