Working hours opt-out saved

Thursday, 2 June 2005 12:00 AM

EU ministers have decided not to end the Working Time Directive opt-out

Widely used in the UK, the opt-out allows employees to waive their right to a maximum 48-hour working week.

Last month the European Parliament voted to end the opt-out by 2012, but this decision had to be ratified by the Council of Ministers.

And today ministers decided that the opt-out would remain. It is understood that no vote took place as there were enough dissenting voices to block the changes.

The issue now returns to the EU Parliament.

The UK Government and business is fiercely opposed to any end to the opt-out, arguing that it would hamper productivity.

However, the TUC says the idea that longer hours are good for business is a myth.

It has published a poll suggesting that one in three of the UK workforce say that long hours of stress have stopped them taking up training or education in the last three years.

Thirty-five per cent of full-time workers agreed to the statement: 'my current job has such long hours or so stressful a workload that I do not have the time or energy to take up a course.'

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, said: "Employer lobbyists claim that long hours working is essential to business success, but most experts agree that one of the biggest brakes on UK productivity is the poor skills of too many of the workforce.

"But this poll shows that long hours working is one of the main obstacles to improving skills. We run the risk of getting caught in a vicious circle of long hours working, low skills and low productivity."

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrats' trade and industry spokesman said that retaining the opt-out was key for economic flexibility.

Mr Lamb said: "If people are being exploited then of course they should have recourse to the law, but the role of the state should not be to prevent people from working the hours they want to work."

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