Work-life balance | A fifth of office workers work overtime every day

One in five workers put in overtime every single day, according to new research.

Just Eat for Business’s ‘Digital Detox’ study polled over 200 office workers to find out more about their working habits. The results show that Brits may be hurtling towards burnout, as not only are 20% working overtime on a daily basis, with business owners (38%) and managers (18%) most guilty of doing this, but 35% of people are skipping screen breaks when compared to this time last year.

There’s no legal requirement that states how frequently employers should provide screen breaks, but the law does state that employers must plan work so that screen breaks may be taken when needed. However, the Just Eat for Business research found that just one in three workers takes a screen break every couple of hours, and 7% of staff don’t take a break at all until the end of the working day.

The research also found that remote and hybrid working, which became normalised during the pandemic, have caused Brits’ work to leak into their personal lives. 70% of workers admit to having work files or platforms such as Slack on their personal devices, and 22% claim to check work platforms every hour, even while not at work. One in five workers said they struggled to switch off from work on an evening or during annual leave.