Workers in the UK are working more hours than they should and are not being compensated for it, according the new figures from the Trades Union Congress (TUC). The Mirror reports that in 2012 alone employees in the UK worked 1.8 billion hours of unpaid overtime, and missed out on £28 billion as a result. According to the research more than five million members of the British workforce did an average of 7.3 hours a week more than they were contracted to and that this overtime was not paid for by their employers. This means that one in five workers are working too many hours and are losing out on £5,600 a year. The area of the country which racked up the most amount of unpaid hours was London. In 2012, workers in London completed an average of 8.5 hours of unpaid overtime a week. Those in the east of England and in Yorkshire and Humberside worked an average of eight hours a week unpaid. Friday 1st March has been designated by the TUC as Work Your Proper Hours Day, where it is urging workers to start and finish work on time and to take the designated breaks they are entitled to. TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "While most employees are happy to put in a few extra hours to help their companies out, particularly during these tough times, many of the extra hours are completely pointless." This findings show that employers are giving their staff too much work to do for the time they are contracted to work. By overworking staff in this manner businesses will find their staff will become burnt out and their morale and motivation will drop. Companies can use time and attendance software to find out which employees are working too many hours and implement relevant changes to counteract it. Making sure staff are getting a good work-life balance is essential in improving the overall productivity of the workforce.