University staff are missing out on £880m a year in unpaid overtime

On average staff do 8.4 hours of unpaid overtime every week and are missing out on almost £10,000 a year each.

Figures, from the Trades Unions Congress (TUC) ahead of Work Your Proper Hours Day tomorrow, reveal that two in five university staff do unpaid overtime and they are missing out on almost £200 every week.

On Work Your Proper Hours Day the TUC is urging staff to take a stand for one day a year by taking a proper lunch break and going home on time. Managers should use the day to say thank you to their staff, by taking them for a cocktail or coffee. More details are available here.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'It comes as little surprise that university staff are working extra hours to get the job done. Rising class and seminar sizes, increased bureaucracy and ever greater pressure to compete make a mockery of the work life balance for many.

'Their continued commitment to the profession must be properly recognised by our universities and colleges and they must understand that we cannot build a world class education sector on the goodwill of staff.'

Statistics:

Total university teaching professionals: 215,627
Report working unpaid overtime (UNPOT): 87,911
Percentage that report working UNPOT: 40.8%
Average weekly UNPOT for those who do it: 8.4 hours

Mean hourly pay excluding overtime: £22.86 per hour
Value of UNPOT per person per week: £192.02
Value of UNPOT per person per year: £9,985.04
Value of UNPOT for all HE teaching professionals: £877,794,850