Lawyers among the most hard-working in the UK

New research has found that lawyers work an average of 45.5 hours per week - meaning they are among the most hard-working employees in the UK.

The survey by recruitment agency Robert Waiters suggests only those working in financial services or sales put in more hours each week.

Lawyers came in third in the rankings; ahead of those in the marketing sector (43.2 hours); IT, the human resources sector and accounting. Secretarial workers and support staff came bottom at 39.8 hours per week.

More than two in five lawyers (42 per cent) were found to work more than 50 hours a week, which is an increase of two percentage points compared with last year and a significantly higher proportion than in accounting (30 per cent); HR (25 per cent) and marketing (21 per cent).

The research also showed the law profession is among the most loyal in the UK, with only three in 10 lawyers (30 per cent) saying they would look to change employers after less than three years - down from 32 per cent last year.

In the marketing sector, nearly two in three employees (65 per cent) said they would look for a new job in the same period.

The survey also suggests that putting in more hours pays off, with those who work an average of 49.2 hours a week earning more than £100,000 a year while employees earning less than £25,000 typically work 38.7 hours per week.

Copyright Press Association 2014