date: 5 June 2008
embargo: 00.01hrs Friday 6 June
Disease of long hours working leaps by 59,000 in the East of England in just one year
An extra 180,000 people in the UK are working more than 48 hours a week in 2008 compared to 2007, according to a TUC analysis of official statistics released today (Friday), and the East of England is at the heart of the problem.
The analysis, included in the new TUC report - The Return of the Long Hours Culture - has found that the number of people working long hours has increased at a faster rate over the last year than the decline in excessive working did between 1998 and 2006.
In 2008, 15.5 percent of all workers in the East of England worked more than 48 hours per week, increasing from 13.4 per cent in 2007. This means that the total number of employees in the East of England working excessively long hours leapt to 374,000. And the rate of increase of long hours working in the East of England was the sharpest increase in the UK.
The TUC report argues that the recent increase in the number of people working long hours is due to the challenging economic climate, which has made employers more reluctant to recruit new staff, rather, they have chosen to work existing employees harder.
The analysis also finds that 85 per cent of new long hours workers are male. The TUC believes that this trend, in which 'senior' jobs are increasingly reliant on long hours, could hamper efforts to close the pay gap, as women with childcare responsibilities are more likely to be excluded from these roles if longer working hours are demanded.
In order to reverse the growth of long hours working, the TUC is calling for a strengthened Working Time Directive, (WTD), to protect employees. Since its implementation in 1998, the WTD has helped to reduce excessive working hours, although the UK's opt-out has meant that this progress has been too slow.
The TUC is calling on the Government to back proposals to strengthen the WTD when employment Ministers from the across Europe discuss the Directive at the EU Social Affairs Council meeting on 9 and 10 June.
TUC Regional Secretary for the East of England, Megan Dobney, said:
'After slow but steady progress over the last decade, long hours working is making a rapid return back into the East of England's workplaces. Workers across the UK already work the longest hours in Western Europe and this present increase will mean lower productivity, more stress and less time for friends and family and for life beyond the workplace.
'When the Government meets with other European Ministers next week, it should side with Britain's 31 million workers and take action to end excessive working time, rather than side with the business lobbyists who act as apologists for Britain's long hours culture.'
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Employees working more than 48 hours by gender
|
Gender |
Working more than 48 hours per week 2008 (thousands) |
Changes 2007/2008 (thousands) |
Per cent of employees working more than 48 hours per week 2008 |
Changes 2007/2008 (per cent) |
|
Male |
2,548 |
+153 |
19.7% |
+1.0% |
|
Female |
727 |
+26 |
5.9% |
+0.1% |
|
Total |
3,276 |
+180 |
12.9% |
+0.5% |
Employees working more than 48 hours by region
|
UK nations and regions |
Working more than 48 hours per week 2008 (thousands) |
Changes 2007/2008 (thousands) |
Per cent of employees working more than 48 hours per week 2008 |
Changes 2007/2008 (per cent) |
|
North East |
112 |
* |
10.9 |
-0.5 |
|
North West (inc Merseyside) |
297 |
+22 |
10.7 |
+0.8 |
|
Yorkshire and Humberside |
261 |
+27 |
12.1 |
+0.9 |
|
East Midlands |
264 |
+30 |
14.0 |
+1.3 |
|
West Midlands |
263 |
+22 |
12.0 |
+0.8 |
|
Eastern |
374 |
+59 |
15.5 |
+2.1 |
|
London |
536 |
+77 |
17.1 |
+2.0 |
|
South East |
490 |
* |
13.7 |
-0.3 |
|
South West |
243 |
-29 |
11.3 |
-1.5 |
|
Wales |
124 |
* |
10.8 |
-0.3 |
|
Scotland |
250 |
-17 |
11.2 |
-0.7 |
|
Northern Ireland |
63 |
* |
9.6 |
-0.2 |
|
Total |
3,276 |
+180 |
12.9 |
+0.5 |
Employees working more than 48 hours by industry
|
Industry |
Working more than 48 hours per week 2008 (thousands) |
Changes 2007/2008 (thousands) |
Per cent of employees working more than 48 hours per week 2008 |
Changes 2007/2008 (per cent) |
|
Agriculture, hunting and forestry |
42 |
* |
20.1% |
-`1.7% |
|
Mining quarrying |
38 |
* |
31.4% |
-0.7% |
|
Manufacturing |
494 |
-13 |
14.7% |
-0.2% |
|
Electricity, gas and water supply |
22 |
* |
11.1% |
-0.3% |
|
Construction |
326 |
+17 |
22.0% |
+0.5% |
|
Wholesale retail and motor trade |
369 |
+37 |
9.7% |
+1.0% |
|
Hotels and restaurants |
132 |
+10 |
11.3% |
+0.4% |
|
Transport storage and communication |
333 |
* |
19.5% |
+0.4% |
|
Financial intermediation |
198 |
+40 |
16.2% |
+3.1% |
|
Real estate, renting and business activities. |
425 |
+10 |
15.1% |
-0.1% |
|
Public administration and defence |
185 |
+26 |
9.1% |
+1.2% |
|
Education |
353 |
* |
14.0% |
-0.1% |
|
Health and social work |
212 |
+11 |
6.4% |
+0.5% |
|
Other community social and personal |
134 |
+21 |
10.8% |
+1.6% |
|
Total |
3,276 |
+180 |
12.9% |
+0.5% |
- Source: TUC analyses of National Statistics (Labour Force Survey unpublished data).
- Apparent results of less than 10,000 employees are not published and are marked with a * symbol, as they are too small to be robust.
- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
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Contacts:
Media enquiries:
Laurie Heselden T: 020 7467 1292 M: 0781 800 2877 E: lheselden@tuc.org.uk
Press release (900 words) issued 6 Jun 2008
