Irish Workers Lose €280 Weekly in Unpaid Overtime
23 Mar 2006
Irish workers are losing up to €280 per week in unpaid overtime, Congress revealed today.
Congress Economic Advisor, Paul Sweeney, said that those workers, who do work overtime and are not paid, do 11.2 hours of unpaid overtime every week and effectively subsidise employers to the tune of €14,559 over a year, or €280 every week. The Congress figures are based on newly-released data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).* A total of 4.3 per cent of all Irish workers worked unpaid overtime
The data also reveals that those losing out on unpaid overtime were more likely to work in non-unionised sectors, while those sectors which were more likely to be paid in full for the extra hours were unionised.
"Irish workers work longer hours each year than most Europeans," commented Paul Sweeney. "A total of 10.1 per cent (152,300) of all employees work overtime in Ireland. Of these, 43 per cent of them (65,400 people) are unpaid for that work and have a combined annual loss of some €952 million - a massive annual subsidy to employers," said Sweeney.
The sectors with the highest rates of unpaid work were professional managers, 'associated professionals' technical persons and educators
"Education and financial services were the main sectors where no overtime payments were prevalent, said Mr Sweeney. "The non-payment of overtime in education can be attributed to vocational commitment, but the same cannot be said of financial services."
In unionised sectors, such as construction, transport, storage and communications and manufacturing, all overtime hours were likely to be paid, according to the CSO data.
While the proportion of the Irish labour force working unpaid overtime was less than the EU average, and far less than in the UK, the number of unpaid hours worked per week was higher in Ireland.
"In the UK, a substantial 20.5 percent of all employees worked unpaid overtime," Mr Sweeney said. "However, the average of number of hours unpaid overtime was lower in the UK, at only 7.4 hours a week, compared to 11.2 hours in Ireland. The average saving in overtime payments to UK employers per employee was €6,809 per annum."
Mr Sweeney pointed out that the 'long hours culture' is essentially counter-productive:
"Long hours are a symptom of poor productivity and indicate poor management. They also undermine relationships and make caring for children or dependents more difficult." Congress is not saying that we should all become clock watchers. Most of us enjoy our work and find our jobs fulfilling. Congress agrees with putting in extra hours when there's an emergency or a sudden increase in orders. However, in some firms, long hours have become the norm, and this is not acceptable.
The CSO data also showed that 80 percent of the Irish workforce were denied flexible working options, leaving many families with impossible choices in relation to balancing work and family requirements.
Greater union recognition was an obvious antidote to long hours and poor productivity, said Mr Sweeney. New figures from the UK government show that union members earn some 17.6 more than non-unionised.
Note to Editors
The CSO Quarterly National Household Survey CSO's Quarterly National Household Survey on Work Organisation and Working Time published on 14 March 2006, Table 2, with additional information from CSO staff