ALMOST 20 per cent of North West workers do unpaid overtime and miss out on an average £4,216 pay each a year, according to new union figures.
The Trades Union Congress said the Government's Labour Force Survey revealed that 16.3 per cent of the region's employees work unpaid overtime - at an average of six hours and 42 minutes each per week.
That equates to those workers missing out on £81 a week in overtime, worth £1.7billion across the region.
The TUC has also calculated that if everyone in the UK did all their unpaid work at the start of the year, they would not be paid until February 23.
Workers in the North East did the most unpaid overtime last year at an average of seven hours 42 minutes a week.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "We still work the longest hours in Europe and too many workplaces are gripped by a long hours culture.
"There are some small signs that the UK is getting a bit better, but there is still a long way to go."
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