The second 2020 Labour Force Survey theme report presents the prevalence of overtime work among employees aged 15–74 years. The report focuses on describing the situation on the labour market in 2019, although comparisons with earlier years are also included to show changes in overtime work from 2005. In this report, overtime includes all work beyond regular agreed working time, for both full-time and part-time employees. The number of people who worked overtime with or without compensation does not sum up to the total number of people who worked overtime, since an employee can work overtime both with and without compensation during the same period.

Just over 20 percent worked overtime during these years

More than 700 000 persons on average worked overtime each year between 2005 and 2019. The percentage of overtime work was larger among men than among women, and the men who worked overtime also carried out more overtime work per person than the women. There was a decreasing trend of overtime hours among men during this period, while among women the number of hours remained stable. During the period, more than 15 percent of employees worked overtime with compensation and around 5 percent worked overtime without compensation.

Men worked more overtime in 2019

In total, 20.1 percent of employees worked overtime in 2019, 15.3 percent with compensation and 5.2 percent without compensation. Overtime work, both with and without compensation, was more common among men, at 21.7 percent, than among women, at 18.5 percent. Overtime work was equally prevalent among persons aged 15–24 years and among those aged 25–64 years, just over 20 percent, while it was less common among older employees aged 65–74 years, at 10.7 percent.

Overtime less common among foreign born persons

Among Swedish born persons, 21.3 percent worked overtime in 2019, compared with 15.3 percent among foreign born persons. Among Swedish born persons, overtime work was more common among men than among women, while the sex distribution was more equal among foreign born persons.

Overtime without compensation more common among highly educated persons

Overtime work was less common among employees with a compulsory education in 2019. Among these persons, 16.2 percent worked overtime, compared with just over 20 percent among persons with an upper secondary education and persons with a post-secondary education. Overtime without compensation was more common among those with a post-secondary school education, 7.0 percent, than among those with a compulsory education and persons with an upper secondary school education, 2.3 percent and 3.4 percent respectively.

Higher percentage of permanent employees worked overtime

Overtime work, both with and without compensation, was more common among permanent employees than among temporary employees. Among permanent employees, 21.1 percent worked overtime; 22.8 percent among the men and 19.3 percent among the women. The corresponding percentage among temporary employees was 14.4 percent. The distribution between the sexes was nearly identical: 14.5 percent among the men and 14.4 percent among the women.

Overtime was prevalent among full-time employees

Among full-time employees, 21.2 percent worked overtime in 2019. Among part-time employees, the corresponding figure was 16.4 percent. Roughly 15 percent among both full-time and part-time employees worked overtime with compensation. Among part-time employees, overtime without compensation was less common, at 2.2 percent, than among full-time employees, at 6.0 percent.

Overtime was frequent in the transport category

In the transport category, 25.4 percent of all employees worked overtime in 2019. Among those who worked overtime, 22.2 percent worked with compensation and 3.7 percent worked without compensation. The corresponding percentage in the public administration category was 15.7 percent; 12.2 percent with compensation and 3.2 percent without compensation. In the health and social care category, only 3.0 percent of the employees worked overtime without compensation. The largest difference between the sexes was in the transport category, in which the proportion of men who worked overtime was 7.9 percentage points more than the proportion of women who worked overtime.

Overtime without compensation was common among managers

Overtime was common in the managers category and 33.2 percent worked overtime in 2019, of whom 14.9 percent with compensation and 18.9 percent without compensation. Working overtime was also common in occupations in the group mechanical manufacturing and transport workers, etc. and in the group building and manufacturing workers, 25.3 percent and 18.7 percent respectively. Overtime without compensation, on the other hand, was uncommon; 0.8 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.

A more detailed presentation can be found in the report:

Labour Force Surveys (LFS) – Theme: Overtime and Additional Time 2005-2019 (pdf)