This comes from new research by recruitment company, Reed, which also found that 40% of employees in the East Midlands feel they’re working more than their contracted hours. This also showed that 40% of workers in East Midlands say the overtime they work is necessary because their job role and responsibilities require it, and 39% because they have more work to do than working hours in their day. 37% also said they often have tight deadlines to meet; far higher than the UK average of 29%.
When asked if they’re compensated for the extra hours they work, only 22% of workers in East Midlands say they’re paid overtime, 19% said they could accrue their hours, while, alarmingly, nearly half (43%) said they weren’t compensated in any way.
Chris Willsher, Senior Regional Director, Reed, said: “The labour market is extremely competitive, with nearly 30% of the East Midlands’ population classed as economically inactive. As a result, a large number of employees may feel they need to pick up the slack or work extra hours to account for the lack of workers within the market at the moment, but the survey results show this isn’t helping employees meet their financial obligations.
“Clocking extra hours could potentially be a sign that people are trying to prove their worth and avoid their roles being made redundant if businesses are having to make cuts, or simply an indication of how they’re working hard to keep things going, while their company struggles to make the books balance. With tight deadlines being a huge contributing factor to why workers are putting in extra hours, it’s important for workers to ensure they don’t give themselves additional stress or burnout.
“Reviving the East Midlands’ workforce and bringing more people into the workforce is critical.”
As part of its annual salary guides research, Reed analysed more than 21 million job adverts and asked 5,000 workers across the UK regions a range of questions on their salary and work life. The research also looked at how many hours UK employees work per week and how much they are compensated for it.
Reed has produced a suite of 10 sector-specific salary guides, you can download them here.