GRAHAM HISCOTT Workers fearful of going home

Nearly two out of five people stay late at work due to a culture of “presenteeism” encouraged by bosses, a study claims.

Research by website Totaljobs found one in three employers looked down on staff who left work on time.

IT workers, human resources staff, accountants and teachers were among those most likely to work over, according to a poll of 1,000 staff and 250 employers.

Cities such as Birmingham, Nottingham, Leeds and London had the worst “presenteeism problem”, said the report.

Younger staff were most likely to feel pressure to work late, with three out of five workers aged 18 to 34 worrying their boss or colleagues may think they were shirking if they left on time.

Totaljobs marketing director Martin Talbot said: “Presenteeism is becoming an ingrained part of British company culture.” BT has refused to rule out job losses after announcing plans to merge two big divisions.

The telecoms giant is combining its business and public sector arm with its wholesale and ventures unit to create a single division called BT Enterprise.

The new set-up will employ 14,000 staff but BT said it was too early to comment on any potential job losses.

The company has already merged its consumer arm with mobile operator EE to create one division.

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