UK workers gave their employers £33.6billion of free labour last year by doing unpaid overtime, according to new research.

More than 5.3million people put in an average of 7.7 hours a week in unpaid overtime during 2016, which the TUC says is equivalent to an average of £6,301 they have each missed out in their pay packets.

The figures were released by the TUC to mark its 13th annual 'Work Your Proper Hours Day' today.

The TUC is asking workers to take a proper lunch break and leave on time, while it says managers could lead by example and also think about how they can move away from over-reliance on their staff's unpaid overtime.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Few of us mind putting in some extra time when it's needed, but if it happens all the time and gets taken for granted, that's a problem.

"So make a stand today, take your full lunch break and go home on time.

"The best bosses understand that a long-hours culture doesn't get good results. So we're asking managers to set an example by leaving on time too."

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Readers' comments:

Kevin Cranston: Absolutely right thing to do. I once left a company that wanted to reduce lunch break by 25 per cent after three-month probation period.

Then, they added a new clause to the draft contract saying normal working plus reasonable overtime.

Most people were not taking any lunch break and staying in the office for nine-plus hours every day.

The surprising thing is they tried to get me to stay and offered me another job a coup of years later!