In November 2012, one in four employees who usually worked extra hours or overtime were not compensated for doing so, according to an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report released today.

ABS Director of Labour Force, Cassandra Gligora said "the Working Time Arrangements publication looks at the working arrangements of employees in their main job, such as shift work, extra hours or overtime, and start and finish times".

"The ABS found over a third of employees usually worked extra hours or overtime and more than a quarter of these employees were not compensated for this work," Ms Gligora said.

"Although more men usually worked extra hours or overtime than women (38 per cent compared to 30 per cent), one in three of these women (33 per cent) were not compensated compared to one in five men (21 per cent).

"The most common form of compensation for extra hours worked was to be paid (42 per cent), although others received time off in lieu (17 per cent) or had compensation included in their salary package (15 per cent)," she said.

The Working Time Arrangements survey found that 36 per cent of employees could choose to work extra hours in order to take time off, and 40 per cent had some say in their start and finish times. In addition, 19 per cent of employees were not guaranteed a minimum number of hours of work and 25 per cent had their earnings/income vary from one pay period to the next.

Further details can be found in Working Time Arrangements, Australia, November 2012