Coffee break culture causing unnecessary overtime

Today is íWork Your Proper Hours dayí, when the TUC encourages employees to lobby their bosses to reduce the amount of unpaid overtime. But Croner is warning that an unproductive ícoffee-break cultureí could be partly to blame for our long working week in the first place.

Leading business advisor Croner is urging employers that clocking off at five oíclock is not necessarily the answer to addressing the problem. Instead they should be considering the productivity of their staff while they are in the office, rather than the actual number of hours worked.

In the run up to Work Your Proper hours Day, 59 percent of employers polled by Croner say they donít encourage employees to leave work on time. Richard Smith, HR expert at Croner believes itís quality, not quantity of time spent in the office that matters.

Smith says: While Work Your Proper Hours Day raises awareness of the unpaid overtime problem, it is not really helping employers to manage it. In fact making a point of finishing work on time today could be further adding to our ípresenteeismí approach where staff feel they have done their job just by showing their face for a set number of hours.

Employers must look at the reasons why staff are working late. Is it because they have too much work, or perhaps they feel they must show their face until at least six or seven oíclock? It could be that a ícoffee-break cultureí means staff are not working as smartly as they could.

Croner is issuing the following advice to employers to help them monitor and manage the productivity of their staff:

Consider whether staff are spending too long on low priority tasks, and if work is being unnecessarily duplicated in other areas. Consider the methods of completing tasks and whether systems can be introduced which help employees to work more efficiently. Employers could also consider whether certain tasks could be automated to free up time. Look at why some employees are working late and if they are genuinely struggling with their workload, or if they feel pressured into hanging around. Consider whether staff are spending an unacceptable amount of time taking breaks and introduce better systems to counter-act the coffee-break culture. Look at which sort of staff are working late. Senior personnel may be reasonably expected to work extra hours if they agreed to this when they took the job. Consider introducing systems of monitoring productivity and offering training to improve working methods. If you donít make employees feel uncomfortable for leaving work on time they are likely to put in the extra hours when it really matters.

Smith says: Itís reasonable for employers to request additional hours from salaried workers without paying them overtime and most employees donít actually mind doing this from time to time. But employers are well advised to compensate staff by being flexible in other areas, such offering a long lunch break or leaving work early.

Working our proper hours for one day wonít really help address our long hours culture. This is a year-round issue which employers must manage every working day of the year. If we address the issue of productivity and work a bit smarter, the number of hours we work will inevitably decrease.