Lifetime value of hours given to your employer for free.

Working five extra unpaid hours a week at a 40 hourly rate for 46 weeks a year over 25 working years is worth 230,000 of unpaid labour. That's a meaningful chunk of a career given without compensation, often without thought. Quantifying it changes how you view a culture of unpaid overtime.

What the result means

The figure is the gross value of the work given away. Even discounted to net at a 30-40% tax rate, the number is large enough to drive different choices about working hours, employer choice, or rate negotiation.

A worked example

Try the defaults: weekly extra hours of 5, hourly rate of 40, weeks per year of 46, working years remaining of 25. The tool returns 230,000.00. You can adjust any input and the result updates as you type — no submit button, no reload. That's the real power here: seeing how sensitive the output is to one or two assumptions.

What moves the number most

The result responds to Weekly Extra Hours, Hourly Rate, Weeks Per Year, and Working Years Remaining. Frequency and unit price pull the total in different directions. The biggest surprise for most people is how small recurring amounts compound into large annual figures — that's where this calculation earns its keep.

The formula behind this

Lifetime cost equals weekly extra hours times hourly rate times weeks per year times years remaining. Wage growth and tax effects are not modelled — the figure is gross at today's rate. Everything the calculator does is shown in the formula box below, so you can check the math against your own spreadsheet if you want.

What the headline number hides

Gross pay, net pay, and what actually lands in your account can differ by thousands depending on tax code, benefits, pension contributions, and student loan deductions. This tool isolates one piece of that picture — always pair it with a take-home calculator for the full view.

What this doesn't capture

Tax bands, pension contributions, student-loan deductions, and benefits-in-kind sit outside this calculation. The figure is the headline; your actual position depends on local tax rules and personal circumstances. Pair with a dedicated take-home calculator for the full picture.