New research has revealed that almost three-quarters of Australians ‘working from home’ are doing at least some of it in non-work-time. This has contributed to a substantial rise in the incidence of unpaid overtime, which now costs Australian workers almost $100 billion a year.
Key findings:
- On average, workers reported working 5.25 hours of unpaid work per week — up from 4.6 in 2019 — equating to 7 weeks of full-time work per year and $98.6 billion in lost income
- 70% of people doing work from home are doing at least some of it in non-work hours
- 21% of workers indicated their employers’ expectations of their availability had increased during COVID-19
- Women were much less likely than men to receive flexibility and retain the same pay for increased caring responsibilities
‘For many, the reality of working from home is more like living at work,’ said Dan Nahum, economist at the Centre for Future Work and author of the report.
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Research page: Work and life in a pandemic