A TORY minister courted fury today as she told people facing universal credit (UC) cuts to simply “work extra hours,” while a TUC report revealed that unpaid overtime cost workers £26 billion in lost wages last year.

Today marks the Work Your Proper Hours Day, an annual TUC appeal for workers to stick to their paid hours and for employers to support them.

The TUC says 3.5 million people are each losing more than £7,000 a year through unpaid overtime, particularly in the public sector,with teachers being the worst hit.

But ahead of the union body’s damning report, Therese Coffey commented in the Commons that “one of the best ways” for people to boost their incomes is to “work some more hours, to get upskilled, to get a higher income.”

Ms Coffey followed this up by suggesting the Tories’ upcoming scrapping of the £20 UC uplift was solveable by getting “two hours’ extra work,” even though the benefit is subject to an earnings taper.

York Central Labour MP Rachael Maskell, who had asked Ms Coffey a parliamentary question about food poverty, condemned the comments as “appalling.”

In its analysis of unpaid overtime, the TUC said 12.5 per cent of Britain’s workforce worked an average 7.4 hours unpaid overtime a week.

Regional variations showed the problem at its worst in London, the south-east and east of England, where the highest proportions of workers were affected and lost the most money.

The report also highlighted that the government is rushing through legislation to dump laws on workers’ rights which were introduced to match European legislation when Britain was part of the EU.

These rights include maximum weekly working hours, daily rest breaks, weekly rest periods between work shifts and paid annual leave.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Workers should get paid for the work they do. 

“Nobody minds putting in longer hours from time to time. But employers shouldn’t rely on unpaid overtime — that’s just exploitation.

“With staff shortages in many industries, work intensity and pressure to work longer days is a big problem. 

“And the longstanding rights workers have that place safe limits on working time are hanging by a thread.

“Whether you voted for Brexit or not, none of us voted to have our workplace protections taken away.

“Ministers should scrap the Bill going through Parliament that is putting these rights at risk.”

Responding to Ms Coffey’s comments on UC, Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner tweeted: “The Work and Pensions Secretary either knows she’s lying or shouldn’t be in the job. An additional £20 for a UC claimant isn’t two hours’ work … An extra £20 would require £50+ worth of hours.”

In the Commons, Ms Maskell blamed the government for a “food poverty infrastructure dependent on voluntary donations and retail waste donations.”

She said that foodbanks in York were running out of food and asked Ms Coffey what the government was doing about food poverty.

Ms Coffey said: “We talk about aspects of food pricing, inflation is really tough at the moment, there’s no doubt about that.

“We still have a situation where generally across Europe we have one of the lowest proportion of our incomes being spent on food.”

Speaking after the exchanges, Ms Maskell said: “With food prices going up 16.8 per cent over the last year, the Secretary of State said that people needed to work more hours to pay for their food.

“It is shocking that the Environment Secretary [Ms Coffey] shifted blame for food poverty onto people because they are on low wages and are poor, expecting them to work even more hours to put food on the table.

“People are going hungry, often limiting themselves to one small meal a day or missing food altogether. 

“It is time her government supported families in need, not making them work harder for a crust.”