Working time in the public sector

Transcription

1 internal note ESAD February 2006 Working time in the public sector Introduction The TUC s successful Work Your Proper Hours Day campaign highlights the fact that many workers in Britain work more than their contracted hours, in effect contributing towards national income. For the first time this year, the TUC has provided a more detailed break-down of across the public sector. Work Your Proper Hours Day this year falls on February 24. The period between January 1 st and February 24 th represents the number of days contributed on average through. The survey source The figures are derived from the household Labour Force Survey, which has a broader definition of the public sector than the regular public sector employment series published by the Office for National Statistics. The LFS definition, for example, includes higher education while the ONS national accounts definition classifies most higher education employment to the private sector. However, like all household surveys the LFS relies on individual responses, including proxy responses when someone answers on behalf of another household member. This is thought to overstate public sector employment, for example, by including some people working in the public sector for a non-public sector employer. These differences in coverage and definition mean the LFS records nearly 6.9 million people in work in the public sector in mid 2005 while the ONS national accounts definition shows nearly 5.9 million. briefing The figures presented in this note are all for the Summer quarter (June to August) 2005 and are based on all employees in the survey for that quarter who said they did some unpaid work. The question asks about usual unpaid hours but does not specify the period (do you ever do any work which you would regard as paid or?). 1

2 The key results The analysis of the LFS shows that in Summer 2005: Public sector employees worked just over 9 billion in or roughly 5,400 on average for each employee who works On average, public sector employees who worked worked 7.7 unpaid hours a week; Nearly 1.7 million employees one in four of all public sector employees did some ; Public sector workers are more likely to work than in the private sector (24 per cent in the public sector, 17 per cent in the private sector); Public sector workers who worked unpaid hours contributed more, on average, than private sector workers who worked unpaid hours (7.7 in the public sector, 7.2 in the private sector). Employees working in public and private sectors in 2005 Average hours of unpaid overtime Number working unpaid overtime (000s) Percentage working Private 7.2 3, % Public 7.7 1, % All 7.4 4, % Note: total includes employees working who did not report which sector they were in. Recent trends The total numbers who work has gone up slightly since 2001, but the share of public sector workers who do has fallen (down from 26.3 per cent to 24.8 per cent. The average number of unpaid hours worked per employee who did some unpaid work has also fallen, down from 8.1 hours to 7.7 hours. The value of overtime working has however gone up, reflecting increased average wages across the public sector. In cash terms, the value has increased from just under 7.7 billion to just over 9.1 billion, an increase of 1.4 billion or 19 per cent. The most recent year Summer 2004 to Summer 2005 shows the absolute numbers starting to fall and the share of public sector employees working unpaid overtime also fell. However, average unpaid hours worked by those who did some edged up. These results would be compatible with major collective agreements agreed by public service unions in recent years starting to get on top of excessive working 2

3 beyond contracted hours in the public sector. Underlying progress may have been better than these figures suggest. Much of the expansion in the public sector since 2001 has been in managerial, professional, and associate professional occupations where, as we show below, unpaid working is most heavily concentrated. Even so, remains a major challenge. Year PUBLIC SECTOR UNPAID OVERTIME Number of working unpaid overtime (000s) Percentage working unpaid overtime Average hours of per week , , , , , ,151 Change , % ,455 LFS summer , Ashe excluding extra data. Value of unpaid overtime per year (cash terms, 000s) Who works most Most people working in the public sector are women in Summer 2005 women accounted fro about 65 per cent of all those doing some unpaid overtime or just over 1 million. This is in line with the share of women in the public sector workforce (64 per cent). On average, women worked slightly fewer unpaid hours per week than men (7.5 for women, 8.2 for men). However, this comparison does not take account of the fact that many women in the public sector work part time. As might be expected, much of the overtime is being contributed by managers, professionals and associate professionals such as teachers, doctors and nurses. These groups together accounted for 82 per cent of employees doing most unpaid overtime although they account for just under 56 per cent of all public sector employees. About 47 per cent of all professionals such as medics and teachers did some and those who did so worked on average 10.6 unpaid hours a week. About 46 per cent of managers and senior officials worked unpaid hours and on average those who worked unpaid hours contributed 7.7 hours a week; About 23 per cent of associate professional workers worked unpaid hours and on average those who worked unpaid hours contributed 4.4 hours of unpaid overtime a week; Although is less common among other occupational groups across the public sector, significant numbers of staff in administrative and clerical and personal service occupations undertook some. Just over 3

4 260,000 people in these two occupational groups worked in Summer 2005, averaging around 4 hours a week. Those who worked unpaid overtime represented about 12 percent of all those employed in these sort of jobs across the public sector. Unpaid overtime was uncommon among less skilled workers only 3 per cent worked some. Unpaid working in the public sector by main occupational group in 2005 Occupational group Total employed00 000s Total who do some unpaid work 000s Share of employed who do some unpaid work Managers and Senior % 7.7 Officials Professional 1, % 10.6 occupations Associate Professional 1, % 4.4 and Technical Personal Services % 3.7 Admin and Secretarial 1, % 4.3 Elementary jobs % 3.2 Average unpaid hours per work Total 6,866,040 1,697, % 7.7 Note: occupations where less than 10,000 employees work have been excluded, as the results are not statistically robust. A more detailed occupational breakdown shows that teaching professionals worked on average the most unpaid hours, at 11.8 hours a week for those who did some. This varies from 13 hours a week for primary school teachers to just under 7 hours a week for teachers in adult education. Preferences over working hours The LFS asks whether workers would like to cut their hours and also whether they would be prepared to take a cut in pay to do so. These questions always have to be interpreted with a bit of care, as in some jobs long hours may have become so much a part of the culture that individuals accept them as the norm or do not regard it as possible to do the job at all with shorter hours. Taking the responses at face value, about 39 per cent of all those working long hours said they wanted to cut them and another 18 per cent said they were willing to get less pay as a result. So in total, 57 per cent said they wanted to cut their hours. However, 33 per cent said they wanted to keep their existing hours. These figures exclude those said they worked unpaid hours but who did not give a response or answered don t know to the question about preferences. The LFS does not directly tell us why some people who do do not want to change their hours. Past survey work across all workers, both public and 4

5 private sector, suggests that a desire not to let down workmates, an acceptance of workplace cultures where long hours are the norm, and concerns over job security and future promotion prospects can all be factors. However, a further interpretation of these figures is that this is evidence for the continuation of a strong public sector ethos and commitment to the job among many public sector workers. ANNEX A Public sector Unpaid overtime - detailed occupational breakdown Occupational group Number who work Average hours of unpaid work per week Corporate managers/ senior officials 21, Functional managers 70, Financial, institutional office managers 22, Protective service officers 16, Health and social service managers 62, Managers in other services 22, Science professionals 19, Health professionals 62, Teaching professionals 609, Research professionals 15, Business and statistical professionals 12, Public service professionals; 41, Science and engineering technicians 13, IT service delivery occupations 10, Health associate professionals 130, Therapists 34, Social welfare associate professionals 28, Protective service occupations 56, Business, finance associate professionals 12, Public service associate professionals; 48, Administrators: Government and related 34, Administrators: finance 11, Administrators: records 15, Administrators: general 16, Secretarial 43, Healthcare personal services 29, Childcare personal services 102, Total 1,697, Teaching professionals Primary education 212, Secondary education 269, Higher education 108, Adult education 12, All teachers and lecturers 609, Note: detailed occupations where less than 10,000 employees work have been excluded, as the results are not statistically robust. 5