Overtime survey 2007: Employers struggle to reduce overtime

An IRS survey finds that employers are concerned about "excessive" overtime working in their organisations, and suggests that their actions to reduce overtime are having only a limited impact.

On this page:
Employer survey
Majority of employers allow paid overtime working
How overtime premia are calculated
Paid overtime diminishes with seniority
Median earnings cut-off for paid overtime is £30,000 
Qualifying periods for paid overtime
One in four employees works paid overtime
Overtime remains the responsibility of line managers
Only one-third calculate their annual overtime spend
Nearly half of surveyed employers think overtime is "excessive"
Overtime has a positive impact on performance
What is being done to reduce overtime?
Levels of paid overtime remain constant
Looking ahead
Unpaid overtime is worked at two-thirds of organisations
One in three staff puts in unpaid additional hours
Unpaid overtime remains the preserve of white-collar workers
Our research
Table 1: Overtime premia and arrangements in selected organisations
Table 2: Eligibility for overtime payments
Table 3: Who allocates overtime
Table 4: Methods used to reduce overtime during the past two years