Teachers work most unpaid overtime, TUC says

Teachers and lecturers work longer hours of unpaid overtime than any other occupation, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has revealed.

Teacher and lecturers topped the TUC's unpaid overtime league table, which has been published ahead of the TUC-organised 'Work Your Proper Hours Day', which takes place tomorrow.

The TUC study showed that teachers' and lecturers' average unpaid overtime per week was 11 hours and 36 minutes. This was almost two hours more than the nearest runner-up in the table – corporate and senior managers. The TUC said that if teaching staff worked all their unpaid overtime at the beginning of the year, it would mean they would not get paid until March 22.

However, because senior managers are paid more, their unpaid overtime is worth more than any other group – their average overtime of 9 hours and 48 minutes per week was worth £19,000 a year, compared to £9,892 for teachers.

Although managers and professionals dominated the top ranks of the table, farm workers also work long unpaid hours – an average of 8 hours 54 minutes per week, which is worth £2,500 a year – as do those in the arts industry, whose average unpaid overtime amounts to 8 hours 6 minutes per week, worth an average of £5,600 per year.

The TUC found that finance and accounts staff was the biggest group of white-collar workers who worked unpaid overtime. Their average was 7 hours 18 minutes per week, which was worth £6,000 a year.

The TUC recently released figures, which showed that unpaid overtime in the UK amounts to £23 billion a year. The average worker's unpaid overtime amounts to £4,650 per year.

The TUC is urging staff to observe 'Work Your Proper Hours' day tomorrow and only work the hours they are contracted to do so. February 25 has been picked for the event because it is the first day that the average person would get paid if they worked all their unpaid overtime at the start of the year. The TUC is also encouraging managers to take the opportunity to thank their staff for their extra work.

TUC General Secretary, Brendan Barber, said: "Everyone knows we work the longest hours in Europe. Too many workplaces are gripped by a long hours culture, where staff are expected to put in unpaid extra time week after week. We are not saying that we should all become clock-watchers, but it’s about time we called time on bosses who think the longer something takes the better the job is done."

(KMcA/SP)