Leader: Have you ever had 'one of those weeks'?

At the end of a long hard week most of us like to kick back with a beer or two (or three, or four...), or maybe head home to see the family you've neglected due to long hours spent in the office.

What we don't really want to do is think about how much money we've missed out on due to poor pay and conditions, but that's exactly what the TUC has been urging us to do this week.

On Monday the TUC launched an overtime calculator so UK workers, who are increasingly missing out on overtime, can work out what they should be earning for the hours they are working.

So if you worked more than your contracted hours this week - and there's every chance you did - you may be interested to see just how much free labour your company is getting out of you.

But is this a constructive way to look at the issue? In a word 'no'.

There are two things to consider when looking at this issue from an IT employees' perspective.

Firstly, most techies know what they are letting themselves in for. One IT worker who silicon.com spoke to said: "If you work in support and something breaks while you are at work then you stay until it's fixed." The nature of the work means the work dictates the hours done rather than vice versa.

Secondly, is the fact that this is still an employers' market. If you don't get your head down and stay until the work is done, without overtime, then somebody else will. It's not a healthy stand for employers to take, but for now that's just the way it is.

Chris Atwood from IT recruitment specialist Elan told silicon.com: "There has undoubtedly been a trend over the past two years whereby clients have ceased to pay overtime to contractors in particular - preferring to pay a daily rate which is all inclusive."

"This has allowed them to budget more accurately in terms of spend."

Atwood believes that those contractors who have found work have still been paid well-enough to not have too much cause for complaint, but he believes that situation may soon change.

"It could be argued that the contractors have still been earning significantly more than their permanent counterparts even with this reduction," he said. "However, with the impact of IR35 and reducing contractor rates the differentials are beginning to be less and less and so if the market picks up it may be harder for clients to continue with this policy unless they pay higher day rates."

According to Atwood the pros and cons of working in high-tech just 'go with the territory' - overtime is a necessary evil, but the workers would be a lot worse off in many other industries.

"Much high-tech work is project-based and rewards are proportionate to the finish date and not paid by the hour," he said, adding that terms and conditions often spell out the need for a 'stay until the work is done' attitude.