Unpaid hours in finance: six days for the price of five

Six days for the price of five might sound like a great deal at your local travel agent, for a metro pass ticket or an international theme park. But when considering this in terms of your salary; working six days and only receiving the payslip for five, not so much.

Last year’s study conducted by trade union GMB revealed that one in four professionals in the public sector work an average of eight hours unpaid work every week – that’s a whole working day each week, without pay. With those living in the South West most likely to work unpaid overtime.

The study also highlighted that if public sector workers were paid the overtime, they would be owed an average of £6,000, which is the same as a 24% pay rise. The harsh reality is that some of these 1.8m public sector professionals regularly working unpaid overtime, are facing real-term pay cuts and are essentially earning below the minimum wage. The effect of decreasing salaries could make it difficult for families getting on the housing ladder.

Public sector workers undertaking finance roles are almost twice as likely to work unpaid overtime compared to the equivalent, working in the private sector according to this research. So why are finance professionals working so many additional hours?

Today’s finance teams, both in the public and private sector, face numerous priorities that must be completed within strict deadlines and to the highest quality such as financial close or month/year-end, that is expected to be speedier and risk-free. Senior stakeholders require correct and easy to understand data to make timely, well-informed, commercial decisions.

Penalties caused by errors and turnover of staff may all contribute to an accounting timetable being stretched. The time finance professionals spend on tasks that are easily automated or, even worse, are simply wasted efforts can be reviewed. According to a report published last year by PwC, 40% of a finance team’s activities could be given more value through automation. If these were reduced, it could put an end to these numerous hours of unpaid work that do not reflect on pay slips. These hours of hard work that staff are receiving no compensation for, total up to £11bn each year.

Staff who consistently work unpaid overtime are more likely to experience health problems related to stress. This can cause raised blood pressure and fatigue resulting in impaired performance and decreased productivity. For companies, poor health among employees might mean increased sick days. Excessive overtime and increased stress among employees can result in morale problems within the team which can cause low productivity and reduced retention. A high turnover of staff inevitably leads to increased costs in hiring and training new staff, and as mentioned above, a further strain on the already stretched finance team.

Making sure your staff have good physical, mental and social health is essential. Stress, poor work-life balance and related health issues can lead to poor performance and employee retention. One solution could be to encourage flexible working and allowing employees to work around their personal needs. This might mean flexible start and finish times or working from home if need be. Dynamic working encourages individuals to fit their work around their everyday lives and provides flexibility to do non-work related activities during work hours.

We conducted research based on 1000 UK adults, those working in banking and financial services identified flexible working hours and the option to work from home as the two benefits they would most like to be offered in the next 3-5 years. Of those individuals, 66% ranked flexible working hours in their top three and 53% included work from home options in their three most wanted benefits.

In light of this, we also revealed that, while in their current role, 44% had been offered flexible working hours and just 26% were given the option to work from home.

Dynamic working arrangements will vary between employees, for example, those who have a long crowded commute might wish to arrive and leave earlier to beat peak hour travel times. All employees have the legal right to request flexible working, not just parents or carers, and while this might not be beneficial to everyone, having the option available promotes a high-trust, high-performance business culture. 

If you would like more information on flexible working or to explore your career options within the current market, please get in touch for a confidential discussion.