July 7, 2004—Britain is the only EU country where working hours have increased on average over the last decade. But according to a new survey, reversing this trend by limiting the number of hours worked could mean losing the UK’s competitive edge.
That’s the opinion of 81% of businesses surveyed by Croner, a provider of business information and advice. Respondents said that removing the right to opt out of legislation which will restrict the average working week to a 48 hour maximum would have a negative affect on the UK economy.
These findings challenge whether the UK should fully adopt the EU’s Working Time Directive, from which the British government secured an opt-out in 1993—a move which enables employers to allow staff to work more than 48 hours per week if they choose to sign an opt-out agreement.
Although the Working Time Directive is intended to help employees achieve work/life balance through capping the number of hours they can legally work, Croner warns that it could actually do the opposite by imposing a more rigid structure whereby employees can no longer choose to work reasonable overtime.
The European Commission is currently reviewing a phase-out of Britain’s exemption to the regulations.
The CBI recently said that claims of widespread abuse of working time rules were “wildly overdone”, but it pointed out that it has already urged the government to strengthen rules to prevent deliberate or inadvertent abuses.
Responding to the launch of the government’s consultation on working time rules, the employers’ organisation said it has published proposals to ensure that employees working long hours are genuinely choosing to do so and that firms do not breach the rules because they misunderstand the law.
The CBI welcomed the government’s commitment to maintaining the right of UK employees to opt-out of the Working Time Directive and said unions should not use talk of abuse to deny UK employees the freedom to choose the hours they work.
—Elliott Chase
Reprinted with permission; copyright 2004 i-FM
