OVER-WHAT? PAID OVERTIME AN ALIEN CONCEPT IN RECESSION

 In a bid to gain some job security, many employees are working longer hours for no more pay, claims the CIPD. This attitude is blurring the lines between work and play, says the body.

Mike Emmott, employee relations adviser for the CIPD, explained that historically, work often involved hard physical labour like mining, and this meant overtime was a more sensitive issue. He continued: “Now, people do not have strict time schedules so there is not as much of a distinction between the two environments.”

However, employers as a whole do not see longer hours as a sign of harder working, as research from T-Mobile and Kingston Business School recently discovered. According to the survey, 59 percent of employers do not take how late a member of staff stays in the office as an indication of how hard they are working.

Conversely, a spokesperson for ClickAJob pointed out that nearly all employees are convinced thatwroking longer hours means you are working harder, as well as for longer.

“The voluntary overtime thing has nearly always been about fear of losing your job,” he explained. He continued by generalising about the computing sector, saying: “About the only exceptions are IT geeks whose jobs are an obsession.”

Job insecurity is not the only culprit as staff work longer hours to prevent employers believing they are under-performing. The spokesperson added: “This is particularly so if they’re not properly trained in the first place, either inducted poorly or – as happens far too often – not briefed at all on what they’re supposed to be doing.”

The worrying findings not only highlight employers and employees not seeing eye-to-eye over what constitutes hard work, but indicate a general feeling of job insecurity in the workforce. Although this is likely to be expected in a recession, the tension felt by many in this position will have negative consequences for HR and business as talent seeks out greater security and workers fall victim to the effects of stress.

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