WIREDGOV

If staff who regularly work unpaid overtime did all their extra hours from the start of the year they wouldn’t get paid until 28 February 2014.

Now in its tenth year, Work Your Proper Hours Day is a light-hearted campaign that celebrates the unsung – and unrewarded – hours that staff put in to help their employers and boost the UK economy.

On the last Friday of this month, the TUC will urge bosses to let their staff take a proper lunch hour and to leave work on time. Managers are being encouraged to lead by example and work their proper hours too.

Last year, the TUC found that one in five employees across the UK regularly worked unpaid overtime, worth over £28bn to the economy. Teachers, legal managers and finance professionals were most likely to do unpaid overtime – with half all employees in these jobs regularly working extra hours for free.

This year Work Your Proper Hours Day will look at whether the recent recovery in the labour market has led to a rise or a fall in the number of unpaid hours as more people join the workforce. The TUC will also highlight which jobs and regions of the UK do the most unpaid overtime.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- To find out more about Work Your Proper Hours Day please contact the TUC press office 

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Follow the TUC on Twitter: @tucnews

Contacts:

Media enquiries:

Liz Chinchen   T: 020 7467 1248    M: 07778 158175    E: media@tuc.org.uk
Rob Holdsworth    T: 020 7467 1372    M: 07717 531150     E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk
Elly Gibson   T: 020 7467 1337    M: 07900 910624     E: egibson@tuc.org.uk