It’s taking a toll on workers’ physical and mental health, their relationships and – at the height of a cost-of-living crisis –their financial wellbeing.

If the average worker was paid for the real hours they worked, they’d be almost $300 per fortnight better off, with an extra $7,713 in their pockets each year.

It all adds up to a staggering $91 billion a year being denied to Australian workers – which is 1.7 times more than the federal government spends on education.

The updated research found that, ironically, workers are hungry for more paid hours, likely due to soaring interest rates, grocery prices, energy bills and rents.

The annual survey, released for Go Home On Time Day today, found that more than a third of bosses still expect staff to work more than their rostered hours … for nothing.

Right to Disconnect laws came into effect in August and will be extended to employees of small businesses next August.

Go Home on Time Day is an initiative by the Centre for Future Work at The Australia Institute, now into its 16th year.

• Key findings:
  The average worker performs 3.6 hours unpaid overtime each week. Full-time employees average 4.1 hours a week.
• Workers aged 18 to 29 do most unpaid overtime, average 4.4 hours per week.
• A staggering 70% of people who work unpaid overtime say their bosses expect them to work extra hours.
• 42% of workers say the extra hours make them physically tired, while 32% say they’re stressed or anxious. 29% say the unpaid overtime interferes with their personal life or relationship. More than 1 in 5 say it leaves them sleep-deprived.
• The most common reasons for working extra hours are too much work (41%) and staff shortages (31%).

“Our research shows that unpaid overtime is robbing Australian workers of over $91 billion dollars per year, adding to cost-of-living pressures, interfering with family life and reducing wellbeing for millions” said Fiona Macdonald, Acting Director, Centre for Future Work.

“The Go Home on Time survey shows that employers’ expectations and demands are driving workers to do millions of hours of overtime for free, at the same time as many workers want more paid hours.”

“While availability creep continues to erode work and life boundaries for millions of workers, new Right to Disconnect laws may already be having a positive effect as we have seen some reductions in unpaid overtime compared with previous years.”