THE AUSTRALIAN Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) says job fears and higher workloads have led to an epidemic of unpaid overtime.
ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence said a new report by The Australia Institute, Something for Nothing, shows Australians work among the longest hours in the western world.
The report also estimates there are more than two billion hours of unpaid overtime each year.
Mr Lawrence says the global financial crisis has placed pressure on people to work overtime in fear of losing their jobs. Others have found their workloads increase unsustainably because their employer has cut staff during the downturn.
The Australia Institute report found that each year, the average full-time Australian worker does 266.6 hours of unpaid overtime or an extra six-and-a-half working weeks.
This is the equivalent of 1.2 million full-time jobs.
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