Callcredit Check reveals that workers are giving away over £71 million everyday through unpaid overtime

April 2009

Over a third of UK workers taking on unpaid overtime do so because they fear losing their job

Key statistics

• Nearly a quarter (23pc) of workers in Great Britain say they have increased the amount of unpaid time they spend at work due to the current economic climate
• 45-54 year olds are doing the most amount of unpaid overtime, with 27pc having increased the time they spend at work. 50pc of those are working longer hours because their organisation cannot afford more staff/ has made redundancies, and 38pc are concerned about job security
• For those who have increased their unpaid hours at work, 40pc said it was down to being understaffed and 37pc said they were concerned about job security. Only 12pc are working longer unpaid hours because their organisation is doing well and there is more work to do
• 65pc of consumers are more concerned about their financial future now than they were twelve months ago, with the over 45-54 year olds most concerned (70pc)
• 41pc believe that their financial situation will deteriorate over the next year, compared to 23pc who think it will improve
• The 25-34s are the most optimistic age group with 41pc thinking things will improve, whereas the over 55s appear the most pessimistic with only 14pc believing their circumstances will improve and 53pc believing their situation will worsen

According to independent research commissioned by online credit report provider Callcredit Check, nearly a quarter (23pc) of workers in Great Britain claim to be working longer hours without payment and almost two thirds (65pc) claim to be more concerned about their financial future now than they were twelve months ago.

Just 12pc of those working beyond their contracted hours each day are staying late because their organisation is doing well and there’s more work to be done whereas four out of ten workers claim that their increase in workload is down to the fact that their organisation cannot afford more staff or has recently made redundancies. More than a third (37pc) of workers say that their late nights are down to concerns over job security, with the over 55s the most concerned about this (42pc), compared to 28pc of 18-24 year olds.

There are however signs that consumers are becoming marginally less negative regarding their own economic standing with 23pc of UK adults believing that their financial situation will improve over the course of the next 12 months, compared to 19pc in December 2008. Although 41pc believe that their financial situation will deteriorate over the next year, this is a marked improvement compared to December 2008 when 57pc said they thought their own situation would worsen over the coming 12 months.

Owen Roberts, head of www.callcreditcheck.com, comments "Financial insecurity, whether job related or not, is clearly an issue for many UK workers. To help alleviate these financial concerns a good first step for any individual would be to check their credit report which will give them an excellent overview of their current financial commitments."

"Consumers who are concerned that they can no longer make ends meet should speak with their lenders before things become unmanageable or an independent organisation such as the Consumer Credit Counselling Service to work out the best way forward."