UK workers are missing out on £4,000 in unpaid overtime every year
A new survey by StandOut CV reveals how much time UK employees spend working unpaid overtime and on tasks outside of their job description – and how this impacts their wellbeing.
Working on average 42 hours per week, UK employees work the longest hours in Europe. But how much time is spent working unpaid overtime and on unpaid tasks technically outside of their job remit?
To find out, StandOut CV surveyed 1,051 British adults to explore how much time employees are really spending “going above and beyond” their job duties. The survey also identified the types of tasks employees are most likely to find themselves doing on top of their actual work, and how they feel about taking on these extra responsibilities.
How much time are people spending on tasks outside their job description?
Working overtime – time spent working after the usual time needed or expected in a job – is a common experience. The majority, 85.7% of employees, said that they work overtime, at an average length of 2.6 hours per week.
But on top of this workload, many employees also find themselves saddled with tasks outside their job duties. 85.1% of employees say they complete tasks outside of their official job description, at an average length of 2.1 hours per week. Combined, this is 4.7 hours of additional labour.
Considering an employee who takes 28 days of annual leave and works for 46.4 weeks per year, this means that an average employee spends roughly 120.6 hours working overtime per year, and an additional 97.4 hours on tasks outside their official job duties. Combined, this adds up to 218 hours – 5.2 weeks of extra work. According to the majority of surveyed employees (71.6%), this work is likely uncompensated, but if this labour were compensated, this would be an additional £4,063.52 a year (considering the UK average hourly rate of £18.64 at the time of writing).
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How much time per week do you spend on tasks at work outside of your actual job description? |
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Time period |
Outside job description |
Overtime: normal work |
|
I never spend time on other tasks |
14.9% |
14.3% |
|
0 - 30 minutes |
23.6% |
14.7% |
|
30 - 60 minutes |
16.9% |
15.2% |
|
1 - 2 hours |
19.0% |
19.1% |
|
2 - 4 hours |
11.8% |
14.5% |
|
4 - 6 hours |
7.3% |
9.7% |
|
6 - 8 hours |
2.9% |
5.2% |
|
8 - 10 hours |
1.7% |
3.1% |
|
10 - 12 hours |
0.4% |
1.5% |
|
12 - 14 hours |
0% |
0.6% |
|
More than 14 hours |
1.5% |
2.1% |
|
Average length of time: |
2.1 hours |
2.6 hours |
What tasks are people doing outside of their job description?
The survey identified five tasks that most employees had undertaken outside their job role. These were: tech support (66.4%), emotional support (61.5%), cleaning and tidying (60.7%), onboarding and training others (57.7%), and performing tasks for other departments (56.9%).
Some additional duties are more time consuming than others. The longest average time spent per week on any one activity was performing tasks for other departments (33.7 minutes), on-boarding or training team members (32.8 minutes), and providing tech support for colleagues (31.8 minutes).
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Common tasks performed outside of the job description |
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Task |
Percentage of respondents |
Average time taken per week (minutes) |
|
Providing tech support for colleagues |
66.4% |
31.8 |
|
Providing emotional support for colleagues |
61.5% |
29.7 |
|
Cleaning or organising working areas |
60.7% |
28.5 |
|
Onboarding or training team members |
57.7% |
32.8 |
|
Performing tasks for other departments |
56.9% |
33.7 |
|
Running errands |
42.8% |
17.7 |
|
Making drinks for others |
37.2% |
13.4 |
|
Organising events |
36.1% |
16 |
|
Making food for others |
19.5% |
11.4 |
Why are people taking on roles outside their job description?
There are many reasons why an employee might take on extra tasks. Only 23.7% of respondents said they took on these extra tasks due to explicit instructions from management or colleagues. The rest of the respondents were internally motivated – either out of personal desire or unspoken, implicit pressure.
Just above a quarter (26.5%) of those surveyed said that they took on these extra tasks due to an internal sense of responsibility, and 3.6% because they believed doing so would help them get ahead. One in four said they felt compelled to because of unspoken workplace culture (25.8%) or short-staffing (20.2%).
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Where do you think the pressure to take on additional tasks primarily comes from? |
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Answers |
Percentage of respondents |
|
My own internal sense of responsibility |
26.5% |
|
Unspoken workplace culture |
25.8% |
|
Short-staffing |
20.2% |
|
Explicit instructions from management |
14.1% |
|
Pressure from colleagues |
9.6% |
|
Career development |
3.6% |
How people feel about being asked to take on work outside their job role also varied. Just over half of respondents, 51.7%, said they felt a positive or neutral response, like feeling valued (16.7%) and important (17.7%). But, the other half of respondents (48.3%) said they felt frustrated (18.4%), overwhelmed (17.2%), and unfairly treated (12.7%).
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How did taking on these extra non-role related activities make you feel? |
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Answers |
Percentage of respondents |
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Frustrated because it wasn't my job |
18.4% |
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Like a key part of the team |
17.7% |
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Neutral - it didn't impact me much |
17.3% |
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Overwhelmed or stressed |
17.2% |
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Valued and appreciated |
16.7% |
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Like I was unfairly burdened |
12.7% |
Considering the respondents who had been asked to complete a task outside their job description, nearly half (46.2%) said they have never felt comfortable declining the request. But perhaps respondents needn’t be so afraid of pushing back. More respondents who had declined the extra work felt their refusal was respected (33.8%) rather than received badly (20%).
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Have you ever declined to take on extra responsibilities that weren't part of your job description? |
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Answers |
Percentage of respondents |
|
No, I've never felt comfortable declining |
46.2% |
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Yes, and it was respected |
33.8% |
|
Yes, but I faced a negative reaction/consequence |
20.0% |
Opinions were also very split on how taking on extra duties affected primary job responsibilities. Of those who had taken on tasks outside their job description, half (50.7%) said it had had a negative impact, with 36.6% saying the effect was slight, and 14.1% saying it actively distracted them from their actual job duties.
A minority, 7.6% of respondents, said they found that these extra errands had a positive impact on their job role. The remaining 41.7% said that the impact was neutral, and their main responsibilities were left unaffected.
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