A report from an annual Go Home on Time Day survey investigating working time, including overwork and unpaid overtime in Australia. The poll – conducted from 5 September 2024 to 11 September 2025 – asked 1,001 Australian workers about their paid working hours and preferences and about any unpaid overtime they worked. It also asked about any unpaid overtime workers performed in their jobs, and how much and why they performed unpaid overtime.

Two of the key findings are widespread dissatisfaction with paid work hours and employees working excessive unpaid overtime. A large minority of Australian workers would prefer either more or fewer paid work hours. 

Key findings

• Mostly, workers who are dissatisfied with their hours want more paid work hours (44% of all workers), while a smaller group (14%) want less paid work time.
• On average, employees work unpaid overtime of 3.6 hours a week, equivalent to 173 hours, or over 4.5 weeks, a year.
• Unpaid overtime among full-time employees appears to be continuing a slow decline, noted in 2024. This suggests the 'Right to Disconnect' legislation may be having its intended impact.
• Unpaid overtime is high among part-time and casual employees, many of whom are younger workers.
• The social costs of working outside of normal hours include negative consequences for health and wellbeing and relationships.