When the work-life balance becomes a see-saw

By Paul Rubens

People working from home do many extra hours, and some earn just 73p an hour. Home-working is just one of the ways the work-life balance can tip in favour of work.

Whenever I work in an office, I always make sure that I take full advantage of the franking machine to send personal letters, and let's just say that I have never paid for a pack of Post-it notes or a roll of Sellotape in my life.

Of course stealing is wrong, but let's not forget that most employers - including all the ones I've worked for - "steal" from their workers on a systematic basis. How? By taking the extra time put in without paying for it.

The snatch is brilliantly simple: most people have an employment contract which stipulates an agreed amount of hours should be worked in return for a set amount of pay.

Yet a survey of 5,000 managers in the UK conducted by the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) has found that more than 91% of them work more than their contracted hours regularly, without a penny extra to show for it.

Matter of choice

More fool them, you might say, if workers put in extra hours. It is, after all, their own choice.

Homeworkers 'exploited' by firms

But it turns out that in many cases it isn't. The majority are forced to put in extra hours for nothing, according to Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health at Lancaster University, who carried out the survey in his time at UMIST.

"What you find is that about one-third of all people are forced to work long hours because of the culture of their workplace. A third are clearing a backlog of work because they are given more than they can do in their contracted time, and a third genuinely love working."

Companies may establish a work culture by making "jokes" when people leave early, or by providing employees with supposed benefits like mobile phones or fax machines in their homes - effectively putting them on call 24-hours-a-day.

Then there are after-hours activities which many employees are expected to attend: these can range from entertaining clients over drinks or meals, to sitting on the company table at industry awards ceremonies or going to football or golf tournaments at the weekends.

The evidence is that this sort of "always on call" work culture is widespread. Research carried out by the Royal Mail recently found 65% of UK workers have been contacted about a work-related issue during the weekends and 48% by a colleague during a bank holiday weekend.

LOSING TIME Industry bash in the evening Booking you on red-eye flights to Europe, returning late that same day Remote access privileges to the company network for weekend working

Perhaps the biggest con perpetrated on me by an employer came disguised as a business trip to Amsterdam - a reward for some good work I had put in.

The trip turned out to involve getting up at 5am for an early flight, a full day's work, and a flight back the same day. I finally got home at 11.30pm, after 18.5 hours on duty.

I got paid my normal wage - my employer having the benefit of what would have been my breakfast with my wife and children and my evening's five-a-side football game.

Eye for promotion

Long-hour cultures help employers get workers' time for nothing, but they can also backfire by rewarding inefficiency, says Mr Cooper.

"What happens if I can get all my work done between 8.00am and 3.30pm? Someone else who does their work less well and takes more time but puts in the hours will get promoted."

Mr Cooper may have a point: Britons work the longest hours in Europe, but UK companies are not the most productive.

I'm among the many employees to have lost hours and hours over the years - yet few of us really complain.

The way I see it, there's an unwritten contract between me and my employers, and since we both understand it there have never been any problems. They are free to take my spare time without paying for it, and I don't expect to pay for stamps or Post-It notes.

Paul Rubens is a freelance journalist. He has never worked for the BBC.

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Add your comments on this story, using the form below.

My boss asked me to perform a task; I told him I'd do it after my lunch break. "You've got time for a break?" was the sarcastic reply. "I used to work through and go a bit earlier, but as you have dictated that we must arrive on time and not leave before time I've decided that I will take my breaks" was my reply.
Christopher Woodward, England

I used to work for a design company who expected their junior designers, who got paid a pittance, to work overtime without payment. The company would then charge their client for the overtime. I think this is standard practice in the industry.
Beverley Ward, UK

Working as a contractor I simply apply business rules to any requests for unpaid work. I ask, do you give away for products for free? No? Neither do I.
Sasha, UK

In my workplace, it's assumed that people will work weekends and bank holidays and not take their annual leave. Projects are planned around that basis, making it difficult for anyone working normal office hours to complete their work in the time given. Employers get away with it because the British workforce do not have the guts to stand up for their rights.
Brenda, Bedford, UK

It's not always that informal - I had 'poor timekeeping' held against me during an appraisal because I went home on time.
Gary, UK

My previous job had the cover-all clause of "normal working hours will be 37hrs/week but you will be expected to work those hours that are necessary to complete your duties". This led to 400 hours unpaid overtime over a six-month period.
Nigel, England

"Additional hours..." is a standard contract clause now. Yet we're still expected to be responsible for managing our own levels of stress in the workplace, all in the name of "a duty of care".
Emma, UK

I stopped working in a "proper" job years ago as I saw this behaviour starting. If you're in this situation and want out, go temping or contracting. You get paid per hour and you're much more appreciated.
Fiona, UK

I was called by a client when on holiday in France, despite telling all of my clients I was away. After a week when I only saw my partner for a total of four hours (we live together!) I'd had enough. I quit the next day. Now I work for a company where any overtime worked is paid. So good companies do exist, they're just outnumbered by the bad ones.
Rebecca, UK

Reading this whilst having a 10-minute lunch break, I can only agree. I work for a management consultancy and the overtime culture is so endemic that I literally have to inform my manager that I'm "leaving early" if I go after my contractual 7.5 hours. This leads to grumblings about having to "replan".
John, London, UK

My husband works for one of the phone companies. On Saturday (our son's birthday party) he will leave home at lunchtime for the Far East. He returns the following Thursday and then flies to Germany the next day. He travels south at least once a week, leaving home at 6.30am and not getting home until 9.30pm. His view is "this is what's expected of me, everyone is doing it." I resent his working hours as our children are having to cope with a weekend father.
Catherine, UK