Newer technology may be making life easier in many aspects, but they are also making it harder for us to "switch off".

ACTU President Ged Kearney said every year, Australians are working more than two billion hours of unpaid overtime, which equates to $72 billion in wages, and that smartphones and tablets are only adding to the workload.

A study conducted by the institute in July showed that 60% of respondents had performed some kind of work-related task, outside their normal working hours, in the past week. Fifteen percent of these people said it was either expected or necessary to meet the demands of their job.

Other figures show seven out of eight respondents with a device provided by their employer were working outside their normal hours, compared to around half of those without a device.