Up to 9.7 million employees who are only contracted to work Monday to Friday have had their weekends disturbed by work issues in the past 12 months, new research* from MetLife Employee Benefits shows. 

Around half (47%) of employees who work Monday to Friday have had to put in extra hours at the weekend, the study found. The average number of weekends where work has intruded is eight in a year but a harassed 14% say they have had to work more than 21 weekends.MetLife Employee Benefits research uncovers a nation that struggles to relax with women suffering more than men – 38% of women who have experienced weekends disturbed by work admitted they struggled to switch off compared with 32% of men.

The nationwide study found that two-thirds (66%) of full time employees are not contracted to work weekends (70% of men against 61% of women) – the equivalent of around 20.79 million employees.MetLife’s study suggests that over-bearing workloads are a major contributor with 52% of women and 42% of men stating that they used the weekends to catch up on work. Around 23% of the unpaid weekend employees had to pitch in when a crisis happened while 13% say their employer wants them on call at all times.Tom Gaynor, Employee Benefits Director of MetLife UK,said: “Uncontracted weekend working is a creeping condition than can decay overall productivity and performance.  Disrupted and sometimes ruined weekends are becoming a disturbing feature of British life that has deep societal implications. 

“The role of managers is vital in guiding employees so that there is a better understanding of workload requirements and priorities.  Weekend working can lead to unnecessary stress, impaired performance and ultimately absence. There is little wonder the UK has a productivity gap when we learn through surveys like MetLife’s that many employees will not have benefited from proper rest and relaxation in advance of Monday morning.”

MetLife’s ProActive Protection group income protection policy comes with built in access to invaluable services such as sleep support and stress management programmes through a Health Gateway.  As well as providing support for employees it uses powerful data analysis to determine, from the services employees access, where any red flags or health risks may be present.  This in turn means employers can put programmes in place to prevent serious problems taking hold.