Workers in an open plan office. File photo Photo: 123rf
A recruitment agency is warning employers that rising overtime could further provoke so called quiet quitting.
Quiet quitting is a new trend, which sees employees make a conscious decision to perform the bare minimum at work.
It comes as a survey by the recruiting firm Hays found 39.2 percent of organisations in New Zealand have seen overtime levels increase, and only 3.4 percent saw a drop - with the remainder seeing levels unchanged.
Hays local managing Adam Shapley said in order to get on top of quiet quitting, employers needed to engage with their staff proactively.
"If they're working hard and doing overtime, how are they being paid? Is it fair? Are their benefits right? Are they getting opportunities to upskill?"
Employers needed to look at flexibility for their staff, he said.
"Organisations can [say]; you're doing this extra work, if you need to take a bit of time off to go and do XYZ then that's fine," Shapley said.
He also said staff needed to have a sense of purpose and feel valued.
Hays said 51.4 percent of overtime was paid in New Zealand, while 48.6 percent was unpaid.
It said in 20.4 percent of the organisations that increased overtime, the average weekly amount was between more than four and eight hours extra per week (in a 40-hour working week).
"Any increase in overtime is a dangerous signal that staff are under pressure. Morale, health, well-being and stress-related absenteeism could all be affected," Shapley said.