Take lunch and get a life

Working overtime costs you money. Even a meagre 45 minutes a day on a salary of $60,000 will cost you $5,625 each year. That's enough to pay for an overseas holiday.

If that's not enough to make you sit back and think, then enter your own details in the Unpaid Overtime calculator at the website Thisismoney.co.uk/calculators (just ignore the pound sign and pretend it's a dollar sign).

If you're one of those people who regularly works an extra eight-hour day at the weekend, then on a $60,000 salary you could be throwing away $12,000 each year, because you should really be paid $72,000 for the amount of work you're doing. The What To Tell Your Boss section results are an eye opener for salaried staff.

While few of us think of our salaries as an hourly amount, the calculator tells you that a $60,000 salary breaks down to $28.85 an hour. Make that a 60 hour week and you're being paid just $19.03 an hour.

Unfortunately walking out the door at 5pm doesn't necessarily get you off the hook these days. Technology such as mobile phones, text messaging, email and laptops, mean many people work at home after hours, lengthening working days and intensify work.

"What's the point of working for free," says TV3's Money Man Brendon Johnson. "Overtime is a mug's game."

The former Royal Marine takes a sergeant-major approach to personal finance and says if you want to get ahead financially walk out of the door on time and make extra money on the side or educate yourself so that you can get a promotion.

"I think people just aren't confrontational enough."

These days most contracts require salaried employees to work from time to time outside core hours, says John Nevill, principal at employment agency Numero. However, working long hours doesn't automatically equal being efficient, he adds.

"You will often find that some of the highest performers are mums who have come back to work and have to stick to their hours," says Nevill. Knowing that they only have limited time they concentrate on getting the job done. On the other hand some employees spend hour after hour at the coffee machine, with little to show for their apparently long hours.

If you choose to stick to your hours at a firm with a culture of long working hours it's likely you may get ostracised, says Nevill. Even if you're not going to get a promotion in-house, you can advance your career by moving to a new company. They're not to know you're a clock watcher.

It's also important in today's tight labour market for businesses to keep an eye on staff overtime. If the time expectations on staff are what Nevill calls the "unfair category" then staff members are going to want to move on.

John Wenger director for performance consultants Quantum Shift says firms that have a culture of chronic overtime need to take a step back and take a long hard look at the company culture. "Employees get burnt out and staff turnover increases."

Likewise, employees working chronic overtime need to take a good hard look at themselves, says Wenger, and ask if:

* You have your work/life balance right

* If you're working overtime because you're insecure and think you need to be seen working long hours to get promotions or kudos

* If you have an inability to say "no"

* You don't value yourself and your time.

Inventing reasons to leave early - such as a child in day care, or tickets to the theatre, doesn't work in the long run says Wenger. You need to address the problem.

If you've either bitten off more than you can chew, or your role simply isn't do-able in the time you have, then it's important to involve your manager, says Nevill.

Unpaid overtime, AKA long hours, are endemic in some industries such as public relations agencies. Staff often work long hours when they're pitching for business or at certain "crunch points", says Caroline (name changed), a PR agency account manager. "Sometimes client requirements mean working evenings or weekends. If it is event related you might get time in lieu."

The alternative to working such long hours can be to get an in-house job. "The expectations are different in-house," says Caroline. Your only client is your employer."

Likewise lawyers, infamous for working long hours, can limit time behind the desk by working in house for a large organisation.

If you are working 45 hours or more a week and feel aggrieved, you are not on your own. Research by the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions on the impact of long hours on worker and their families found almost all of those among 30 families it followed who regularly worked more than 45 hours per week regarded these hours as 'long, unreasonable, and with significant negative effects on their own lives, and the lives of their families'.

A survey by Robert Half Finance & Accounting earlier this year found that work-life balances are getting worse. Those working in excess of 55 hours a week included chief financial officers (35 per cent), business advisory services (15 per cent), commercial managers (12 per cent), financial controllers (11 per cent) and auditors (10 per cent). The percentage of respondents working anywhere from 46 to 55 hours a week was even higher.

Martin Turner, senior associate at Mercer Human Resource Consulting says some companies that require employees to work longer hours use gestures of appreciation such as vouchers to acknowledge extra effort and hours put in.

He says companies have to accept that Baby Boomers and Generation Ys are actively seeking a better work life balance from their employer. "The latter group particularly will move without compunction to those employers who do provide balance."

Tips for avoiding overtime

* Become more efficient and get your job done within the allocated hours.

* Try to ditch unnecessary tasks from your work day.

* Don't do other people's jobs. Learn to delegate.

* Ask for a reprieve from your boss.

* Document your work accomplishments and demonstrate them to your boss.

* Get help with learning to say "no" and valuing your time more.

* Look for ways your department could become more efficient as a whole and present these to your employer.

* Try to limit your overtime to blocks dedicated to specific projects and schedule time off in lieu to compensate.

* Don't let overtime creep up on you by accident. When it's time to go home, pack up and go. Save the task for tomorrow.

* If you regularly start early, let people know and don't feel guilty about going home equally early.

* When asked to take on an extra task you can't fit in, say something like: "I'm working on XYZ project. I'll let you know as soon as I am available to take on new work."

* Say what you can do: "I'm sorry I can't give you a written report by Monday. But I'd be happy to give you a verbal summary."

* Say 'no'. Try: 'Thanks for asking me, but I'm afraid I can't.' Or: 'I'm going to have to pass. Thank you for asking'.