Australians have been working more overtime over the past year,
according to recruiting organisation Hays.
The number of employees working beyond their schedules has increased by 31 per cent, with 57 per cent of non-award staff unpaid for overtime.
The annual Hays Salary Guide surveyed over 3,400 companies, and found just 8 per cent have decreased overtime over the past 12 months. Out of 1,600 professionals, 43 per cent worked for 2.5 hours of overtime on average each week. About 29 per cent worked between 2.5 and 5 hours per week, while 18 per cent worked six to 10 hours. Ten per cent worked over 11 hours of overtime on an average week.
“Over the past year we’ve seen skill shortages intensify while business activity has increased. This has led some employers to turn to their existing team to ensure expanding workloads are completed on time. But there is a cost, with rising overtime impacting the physical, mental and financial health of employees, particularly if it becomes excessive,” said Nick Deligiannis, managing director of Hays in Australia & New Zealand.
Twenty seven per cent of workers are looking for a new job in the next 12 months due to a poor work-life balance motivating them to search for a greener pasture.
“This ultimately leads to rising turnover. If an organisation then becomes known for lengthy overtime, it’ll also lead to heightened candidate attraction challenges. To counter this, employers could consider whether a new permanent team member is required to relieve the pressure on existing staff. Or perhaps a temporary candidate could be brought in to assist at times of peak workloads. It’s also important to offer genuine work-life balance initiatives so that employees can focus on their health and wellbeing after periods of lengthy overtime,” Deligiannis said.
