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Today’s working environment appears to accept working overtime as the norm, rather than the exception. In the company I work for you can apply for time in lieu if you are asked to work overtime by your Manager.

The problem with this is that the conscientious employee who wants to get something finished (maybe because they like delivering on what is expected of them), will inadvertently need to do overtime and will not get time in lieu for it. This is a lose lose situation for the employee, if they do not deliver to the time frames specified, their professionalism will be questioned, if they work overtime, they are are in essence going to be working for free, however maybe the satisfaction of achieving objectives will counter this for some anyway.

So the question is maybe a certain amount of overtime should be built into a salary? e.g an employee could get paid an extra 5% and be expected sometimes to do a couple of hours extra work? This would be hard to police from a sticklers point of view, but could make the majority of employees feel a little happier about staying that little bit later sometimes, when the workload is at a peak.

The problem is that with no incentive, the clock watchers amongst us are out the door at 5 o’clock, and as is often the case the more conscientious employee will do more work and end up getting paid less for it….Be careful employers as this could cause bitterness and resentment in even a well balanced team.

As an employer it is your job to notice this when it is happening, if it is not required tell your diligent employee to go home. If it is required then make sure they are remunerated for it. In today’s world good staff are hard to find.