date: 2 December 2003 embargo: For immediate release

Attention: industrial, social affairs, business correspondents

Unpublished EU report exposes working time abuse in UK

An unpublished European Union research report exposes widespread abuse of the Working Time Directive in the UK. The report was commissioned from three Cambridge University academics in the run up to the European Commission’s review of the UK opt-out. The UK is the only EU country that allows everyone at work to sign away their right to work no more than an average 48-hour average working week.

Among the abuses revealed in the report’s 13 case studies are:

• compulsory signing of opt-outs (it should be a free choice and no compulsion is permitted)

• pressure on staff to sign opt-outs

• workplaces where the law is ignored

• staff illegally asked to opt out of their rights to rest breaks and night work limits (the only individual opt-out allowed is the 48 hour average limit)

• sending new staff opt-in and opt-out forms (probably illegal as there is no need to opt in - everyone is protected unless they opt out.)

• The report ‘The use and necessity of Article 18.1(b)(i) of the Working Time Directive in the United Kingdom’ by Catherine Barnard, Simon Deakin and Richard Hobbs reports on the use of the individual opt-out through interviews with government, employers and unions and through a study of 13 anonymised companies drawn from a range of sectors where long hours working is common. The European Commission received the report in December 2002 but did not publish it. The TUC has obtained a full copy of the report.

• Opt-outs were included in the standard contract of employment that all staff sign in one of the investment banks studied. Another bank said opting-out was voluntary, but included briefings throughout the recruitment and induction process. The report says, 'An objective observer may conclude that excessive reference to the need to work long hours and the availability of the opt-out could influence employees.' Other employers had similar systems where all staff were encouraged in various ways to opt out as they start work. One health service employer has not asked anyone to sign an opt-out though 15% of its staff are working more than 48 hours on average. A hotel chain asked staff to sign a form opting out of 'regulations relating to maximum weekly working time, length of night work and rest periods'. Two companies provided opt-in forms as well as opt-out ones.

The report also reveals low productivity in companies where staff work very long hours. Managers are quoted saying:

• 'I think we get lots of unproductive time in our working week because they are so knackered.'

• 'the following week half of them go sick. So it does not always pay.'

And one company reveals that they 'have issues of stress and burnout which we manage as part of normal management process'.

While the report finds support for maintaining the opt-out from most companies, it includes:

• case studies that show that long hours can be reduced with productivity increased.

• support for ending the opt-out from responsible companies who see their competitors ignoring the rules.

• massive confusion among employers about the details of the law.

'some of these companies put out these opt-outs and they do not really need them actually if they did the averaging or used the derogations. But, the reality is that it is impossible because they do not understand it.' Engineering Employers Federation

• complaints from business organisations who say that as the current rules are so complex a straightforward 48-hour limit might be better.

'Nobody has philosophically any great problem with it … if we are talking about 48 hours we can probably live with it.' Engineering Employers Federation.

The report also finds very low levels of enforcement of working time rules. One employer says, 'There are probably loads of firms out there who just ignore it. But nobody is doing anything about them because there is no policing of it.' Another construction firm said, 'Good companies like ours comply readily whilst others ignore the regulations and get away with it at present and place their workforce at risk as a result.'

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said, 'This report only surveyed 13 employers, and they were largely put forward by trade bodies so might be expected to be above average. Yet even in this small and unrepresentative sample there is widespread abuse of the rules, straight lawbreaking and widespread confusion about the regulations. And even employers who obey the rules report that keeping them is entirely voluntary.

'Much of the long hours working appears to reflect bad work organisation and poor productivity. Staff may say they want the long hours to earn the overtime, but it is possible to work shorter hours, be more productive and still earn the same pay as workers across Europe know.

'This report confirms that the UK’s individual opt-out has blown a huge hole in working time protection. It is a key contributor to our long hours culture. Only its abolition will start to make a difference.'

TUC polling as part of the It’s about time campaign has shown that:

• Only one in three people at work know that there is a 48-hour average working week limit.

• The law is widely abused. One in three of those who have signed an opt-out say they were given no choice. (TUC poll August 2003).

• Nearly two out of three people who say they work regularly more than 48 hours a week say they have not been asked to opt out of the working time regulations. (TUC Poll August 2003). Either the law is being ignored, or the loopholes and exceptions are so great that few enjoy protection.

Notes to Editors:

- copies of the full 128 page report are available from the TUC media office

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Register for the TUC's press extranet: a service exclusive to journalists wanting to access

pre-embargo releases and reports from the TUC. Visit www.tuc.org.uk/pressextranet

- A series of TUC rights leaflets are available on our website and from the know your rights line 0870 600 4 882. Lines are open every day from 9am-9pm. Calls are charged at the national rate.

Contacts:

Media enquiries: Liz Chinchen 020 7467 1248 or 07699 744115 (pager) or email media@tuc.org.uk

Press release (1,100 words) issued 2 Dec 2003