Opt out of Working Time Directive survives again
April 3, 2009
There has been so much debate in recent months about the UK’s continuing fight against EU pressure to scrap the ability for UK workers to opt out of the 48 hours maximum working week. The Working Time Directive is a piece of legislation designed to ensure people do not work too much as this could affect their health and safety, and also covers the amount of holidays workers are entitled to. The UK, and 14 other EU countries have kept an opt-out option for their workers, which means that companies can have flexibility within their workforce to respond to different organisational needs, and for workers to have more choice if they wish to work longer and earn more.
In February I wrote about the argument being put forward by MPs and Union leaders which is that the opt-out is continuing to encourage the long hours culture that we have such a problem with in the UK. However the overriding feeling appears to be that the country should fight to keep the opt-out, and this is what Ministers have been doing in the European Parliament in Brussels this week.
On this occasion, the UK has managed to resist the pressure to drop the opt-out because negotiations between the council of ministers and MEPs failed to provide an agreement, with the main sticking point that neither side would budge on being staff on-call time (i.e. whether the time people spend on-call, e.g. over a weekend, should count towards the maximum number of hours worked in a week). Because no compromise could be reached, it looks like the opt-out will remain for the time being at least. Employment Relations Minister Pat McFadden said:
“We have said consistently that we would not give up the opt-out and we have delivered on that pledge,”
This decision will be welcomed by a lot of businesses that use the opt-out to manage different periods of business, and employees that rely on the income their overtime above the 48 hour limit provides. However Unions and a number of MPs that believe scrapping the opt out will help the county move away from a damaging long hours culture will be disappointed in the outcome of this weeks events in Europe.
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