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According to a recent research study from the Norwegian School of Management BI commissioned by the Finance Sector Union in Norway (FSU-NO) employees in the Norwegian finance sector work on average 15 extra days a year without pay.

Today’s financial sector is currently undergoing huge technological advances.  Smart phones and tablets have become a part of day-to-day routines.  Employees are often equipped with mobile technology by their employer who expects increased availability in return. What do these changes do to the labour market?

Researchers from BI Norwegian Business School created a survey for over 4500 employees in the financial sector requesting information about changes in working patterns due to mobile technology. The aggregated results show that the line between work and leisure is becoming more blurred. More and more employees respond to work-related e-mails and calls outside their normal working hours. The survey shows that on average an employee in the financial sector works 2, 41 hours unregistered a week, in total 15 days extra a year.

Independent variables was investigated in the survey such as sex, level of education, income, inner motivation, future job prospects and the freedom to work wherever were all examined to be potential causes to unregistered work. While some employees were seen to be unaware of the extent of unregistered work they are performing, and are more than happy to do it in order to meet more demanding weeks at the office, others feel an unwanted pressure to perform.  The stress of coping with the new job when recently graduated and high uncertainty over future job prospects within the company are both seen as triggers for unregistered work. For these people, there is increased risk of becoming burn-out, experience a greater conflict between job and family priorities and wanting to quit the job. This is not only a phenomenon in the financial sector as such; this is a reoccurring problem in all knowledge-based companies.

The results of this survey show some of the unwanted consequences of unregistered work. The effects of new technology could be a result of management not being clear enough in their communication to their employees in terms of work burden and agreed working hours. This is an aspect of the modern labour market that needs to be addressed in the future, says the Finance Sector Union of Norway’s President Pål Adrian Hellman.