The average UK worker is now putting in more than three weeks of unpaid overtime a year, a new study has indicated.
Research conducted by Good Technology found that more than nine out of ten (93 per cent) employees continue working once they have left the office.
By answering calls and checking emails on evenings and weekends, they are working an average of 23 extra days per year, the firm said.
Good Technology estimated that employees spend three hours and 31 minutes each week working on their home PCs, laptops and mobile devices.
This adds up to 15 hours a month and 183 hours a year – meaning many employers are getting great value out of their workers.
Around half of those who work extra hours outside the office said they do so simply to keep organised.
And 20 per cent said they want to impress the boss by putting in the extra hours, while 37 per cent like to keep on top of their workload.
“There was a time when it was difficult to continue working outside of the office without carrying a laptop,” said Andy Jacques, general manager in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for Good Technology.
“But with today’s ‘always on’ society, people are pretty much working from the moment they wake up until the moment they fall asleep.”
He said smartphones and tablets have made it “much easier” to be able to work on the move, and that is helping people choose when and where to get things done.
“At the school gate, on the train or in the queue at the coffee shop, this new wave of connected devices is enabling people to be more productive than ever before,” he stated.
