Businesses admit to late hours culture
Feb 25 2010
Staff are working beyond the 9 to 5
Employees are working long hours and are not being rewarded for their extra commitment, claims research.
Of 2,000 SMEs surveyed by software company Sage, 52 per cent report that their employees work overtime, of those two-fifths admit that staff who carry on beyond their contracted hours receive no extra pay.
Brendan Flattery, managing director of Sage’s Small Business Division, says: ‘In the current economic climate many employees feel the need to work long hours, but it is important that people continue to strike the right work-life balance.’
According to a report from staff well-being company Water Wellpoint, 72 per cent of employees say they stay longer than their basic hours require.
Comment by Claire Shiels
Thursday 25th February 2010But hasn't it always been thus? Professional staff have always taken work home to keep on top of their workload. With the emergence of homeworking technology, it's even easier to do so and helps make the office day less stressful if you're on top of things. For some, it's simply a work ethic and I agree that it's important to strike that work:life balance, but so few of us rarely do. Increasing competition and globalisation means that companies demand more of their staff than ever before, with most unable to regularly pay out overtime wages. I see "out of hours" working as simply a fact of life in today's business world. Professionals need to accept that the further they progress up the career ladder and the higher their wages, the more will be demanded of them.
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Comment by Marc Barber
Thursday 25th February 2010I totally agree. Working additional hours has always been the norm. Technology doesn't magically make work itself easier, it just makes it easier to work more. Maybe since companies have had to cut their cloth accordingly in the recession, employees have been given more to do and that accounts for longer hours. But yes, eight-hour days are the stuff of myth and legend.
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