WORKERS in the North-East put in an average of almost £5,000 each in unpaid overtime last year, according to new figures.

The TUC said one in five people regularly worked extra hours for no pay.

As part of the annual Work Your Proper Hours Day the TUC's analysis of official figures showed that 161,742 workers in the region did unpaid overtime in 2014 worth, on average, £4,802 each.

Those working beyond their contracted hours did, on average, 6.8 hours unpaid overtime a week.

Work Your Proper Hours is the day when the average person who does unpaid overtime would start to get paid if they did all their unpaid overtime at the start of the year. To mark it, the TUC is calling on staff to take a proper lunch break and leave work on time. Managers are also being encouraged to lead by example and encourage their staff to work their proper hours.

The TUC analysis shows how across the UK, workers in education put in the longest unpaid hours - 9.7 per week -, followed by employees in the hospitality industry at 9.3 hours and mining and quarrying 9.2 unpaid hours every week.

Unpaid overtime is more common in the public sector where it is done by 27.4 per cent of employees than the private sector where it affects 18.5 per cent of employees. This means that the public sector is benefitting from £11.6bn worth of free hours a year. Employers in the North-East get a total of £776,685 worth of free time from their staff.

People in their early 40s are the most likely to do unpaid overtime, with more than a quarter working beyond their contracted time.

Beth Farhat, TUC North-East Regional Secretary, said: “Staff in the North-East work among the longest hours in Europe – and are not even paid for much of the extra time they put in.

“Staff don’t mind doing a few additional hours during busy periods, but too many employers take this goodwill for granted and forget to thank their staff. Further problems arise when those occasional extra hours become the norm, and staff become over-worked and under-paid.

“Bosses who encourage long hours in the office should re-think their approach as stressed, over-worked staff are often unhappy and less productive.”

University and College Union general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: "The time has come for schools, colleges and universities to recognise the hard work their staff do, reward them fairly and sort out their workloads."

*Sources: ONS Labour Force Survey summer quarter 2014 and Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2014.