UK workers put in £31 billion worth of unpaid overtime during the last year - TUC analysis

UK workers put in £31 billion of unpaid overtime, according to new analysis published for Work Your Proper Hours Day by the TUC.   

It is the TUC’s 21st annual Work Your Proper Hours Day. On this day, workers are encouraged to take the breaks they are entitled to and finish their shifts on time. And managers are encouraged to support staff by setting reasonable workloads and putting in place workplace policies to protect against burnout.  

Main findings  

• Unpaid overtime is an issue for millions of workers: 3.8 million people did unpaid overtime in 2024, putting in an average of 7.2 unpaid hours a week. For those workers, that’s equivalent on average to £8,000 a year of wages going unpaid for work done. 

• Regional variation: In 2024, London had the highest proportion of workers doing unpaid overtime, at 17%, compared to 13% nationally. (See table 2 in notes)  

• Occupations with most unpaid overtime in 2024: In terms of the proportion of the workforce doing unpaid overtime, the highest occupations are teaching (38%) and health and care managers (35%) 

• Gender: Women and men are similarly likely to work unpaid overtime, with 13.2% of women working unpaid overtime compared to 13.1% of men. Women who do unpaid overtime do 6.8 hours a week compared to 7.5 hours a week for men. 

Public sector workforce pressures 

The TUC says teachers and health and care managers coming out on top for unpaid overtime highlights the staffing pressures in schools and hospitals.  

The union body says that, while government’s plans to recruit 6,500 additional teachers will help to improve levels of work intensity, more engagement is needed on workforce issues across the public sector. 

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:  

“Most workers don’t mind putting in extra hours from time to time, but they should be paid for it. This analysis shows once again the staffing pressures in our public services that have been driven by 14 years of Tory mismanagement. 

It is really important the new government engages with its workforce on issues like workloads to stop staff leaving our schools and hospitals.” 

Paul added:

“We are encouraging every worker to take their lunchbreak and finish on time today. And we know that good employers will support them doing that. My message to workers who are unfairly being forced to put in unpaid hours is that help is on the way. The Employment Rights Bill will make it easier for people to come together in a union and challenge unfair practices.”

Table 1 – headline data from analysis 

Table 2 – unpaid overtime by region 

– Methodology for the analysis: This TUC analysis is based on the Labour Force Survey (LFS) 2024Q2.