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 probably did an extra hour or two a day at 50k.

50k was a 'prove yourself' type role for me, and whilst it wasn't expected, I knew that by going it I'd jump up to £70k in a year or two. Working extra hours made that jump more certain.

Once I got to £70k I probably worked less hours but did more out of hours work such as late night calls with the US.

I'm now on 6 figures and my days vary between quiet and easily accomplished witching 9-5 but with expectation of late night emails if needed, and very occasional 7am-10pm days. My more senior roles offered more flexibility but much more pressure and stress. I am solely responsible, any failures are mine alone.

I'm part time but my FTE salary is over £50k. When I was full time I probably did half an hour to an hour a day more than I was contracted for. Since I went part time (and had a kid so now have less flexibility anyway!) both my manager and I have been more careful to ensure I don't regularly go over my hours. Sometimes I'll work an evening on a run into a deadline or an extra afternoon or something but I usually get to take the time back.

DH is in a different industry and on a bit more than that. He very rarely works over his hours. Occasionally he might work a bit late to finish something off but really not often. Three times a year a major thing happens that means he'll work a two or three evenings that week. He doesn't take the time back but periodically his work will give them random afternoons off for things, or arrange a team night out on a Thursday and tell them not to bother with more than the bare minimum on the Friday so there's a lot of good will there already.

I know other people on similar salaries who regularly work over, and people who in a similar situation to DH and I. It's very industry dependant.

The culture is great and I love my job we’re not sitting about creating work for ourselves for no reason, there’s a greater public good that sometimes involves set external deadlines. I don’t disagree that we’re underpaid generally but that’s not because we sometimes work overtime when we need to. And time flexibility goes both ways - my job is plenty flexible with me, I never miss out on kid stuff, I have more annual leave and got better maternity pay than anyone I know.

I work about an extra 10 hours a week in the public sector. I can confirm I manage my time very well and am very good at what I do.
I retire at 50 with a good pension so it's not all bad!

Same here.

Around 55k here. Public sector.

I rarely work more than my 37.5 hours but if I do, I take it back another time.

The joys of flexi working!

None regularly.
Very occasionally I might do an hour here or there. But I’m talking a few hours a year.

None really because its peaks and troughs so I have busier weeks and quieter weeks which typically balance over the course of a couple of months.

I probably do less extra hours for free now than I did when I earned half what I do now……don’t get me wrong, if there’s an urgent deadline I’ll work to make sure it’s met but I also value my down time and I don’t function well when I’m tired and over worked.

None, although our dept is 2 people down, my immediate manager suggested extra hours. I replied that's not the solution to the problem, I need those 2 members of staff. Recruitment is underway.
I already have to travel 2 extra days to the office, which adds an extra 8 hrs to my working week, so freebies are out of the question.

Really depends on the sector and/or job, I don't think the salary is that relevant. I work in IT, and years ago, when I did more hands on roles and earned around £30k, I regularly had to do extra hours to fix urgent problems that came up. Now I earn double that but don't really do anything hands on, I very rarely have to do any more than my contracted hours. If I do end up doing more one day, I'll finish early another day.
Sounds like you have made a rod for your back by putting in extra hours from the start, which will now become an expectation.
If it bothers you (which it obviously does as you've posted about it), you need to be pushing back and saying "I can't deliver that task this week". If they give you grief for that, it's not somewhere you want to work.

This is so industry dependent.

I do a professional role which exists in many different industries. In my experience it's not salary that determines how many extra hours you work but the culture of the specific industry and employer.

In the past I've done jobs for £35k or for £50k where I've had to flog myself to death. I currently earn more than £50k and I work flexitime, so I can claim back any hours I work over (and my manager encourages me to make sure I do so).

Some weeks none…some 2-3hours. But never unpaid. I can put it as overtime or time for time!

It's probably worth noting that the jobs in which I've had to work the longest hours (beyond my contracted hrs) have been public sector roles.

There is a widespread perception by people in the private sector that public sector roles are less busy/pressured, but my experience (gained in several private and public sector jobs, including consulting) is the opposite.

0 i would never work unpaid hours.

i work more than my contracted hours eqach week but these are banked and i can then take a day off paid when i want or take a few hours back here and there but still get my full pay.

Current role - none
Previous role - depends on time of year. Sometimes none, at busy times 10-20 hours.

However, what I would say about the previous role is that it sounds worse than it was. My boss didn't clock watch so I would maybe do an hour less one day, etc. They were also very flexible when dd had an op by letting me work from home for her recovery period (a few weeks, pre-covid so wfh not the norm then). So although some weeks I was knackered, it did generate good will and flexibility.

Zero. I don't work for free. Due to the nature of the role I will sometimes do extra time in the evenings or weekends but it's toiled.

Depends on the job and sector. I used to put in an extra day a week minimum but changed to public sector and do nothing extra.

What's the culture? Son offices expect you to work more. Some don't,

I personally think anyone earning £50k should not be working fixed hours, most jobs at that level would require some flexibility. I mean within reason, if you're unable to leave work until late every day then yes somethings wrong, but as you say there is a learning curve aspect too.

This is a bizarre comment. Do you really think you know so much about every type of job that you are qualified to say this?

And not all £50k jobs will be ones that come with a learning curve - that depends on the profession/sector.

Probably work an extra 2 hours per day. Always work through my lunch break, always start early and never finish on time. Oftern put in an extra couple of hours on a evening twice a week to catch up. And I’m so far behind on my workload its untrue.

Public sector, NHS management (not clinical).

This is a bizarre comment. Do you really think you know so much about every type of job that you are qualified to say this?

Well obviously I don't know everything about every job!

But a lot of people agreed with me that salaried jobs, which tend to be in the higher paid areas, are different to hourly paid wages, which are usually for lower paid jobs.
It's a generalisation, but I for one am paid my salary by the month or year for delivering a projects. I am not paid an hourly wage.

In my previous middle management position at one of the big 4 banks, I earned around this figure (more if bonus was included). However, when I worked out how many additional hours O had to do to get my job done (no ‘team’ beneath me, so now one to delegate to) - I worked out that my hourly rate was less than minimum wage. No overtime paid ever of course, the extra unpaid time was very much ‘expected’

I don't know about every job no but I do have an HR qualification and 30 years of work experience. I'd say that generally £50k puts you at a professional/managerial level, as opposed to say an admin level. And at that level I wouldn't expect people to be clockwatching - you decide in when is appropriate to finish, some days will tend to be longer than others. I wouldn't expect someone at that level to go oh, it's 5 o clock, time to go home. Whereas if it was a more junior person, that would be more understandable.

My fte is £55.

I have busy weeks and less busy weeks but don’t generally work over and if I do I can take it in lieu.