9 to 5? 8 to 6? 7 to 7? Is burnout hitting NZ businesses?

Across New Zealand, only 6 per cent of Kiwi employers managed to decrease overtime and extra hours in their organisation in the last 12 months, with 29 per cent instead increasing overtime.

As revealed in the 2015 Hays Salary Guide, of the 29 per cent of organisations in New Zealand that increased overtime, 32 per cent did so by five hours or less per week.

A further 38 per cent report that overtime was up five to 10 hours per week, and 8 per cent said overtime was up by more than 10 hours each week. Employers also reported increasing overtime at month end and year end.

In addition, 52 per cent of employers said their non-award employees were not paid for these additional hours while only 48 per cent said employees were paid for overtime.

“Many New Zealanders work more hours than they are paid for,” says Jason Walker, Managing Director, Hays New Zealand.

“Professionals in highly-skilled roles, often on a salary, and often in professional services, tend to undertake a lot of this overtime.

“A massive 76 per cent of employers expect their levels of business activity to increase in the year ahead, and with certain skills in short supply it’s no wonder that overtime rates are going up not down.

“But increasing the workloads of existing staff can cause employee stress and burnout.

““We also advise employers to consider if overworked and stressed employees can really perform at their best.”