The prevalence of unpaid overtime and the changing nature of work in the AI era.
Unpaid overtime has quietly become the new normal for Australian workers.
88% of workers regularly work beyond their paid hours, giving away an average of 7.8 hours of unpaid labour every week. That’s more than 11 weeks of free work every year – worth almost $22,000 in lost wages.
This is happening across the economy, from offices to the frontline services Australians rely on every day. Workers in every industry are being asked to absorb growing workloads, meet rising expectations and do more in less time, with unpaid overtime becoming embedded in the way too many workplaces operate.
The cost extends far beyond the workplace. 82% of workers say unpaid overtime is negatively affecting their life outside work, while 83% report impacts on their physical or mental health. Time that should be spent with family, friends and communities is being consumed by work.
And for many workers, working for free is no longer an occasional request, it is becoming an expectation. 77% believe their workplace relies on them doing unpaid overtime, while 78% fear their career or employment would be negatively affected if they refused.
Australia risks normalising a culture where workers are expected to give more and more of their time away for free. Rising workloads, cost-of-living pressures, workplace expectations and new technologies like AI are intensifying work, with productivity gains too often translating into more work, rather than more time back for workers.
Working for free should never be the price of keeping your job.
Workers should be paid for every hour they work and protected from the health and social costs of excessive work. Governments must act to ban unpaid overtime, ensure workers are compensated for every hour they work, and strengthen protections for workers’ time, health and wellbeing.
Key Findings
- 88% of respondents reported working unpaid overtime each week, an increase of 2 percentage points from the 2024 survey.
- Respondents reported working an average of 7.8 hours of unpaid overtime per week, equivalent to approximately 11.6 weeks of unpaid labour each year (based on a 52-week year).
- The financial value of unpaid overtime is approximately $21,893 per year for a worker earning the average annual salary of $106,660.
- 3 in 4 respondents (75%) reported working unpaid overtime on weekends, an increase of 5 percentage points from the 2024 survey.
- More than 8 in 10 (82%) respondents believe unpaid overtime is having a negative impact on their life outside of work, up from 77% in the 2024 survey.
- 83% of respondents reported that unpaid overtime is negatively affecting their physical or mental health.
- 77% of respondents believed their workplace is reliant on them doing unpaid overtime, an increase of 9 percentage points from the 2024 survey.
- More than 3 in 4 respondents (78%) believed their career or employment would be negatively impacted if they didn’t work unpaid overtime, an increase of 14 percentage points from the 2024 survey.
- 63% of respondents reported that their workplace does not have a formal overtime policy.
- More than a quarter of workers (26%) believe their job could be replaced by AI within the next five years, and concerns are significantly higher among younger workers, rising to 67% for workers under 18 and 47% for those aged 18–24.
Recommendations
1. Crack down on unpaid overtime
- Legislate a ban on unpaid overtime for workers under the high-income threshold.
- Strengthen the enforcement of tracking and reporting overtime.
- Ensure employers can only request overtime when it is reasonable and necessary.
2. Give workers their time back
- Increase annual leave in the National Employment Standards to 5 weeks.
- Introduce paid volunteer leave in the National Employment Standards.
- Align NSW public holidays with other states.
3. Address the work health and safety risks of unpaid overtime
- Recognise unpaid overtime as a WHS risk.
- Introduce a WHS Code of Practice on unpaid overtime.
- Ensure WHS guidance addresses the impact of AI.
4. Strengthen workers’ understanding of rights and new technology
- Fund unions to educate workers on AI and workplace rights.
- Expand WHS education on the risks of excessive overtime.
It’s time to stop working for free. Every hour worked should be an hour paid. Add your voice to the campaign and demand action to give workers their time.