Britons ‘work four hours a week without pay’

Motivation in the UK workplace may be hampered after it was revealed that the average employee is working for four hours a week without pay.

The survey by online takeaway firm just-eat.co.uk revealed that in Sheffield, the number of hours of unpaid work people carry out each week stands at 6.4, while in London it is 6.1 hours and in Nottingham 5.7 hours.

And 58 per cent of the employees polled claimed that they were now working more unpaid hours than they have ever done before, while 71 per cent suggested they regularly worked on their lunch break.

And 44 per cent are staying in the office after hours to continue with their jobs.

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In total, employers are benefiting from £1.5 billion of unpaid labour every week from their workforce, the study revealed.

However, the stress of the current economic downturn may be set to end, after the Institute of Chartered Accountants suggested the recession was over.