PEOPLE should not be expected to work for free, Scottish Labour said after new research revealed the economy’s reliance on billions of pounds’ worth of unpaid overtime.

Analysis of the 2019 Annual Population Survey (APS) estimates that, on average, workers in Scotland do more than seven hours of unpaid overtime per week, equating to an annual total of 118 million hours.

The APS showed there to be 310,000 employees working unpaid overtime in the week that the survey was conducted, with 110,000 of them in the public sector. 

If each hour were paid at the average hourly rate of £14.07, this would mean that workers in Scotland have missed out on an additional £1.6 billion in wages.

With Covid-19 restrictions driving an increase in working from home, Scottish Labour is calling on businesses to ensure that employees are not pushed into doing even more unpaid overtime. 

Alex Rowley, the party’s spokesman on jobs and the economy, said: “For too many people across Scotland, these Christmas holidays will mean working unpaid rather than enjoying some well-deserved time off. 

“If you’ve got time booked off work, it’s simply wrong for your boss to be expecting you to carry on working.

“It’s time we faced up to the fact that Scotland’s economy is reliant on unpaid overtime – all year round.” 

Scottish Labour also called on the government to institute a plan to ensure that workers are properly paid for their efforts. 

Mr Rowley added: “With so many job losses and anxiety about lay-offs still to come, this real problem is likely to get worse.”