25% of UK office workers are putting in overtime hours every single day

A quarter of UK office workers are putting in overtime hours every single day, a new nationwide survey into work life balance has revealed. 

The survey, by Just Eat for Business, found that of those who are putting in overtime, the majority are business owners (38%), while those in management positions spent the least time working overtime overall.

This overworking appears to affect employee mental health, as the survey also revealed that 44% of office workers sometimes or always experience burnout in their current role.

Described as ‘a state of physical and mental exhaustion which can occur when one experiences chronic workplace stress’, burnout was recently classified as a ‘workplace phenomenon’ by the World Health Organization.

This increased risk of burnout will lead to an increase in employee absences, with findings from HSE showing the rate of sickness reports by workers experiencing stress, depression or anxiety is currently significantly higher than 2018/19 pre-coronavirus levels.

There appears to be a correlation between those who skip breaks and those who feel burnt out, with 73% of workers who report feeling burnout also admitting they don’t take a break until lunch, while 46% don’t stop looking at their screen until the end of the working day.

And with work from home advice now at employers’ discretion, the focus is on them to encourage regular screen breaks to avoid these mental health repercussions.

Dr Anneli Gascoyne, associate professor in occupational psychology at Goldsmiths University, said:

When we’re focusing our attention on our screens, we’re using physical and psychological resources (including energy, motivation and concentration) even if we don’t realise it.

“Like batteries, these resources aren’t in limitless supply, and need to be recharged.

“Yet, we often find ourselves taking breaks from our computer screens by scrolling on another screen, via our phones, and then in the evening we take a break from our phones by watching telly (or perhaps attempting both at the same time!)

“These aren’t the restorative activities we might think they are.

“They might feel pretty mindless, but they’re still hooking our attention And we then find that, when we put our head on the pillow at night, all the concerns and ideas of the day start to flood into our awareness, when we should be sleeping.”

Professor Brad McKenna (University of East Anglia) and Professor Wenjie Cai (University of Greenwich), offer some solutions that both employers could implement in order to promote breaks, and reduce screen time:

Employers could create new organisational policies and implementations such as requiring digital wellbeing to be integrated into operational strategies.

“These could be pitched as “take a break” strategies which should be supported by senior management and implemented throughout the organisation.

“There could also be messages put into company IT systems, for example, a message might pop up saying “remember to take a break” and companies could consider alternative ways of working away from the screen.”