Hospitality staff ‘work shorter days but more likely to work overtime’

Staff in the hospitality industry work shorter hours than the average UK worker but are more likely to work overtime, according to a new study from the UK’s largest job board CV-Library.

The survey of over 16,000 workers in the UK revealed that the average workday for an employee in the hospitality sector is 8 hours and 12 minutes, marginally shorter than the UK average of 8 hours and 16 minutes.

However, it also found that 84.4% of hospitality professionals work overtime, compared with just 60% nationwide. This figure made the sector among the most likely to work beyond  contracted hours.

Some 42% in the sector admit to working between five and 10 extra hours each week, although only 49.1% of sector workers receive overtime pay.

Meanwhile, 27.5% of hospitality workers said they do not receive a lunch break, and of those that do, 15.6% of respondents said they do not take their break.

Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library, said: “The hospitality sector appears to benefit from a slightly shorter workday than most UK professionals, and yet they are among the most likely to work overtime.

“With the introduction of the new national living wage it will be interesting to see if workers continue to clock extra hours, and whether hospitality employers make further restrictions regarding who is entitled to overtime pay.”