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date: September 4 2003 embargo: noon Sunday September 7 2003

Attention: industrial, political, newsdesks

'war on long hours culture'

The TUC is launching a new It’s about time campaign against long hours by asking people who work very long hours to call a new TUC telephone hot line or use a website to report abuses of long hours legal protection.

New TUC polling shows that one in four people who have signed an opt out from working time regulations were given no choice about opting out. Two out of three people who work more than 48 hours have not been asked to sign an opt out.

The UK is the only country that allows every worker to opt out of the Europe wide 48 hour limit on average working time. The European Commission is due to review the opt out later this year.

Employers say that working more than 48 hours a week is a matter of free choice. But the TUC poll shows many have no choice, and a new analysis of official figures shows that three out of five people who work more than 48 hours a week would like to work fewer hours.

The TUC is asking people who have been given no choice about opting out of the 48 hour limit or whose bosses ignore it to tell their stories via www.worksmart.org.uk or by calling the TUC timeline on 0870 8 500 500. Employees can also obtain information leaflets about their working time rights, including a new guide on how to opt back into working time protection.

Launching the campaign at a press conference in Brighton on the eve of congress, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

'Today we declare war on Britain’s long hours culture with the launch of the TUC’s It’s about time campaign.

'We work the longest hours in Europe, yet other countries are more productive and earn more.

'The long hours disease grips too many workplaces. European rules meant to limit working time to 48 hours a week have made little difference. More people work longer than 48 hours a week than before the working time regulations were introduced.

'Why is this?

'First, few people know their working time rights. Only one in three people at work even know there is a 48 hour limit according to a new TUC poll we publish today.

'Second, the UK is the only country that allows everyone at work to opt out of the 48 hour limit. The result is that too many employers force staff to opt out. One in four who have signed an opt out say they were not given a choice, according to the TUC poll.

'Third, because many employers ignore the law. Nearly two out of three people who work more than 48 hours a week have not even been asked to sign an opt out, according to our poll.

'But we have the chance to change this. The European Commission is to review the opt out by the end of November.

'This provides the opportunity to introduce a 48 hour average limit for almost everyone at work in the UK.

'But employers are lobbying hard, and I’m worried they are winning the battle for the government’s ear.

'Their argument is simple. They say that people should have the right to work more than 48 hours if they wish. They are trying to turn this into an issue of individual freedom.

'But their argument is wrong in fact and principle.

'Our poll shows that people are coerced into signing away their rights. But the real argument is in the government’s own authoritative Labour Force Survey. This shows that two out of three people who work more than 48 hours a week want to work fewer hours.

'So people are not making a free choice because they love their jobs so much, as employer lobbyists say. It makes as much sense to talk about freedom to work very long hours as it does to talk about freedom to work for less than the minimum wage or to work in a dangerous workplace.

'We need to persuade the government that this so called free choice is bogus. So today we are asking people to tell us their experiences of working very long hours. People can call the TUC time line 0870 8 500 500 or visit www.worksmart.org.uk to email us their story. We want to hear about people who have been forced to sign an opt out, those who have not been allowed to opt in again or those whose boss simply ignores the law.

'We also want to make people more aware of their long hours rights. We have a new leaflet that explains how to opt in to the 48 hour limit if you have opted out.

'And we know that this is not just a matter of changing the law. It needs a cultural change too.

'Unions have already won real changes in workplaces up and down the country. We welcome the changes the government has made, such as the right for parents to request flexible working and their promotion of work-life balance.

'But what makes me angry is that people cannot see that the UK’s very long hours is a symptom of something sick about our workplaces. Long hours are a symptom of badly organised, unproductive workplaces. It’s an easy way out for incompetent managers.

'We can’t end it overnight. We’re happy to negotiate and talk about phasing some of the changes we need. But my message today is clear and simple - It’s about time.

'It’s about time we ended the UK’s long hours culture.'

Long Hours Fact File

• Four million work more than 48 hours a week on average. That’s 700,000 more than in 1992 when there was no long hours protection. (Labour Force Survey - LFS)

• White collar workers have seen the biggest increase in their working hours.

• Only one in three people with jobs know that the law protects them against working more than 48 hours a week. (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)

• One in four who have signed an opt-out say they were given no choice about signing away their rights. (TUC poll)

• Three out of five of those who work more than 48 hours say they would like to work fewer hours. (LFS).

• Full time employees in the UK work the longest hours in Europe. The average for full timers in the UK is 43.5. In France it’s 38.2 and in Germany 39.9, yet both are more productive than the UK.

• Long hours are damaging family life. Four out of five mothers whose partner works more than 48 hours a week wants them to work fewer hours. (Joseph Rowntree Foundation.)

• The 2003 Stressed Out survey by the Samaritans, the UK emotional support charity, found: "People's jobs are the single biggest cause of stress… with over a third (36 per cent) of Briton's citing it as one of their biggest stressors."

• DTI research found 16 per cent of the workers surveyed - 1 in every 6 workers - were working over 60 hours a week, compared to just 12 per cent, or 1 in 8, of all UK workers in 2000.

• Overwork is definitely making us sick - the DTI survey found one in five men (19 per cent) had visited the doctor because of stress, rising to one quarter (23 per cent) of over 40s.

A separate release reports in more detail the poll findings and analysis of the Labour Force Survey. Details of working time rights can be found at www.worksmart.org.uk.

Notes to Editors:

- 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 8am-10pm. Calls are charged at the national rate.

Contacts:

Media enquiries: Liz Chinchen on 020 7467 1248, 07699 744115 (pager), mobile 07778 158175 or email media@tuc.org.uk

Ben Hurley on 07626 317903 (pager) or 07881 622416 (mobile)

TUC press office in Brighton 01273 823525

Press release (1,500 words) issued 7 Sep 2003