The standard working hours for office workers in the UK tend to be either 37.5-40 hours - effectively the 9-5 working week (with variations of course). However a recent study by Aviva has shown that we might be working a considerable number of extra hours - and the majority of us don't get paid for it!
Aviva's "Health of the Workplace Report" 2011, has shown some worrying research regarding the health of the UK workforce, including the staggering fact that on average employees work 1.5 hours extra a day. Two in five
(42%) work up to three hours extra a day. 19% say their employer expects them to work harder for longer.
Whilst most people don't think anything of working extra hours and skipping lunch breaks the results of this trend can be substantial. The Aviva research also shows that heavy workloads are causing employees to eat unhealthy snacks or skip meals altogether. Nearly 15% of employees believe their health is affected because they are eating unhealthily at work, with almost a third of employees say that they are unlikely to take a lunch break.
On the upside, they also looked at the top reasons why employees were happy in their workplace. Friendly, supportive colleagues topped the bill at 53% with a good work-life balance coming a close second with 47%.
So are you taking your lunch break today?
