When you are doing work against gravity, you need extra work because you need to overcome gravity.
Gravity excerts a force, called gravitational force. This force always acts downward. When you are trying to work against gravity, first you need to overcome gravity. For this, you need to apply an extra force.
Consider a situation where you are trying to pull a bench towards yourself. What will happen if your friend stands on opposite side and tries to pull the same bench ? Now, you will have to put extra force, so as to overcome your friend. This is same when you consider gravity.
Gravity is always trying to pull things down. When you try to work against it , you will have to always provide enough force to overcome it.