Online takeaway site www.Just-Eat.co.uk noticed a trend of takeaway ordering from offices and other places of employment, with peak orders at lunchtime and post-5pm, and decided to investigate just how many unpaid hours Brits are working every week.
In a study of 1,663 Brits, when asked ‘How many unpaid hours would you say you work per week?’ the respondents answered that they are averaging 4 hours extra unpaid work per week, which at the average national salary of £23,450 means that working Brits are giving employers £1.5bn unpaid labour per week.
Workers from Sheffield work the most unpaid hours in the country, giving on average 6.4 extra hours labour per week. 12% of the survey respondents across the country said they thought they worked over 7 hours unpaid every week.
58% of respondents said they are working more unpaid hours than ever before, with 71% saying they regularly work through lunch breaks, and 44% saying they often work late.
Here are the top 10 ‘hardest working’ cities in the UK, based on the amount of estimated unpaid hours their citizens work per week,
- Sheffield – 6.4 hours
- London – 6.1
- Nottingham – 5.7
- Bristol – 5.3
- Edinburgh – 5
- Manchester – 4.9
- Slough – 4.6
- Glasgow – 4.6
- Newcastle – 4.3
- Walsall – 4.2
45% said they ate whilst they worked in order to get more work done, which would explain the increase in orders made from the site. Three-quarters of employees said they’d work longer hours if it meant keeping their job, although half of Brits are unhappy in their jobs.
British workers have been taking advantage of the easy online takeaway ordering Just-Eat allows users. Just-Eat is partnered with over 10% of the takeaway restaurants in the UK, and customers can view full menus and pay online, ensuring that minimal time is spent away from working.
Ash Ali, Marketing Director of Just-Eat.co.uk, which services 30,000 meal orders every day, had the following to say,
“We were noticing a growing trend of takeaway ordering from offices and other places of work, especially at lunchtime and post-5pm. We decided to investigate, because due to the simple nature of Just-Eat where you can place and pay for an order in moments, we guessed that Brits may be eating whilst working, potentially in unpaid time.
“Our study shows that Brits are really selling themselves short in a bid to keep their jobs, where some employees are giving their employers an extra day’s work a week in unpaid man-hours. Whether the bosses recognise and appreciate this extra effort is another matter.”
Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_gray/
