The research has been released today to mark Go Home On Time Day 2025, an initiative by the Centre for Future Work, now into its 17th year.

It is the first full year since Right To Disconnect Laws were introduced in Australia, back in August 2024.

As full time employees and their bosses come to grips with workers’ right to switch off, the burden is shifting to part time and casual employees.

Overall, Australians are still doing more than three and a half hours of unpaid overtime each week – the equivalent to four and a half full-time weeks per year.

The average workers is losing nearly  $8000 a year, which is ripping a staggering $95.8 billion a year out of the pockets of Australian workers.

Key points:

• Full-time employees average 3.8 hours of unpaid overtime a week. For every ten hours of paid work, they’re working one for nothing.
• Despite doing significantly fewer hours overall, part-time employees do 3.7 hours of unpaid overtime a week. For every seven hours of paid work, they’re doing nearly an hour for nothing.
• Younger people (18-24) do the most unpaid overtime at 4.7 hours a week, equivalent to almost one hour of unpaid work for every five paid hours.
• Unpaid overtime equates to almost 173 hours per year, per worker, more than 4.5 full-time weeks.
• If that unpaid overtime was valued at median wage rates, the average worker is losing $7,930 a year or $305 a fortnight.
  • Economy-wide, that equates to almost $95.8 billion of lost income a year, which is more than the government spends on the NDIS and Aged Care combined.

“Australians have been giving their bosses so many free hours for so many years, we were never going to see the level of unpaid overtime suddenly plummet,” said Fiona Macdonald, Director of the Centre for Future Work at The Australia Institute.

“The situation for full time workers has stabilised. It’s a good first step. I would say, for them, the right to disconnect is working.

“But this is the first time we have seen rates of unpaid overtime for part time workers almost as high as full time workers.

“The right to disconnect is less effective for part time workers and casuals because they are simply not given enough paid hours to do their jobs.

“Young people who are already on the lowest incomes are bearing the brunt of this trend towards squeezing part timers.

“However you look at it, Australian workers are being ripped off. The cost of living crisis isn’t over. Now, more than ever, workers should be paid for every single hour they work. ”