How much unpaid overtime is reasonable in a £50k role?

[Strumpetpumpet]

I’m 6 months into a new job, which was a bit of a promotion for me. I enjoy it on the whole but am finding there’s too much work to fit into a standard working week. My 2 colleagues who are the same level as me, seem to work lots of evenings and weekends to get everything done. I’m 55, menopausal, don’t sleep well and am always tired, and I just don’t want to have to work tons of additional hours just to keep up. Am I just out of touch and should I expect to be working late nights and weekends at this level?

As a general rule for an office job on 50K I would do overtime if there is a major project or a crisis, but not regularly (assuming (i) I'm being reasonably productive during the day, (ii) I have not spent time for personal admin that can't wait until the evening and (iii) if I'm about to finish something I'll finish it). That was my rule when I worked as a paralegal in the City. As a lawyer now is a different story, but the salary reflects that.

Don't fall into line with this presenteeism.

It's a shit way to work and it's a bad example to more junior staff.

Do your hours. Only do more if it's urgent. Otherwise not.

You will be far more effective if rested and having a good work life balance .

If there is a genuine need for this to happy regularly then you need more stag.

Overtime to get major projects over the line or work travel that sort of thing. Try to avoid it otherwise. Though I do tend to start early so that I can take extra breaks for cleaning and errands since WFH.

None

Occasionally if a major crisis or something it would be reasonable to work a few hours overtime, but if the work takes longer than the hours the company are paying you for then it's too much work

Never would I expect to work a whole extra day like a weekend

50K no overtime

That's ridiculous and not worth the higher salary, surely? You're working the FTE of £22k.

Same. Only in an emergency. If I can't get it done in my paid hours I will negotiate my contract hard. I'm in an area predominantly populated by martyrs but there is no need to do that. It devalues your skills completely.

I'm on 50k and I do no unpaid overtime. If I ever need to work late for a meeting or something I will always make sure to take the time back.

To the people doing 10+ hours unpaid overtime a week... Jesus... that's a full week (or even more) wage that your company is getting from you every month. I'd be searching for another job.

That's what I was thinking. Crazy.

@Nothinglefttogiv Have you worked out what your hourly rate is taking into account all that unpaid overtime? Based on a 37 hour week, £40k is £20.79 per hour. Based on a 67 hour week it's £11.48. Not much above minimum wage.

i used to work crazy hours but I have 3dc so will now only do overtime if there’s an emergency or tight deadline. I do stay on the odd 30 minutes but only when it’ll benefit me or I feel I faffed too much earlier in the day and didn’t get as much done as I wanted. Senior team work the same way but we’ve just combined two teams and the team we’ve joined with work overtime most days with comments like “I’ll be working until 10pm at least tonight”. I do the same role and am baffled why they do this. I don’t think they do actually do this. I’m a manager but don’t manage them but I see it as a failure in their management if it’s really needed. The three of them have no dc and see work as their life. I get it but they see me as less dedicated… I’d argue I’m better at time management and prioritising.

49k on a usual week I do 15 hrs unpaid overtime. In peak time atm so doing about 35hrs a week unpaid overtime as 10/12 hour days over the weekends. I have not included the 12 hour days on the bank holidays I have done. This is just a two month peak and should settle back down soon.

It shouldn't be normal and it's shit that to a lot of people it is.
I am never expected to do overtime. If I ever have to because of a project deadline (which is rare) I am always encouraged to take it back.

Jesus.. 30 hours a WEEK!? no wonder you have nothing left to give. Your work is taking the actual piss out of you.

Absolutely this.

Some people seem to do lots of overtime and wear it like a badge of honour. In fact it just means that either you're not very good at managing your time or your org is understaffed. Working reasonable hours, the ones you're actually paid for, leads to better results because your brain is fresher and better rested do you'll end up more productive. Regularly clocking in 10h+ overtime a week is unsustainable.

This is crazy, your doing more than full
time hours.

That's insane. You are practically working 2 full time jobs and only getting paid for one?

You have to put in boundaries, I will work evenings/weekends occasionally but it's not the norm, sometimes the job means there are emergencies or periods of urgency.

It's important to ensure that you are prioritising work and setting realistic expectations. Take a really good look at your workload and if anything on the list is not important and not urgent then it goes right to the bottom of the list. Also make sure that the work on your list is actually for you to do, it's easy when you've moved up through internal promotions to keep hold of previous tasks that should really have been re-assigned.

My job would be £55k full time, but I work part time still, so I earn just under £50k. I don't do any overtime. If I needed to, I'd ask to go up to full time. I do occasionally need to work more hours, but then I take it back as time off in lieu. I am confident that this doesn't affect my promotion chances (I've been promoted in the last year)

I'm also working to rule at the moment, as my union is in dispute with my employer, so I'm definitely not doing anything over my contracted hours and declining all lunchtime meetings too (I'd normally try to shift my break)

Well that's daft.

Yes

Hence the current strikes (although I'm not striking because I'm with a different union)

Sadly, many people disagree.

Well aware of that. Government seem to disagree/not care.

Everyone in the profession sadly. I do less than others as I'm more experienced. Although I have several (also unpaid) additional responsibilities.

I don’t mind doing a few extra hours a week, or where there’s a specific deadline or issue. My 2 colleagues are probably working 30-40 additional hours every week and I don’t think that’s reasonable every week and for reading most of the replies neither do most of the posters on this thread

Until I retired earlier this year from a large private sector employer, I was on approx £45k PA and ALL overtime was paid otherwise it just didn't get done (and unpaid OT was not expected).
Just to add that I didn't actually do any OT, you had to volunteer and I didn't (although many did).