Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Millions of hours of work done for free, survey suggests

Updated at 12:02 pm on 8 June 2011

A survey is indicating female public servants do more than $54 million worth of work for free every year.

A Victoria University survey of more than 7000 women found those in public sector work reported doing more than 2.5 million hours in unpaid overtime each year.

The Public Service Association says the survey shows the public sector is a far cry from the image promoted by the Government of a bloated institution in need of trimming.

The PSA says male workers probably face similar working conditions.

National secretary Brenda Pilott thinks there is a trend of people having to work more hours because there are fewer people to do the work, and says the number of job cuts in the public sector are unsustainable.

Copyright © 2011, Radio New Zealand