Scotland’s workers did £2.3 billion worth of unpaid overtime last year, according to Scottish Labour analysis.
Analysis of the 2023 Annual Population Survey suggests that on average Scots do 7.7 hours of unpaid overtime per week. This works out to a total of 107 million hours of unpaid overtime throughout the year.
If each hour was paid in line the average hourly pay, workers in Scotland would be entitled to an additional £2.3 billion in wages. Scottish Labour said the “shocking” figures show that Scots “missed out on billions of pounds” under the Tories
Labour added that these statistics highlight the importance of its plans to Make Work Pay. The UK Government has introduced an Employment Rights Bill that will tackle insecure work and low pay.
Scottish Labour Economy spokesperson Daniel Johnson said: “The Tories and the SNP have built a low pay, low growth economy that is short-changing workers. Under the previous Tory government, working people in Scotland missed out on billions of pounds because of unpaid overtime.
“These shocking figures underline how just vital Labour’s plan to Make Work Pay is. Labour will turn the page on Tory failure and build the stronger, fairer economy Scotland needs.”
SNP Employment Minister Tom Arthur said: “Responsibility for employment law is reserved to the UK parliament. While we are clear the best way to protect Scotland’s workers is by devolving employment law, we welcome the Employment Rights Bill and will work with the UK Government to ensure it can have a positive impact.
“We believe all employees must be paid fairly, we oppose the inappropriate use of zero hours contracts and use our Fair Work policy to drive up labour market standards. Scotland has, proportionately, around five times more accredited Living Wage employers than in the rest of the UK.”
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