Saturday 28 November 2009

Half a million fewer workers earning overtime pay





According to a TUC analysis of official figures released yesterday, the number of people working paid overtime in the UK has fallen by nearly half a million in the last year to just under four million.


Here’s an overview of the TUC analysis:

In Summer 2009, 15.8 per cent of employees in the UK earned paid overtime, a fall of 1.5 percentage points since Summer 2008
Employees were working an average of six and a half hours paid overtime per week this year, a fall of 12 minutes on 2008
The average amount of weekly overtime works out at £2,888 a year per employee
The major reason that overtime has declined is simply because many jobs with overtime have disappeared due to redundancy during the recession
55 per cent of the decline in paid overtime is due to job losses, with the other 45 per cent due to employees having fewer opportunities for overtime
Those most affected are workers aged 20-24
15.9 per cent of young people earned overtime pay in 2009, compared to 20.1 per cent in 2008 - a fall of 474,000
The sectors most affected by the drop in overtime are manufacturing, transport and communication (broadcasting, TV and radio production, postal workers)
Paid overtime has actually fallen steadily since records began in 1998, when nearly one in four (24.8 per cent) workers earned paid overtime.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

These workers are the hidden victims of the recession. Job security remains the number one concern for workers across the country but the sharp drop in paid overtime shows that many people in work are also suffering financially. Even those that are still earning overtime are often no longer able to claim double pay.

Lots of people rely on overtime pay to earn a decent living. As Christmas approaches, a lack of extra income will put family budgets under even greater strain.

While many in the City look to their stocks and bonuses as a barometer of the health of the economy, having enough hours of work and overtime pay matter far more to millions of workers and their families
Half a million fewer workers earning overtime pay

  • Is overtime the most effective way of dealing with sudden and temporary surges in workload?

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