If you earn around £50k how many unpaid hours extra do you put it?

[SnarkyBag]

Just trying to decide what’s just part of settling into a new role and getting to grips verses what’s reasonable long term. I’m giving it til the new year to settle but right now I’m finding I’m putting at least an extra day each week to keep on top of things.

there’s definitely a learning curve so I’m seeing some of it as professional development but longer term it’s not sustainable and to be honest I’m not really a work for free kind of person (well not for £50k a year anyway!)

obviously I know some professions such as teachers will be working crazy ridiculous hours (which I think is so wrong and insane and a culture that needs to come to an end by the way) but generally speaking how much are people working for free because of unrealistic work loads?

I worked a lot of free hours when I was on £50k. Depends on the industry of course but in mine that’s the salary of a junior-but-competent person, so it’s exactly the point in your career when you want to show off / get noticed so your career can start to really motor.

I wouldn’t do it now I have more control of my diary (and kids).

Day a week minimum. Generally 1.5-2 hours a day, five days a week.

Public sector.

I guess it depends on what job you are doing but generally you don’t get something for nothing . In my experience, if you are being paid £50k it is unlikely that you can get away with doing fixed hours and no more.

No offence but if you’re putting in extra hours then you’re not managing your time very well. You need to learn to delegate more as presumably there are people junior to you. Your work have ‘bought’ 37.5 hours a week of your time, don’t give any away for free.

Think of it this way, if you’re earning, let’s say £22 an hour, on a 37.5 hour week, that’s £825 before tax. If you then do 50 hours a week, your hourly rate goes to £16.50 (£825/50). I’m sure the people in your team on £16.50 an hour have much less responsibility than you 🤷‍♀️ If your work want more of your time then they can pay for it, don’t be a mug.

Same

i work part time but my full time equivalent salary is just over £50k. I put in about 4 hours extra a week at the moment, and when I am building up to a promotion or at busier times I do a lot more extra. If I was full time it would be about 6 hours extra currently.

None and I refuse to work for a company where this is the 'culture' or expected. Value yourself.

Another one who was at the point in career trajectory where 50 hour weeks were the necessary minimum but the future rewards were the carrot. I quit about four years past that on a higher salary and could transition into industry where I probably work 5 extra hours a week for the same money (but less future earning potential). My hourly rate went up about 30% when I moved into industry because I was on the same salary…but if I’d move four years previously I’d have struggled to get the job I have now by now, so worth it in the end.

I don’t fit ‘Moles’ description. My salary is about ⅓ of my former private sector salary, same job. Public sector allows me to do it out of London, in the part of the country I need to be in to be near my elderly parents.

You're getting paid £50k to work your contracted hours. If you're having to work more they should pay you more.

I earn a bit more than that, but overall lots of management-y / senior-ish roles do involve extra hours. You have to watch for burnout, but often you have a lot of control over your time overall eg do personal appts during the day when you can make space.

Giving it a year is sensible, but it’s about actively figuring out shortcuts and how to delegate as well as bedding in. A few sessions with a coach could be really useful.

It really depends on the sector and whether it’s public or private sector.

I earn just shy of that as a teacher (experienced so at the top of the scale and head of a large department). Compared to the 32.5 hours I am paid for on paper I don’t ever work less than 49 hours but in bad weeks can do 60 easily. So, that’s a lot of unpaid hours and as I am realising now I have a young family, is totally unsustainable and not worth it. I’d rather take a £15k pay cut and work proper hours!

My DH in the other hand earns about 10k more than me in the private sector. If he even does 15 mins of overtime it is paid. He’s on call quite a lot and gets paid for being on standby and if he is actually called, gets paid handsomely. His company would never expect them to work without being paid. I will add though, it’s a highly skilled and stressful
job with a high level of responsibility.

This is simply not true. There is a wide working culture where jobs at this level and beyond aren’t doable in a standard week.

It’s often possible to figure out how to minimise that, but it’s unlikely to be a case of the OP not managing her time well.

I did plenty of extra hours each week for 12 years. Never got promoted. Got gaslighted that I was no good at my job by seniors with less experience.
They won't notice.
I left and now on twice the pay, and less hours. I stick to my hours and my company are very happy with my work. I'm now valued and appreciated by my colleagues and company.
Know your worth. Don't be a mug.

I earn about 70k and my contract says 37.5 hours.

A week's timesheet typically has between 41-45 hours on it.

None, in fact most of the time I finish early.

Totally depends on the profession - DH works exactly what he is paid to work (and has downtime during the day), and I work a few hours over each day and often do “extras” (writing the rota, signing letters etc) over the weekend. We earn the same, but he works in tech and I work in the NHS.

Sorry but you’re way off not all jobs work in teams or have the option to delegate to juniors. I have a caseload and work independently. It’s not about poor time management it’s about what can be realistically done in the time given but as every part of my caseload is time sensitive it has to get done.

I’m not a mug either thanks and can do my own maths

I'm on early 40s but my grade (Public Sector) goes up to just over 50.
I try not to work over my hours, and if I work a bit over I'll leave a bit early when I get the chance. We technically have to work the hours required, and there's plenty of work to do, but I'm good with my time and delegating. I rarely take a full lunch break though so that's realistically the extra time I'm putting in. Perhaps 30minutes or so a day.

I do about 5 or 6 hours more a week and I only get 27.7k!

None.

Thanks lots of useful replies.

Sorry but you’re way off not all jobs work in teams or have the option to delegate to juniors. I have a caseload and work independently. It’s not about poor time management it’s about what can be realistically done in the time given but as every part of my caseload is time sensitive it has to get done.

But then this is where you speak to management and say you have too much work and either to need a junior or they need to recruit someone else at the same level as you.

None. But we do have a flexi scheme so in truth I do work extra, but take the time back. Civil service.

I earn around that and I work the hours I am paid for only. I used to work extra hours but it wore me out physically and mentally and so I stopped. Was hard to do (or not do) at first but I realised I had to for my own health.