Aussies workers clock up unpaid overtime hours:
Survey finds typical fulltime employee in Aust works more than an hour of unpaid overtime a day; Nov 25 Go Home on Time Day
A study has found Australian workers are donating more than their annual leave entitlement back to their employers in the form of unpaid overtime.
The Australian Institute study shows the typical full-time employee works more than an hour of unpaid overtime a day. It equates to Australians working more than $2 billion of unpaid overtime each year.
Male workers reported working unpaid overtime more frequently than female workers (50 percent versus 41 percent). People with young children (46 percent) were only slightly more likely than people with no young children (45 percent) to work unpaid overtime.
However, there were stark differences between male and female parents of young children. Fifty-two percent of men with young children reported working more hours than they were paid for on a typical workday, compared with only 42 percent of women with young children.
The report's co-author Josh Fear blames the results on a work culture that starts with the boss, who is compensated by a higher salary, but their employees are doing it without that luxury.
Richard Denniss from the Australian Institute says everyone can find it tricky to leave the office on time, but the institute has nominated November 25 as Go Home On Time Day. Mr Denniss says it should be a guilt-free way of raising awareness of the nature and extent of unpaid overtime.
Acknowledgements: NZCity, NewsTalkZB
