Long Hours TUC Article
The UK's long hours problem
Why are long hours a problem? Regularly working more than 48 hours per week can lead to serious health and safety problems. Long hours can also lead to low productivity, squeeze out education and training, play a big part in excluding women from certain jobs, and put pressure on family life and parenting. Long hours workers have no chance of achieving a decent work life balance.
Most people in the UK do not work excessive hours. However, some 3.6 million people regularly work more than 48 hours. In the UK 1 in 7 employees work long hours. This is much higher than the average for the EU-15 counties, where the figure is just 1 in 17.
The health and safety risks
Long hours are a very real hazard. W orking excessive hours increases the risk of injury and mortality, heart disease, stress, depression, diabetes mellitus, serious headaches and bowel problems. Excessive hours are likely to lead to increased smoking and drinking and to a poor diet. They also squeeze the time available for family life, which can undermine general wellbeing (see links).
The European Union has set a minimum standard of a 48-hour average weekly working time limit but, uniquely, the UK Government allows everybody to opt-out of the limit. The Governments own study found widespread abuse (see evidence).
It cannot be right that health and safety legislation should be optional, not least because mistakes and accidents stemming from fatigue can also affect others. The opt-outs would therefore be indefensible even if every worker were genuinely exercising their free choice. However, there is mounting evidence that employers abuse the directive and put pressure on workers to sign away their rights.
Long hours, productivity and business success
Although UK workers work the longest hours in the EU-15, 3 hours per week more than the average, UK labour productivity is only 95% of the EU-15 average, and our ranking is just 10th out of 15.
Long working hours have hampered the achievement of high productivity in the UK. Too many employers have tried to use long hours as a substitute for improving work organisation or investing in training and new technology. As working time fell during the last few years our economy has improved and productivity has risen.
Long hours businesses are hampered by the increased costs caused by:
- the loss of productivity caused by fatigue;
- poor quality work and a large number of errors;
- more ill health and absences amongst the workforce; and
- by increased turnover and the smaller recruitment pool available to long hours employers.
Sadly the UK Government is still choosing to ignore all the evidence on working time, including the Trade and Industry Select Committee report, which says that: 'we are not convinced of the necessity of maintaining the opt-out'. (See evidence)
Lifelong learning
Those who work more than 48 hours per week have little time left for education and training. This often sets up a vicious circle of underinvestment and low skills that perpetuates the use of long hours.
A TUC poll conducted in May 2005 showed that almost one in three of the workforce - more than 8 million employees - say that long hours or stress have stopped them taking up some training or education in the last three years.
Women workers and the glass ceiling
Only one in five long hours workers are female (Source: ONS Labour Force Survey Microdata Service).
The position is even worse in the 'better jobs'. Only 15 per cent of long hours managers and 3 per cent of skilled manual workers are female.
These figures are striking; unfortunately there is still a widespread expectation that women will bear the brunt of childcare and domestic work. In some cases, long hours employers turn women down, in other cases; women are simply unwilling or unable to work long hours.
Research commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry confirms that 'in organisations characterised by systemic long hours working, women's careers may be restricted'.
The TUC's view is simply that any employer that demands excessive hours automatically discriminates against women by reinforcing the glass ceiling and gender segregation.
Families and parenting
The detrimental effect of long hours on parenting causes the TUC considerable concern. Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (see evidence) found that:
- long working hours have a negative impact on families.
- fathers in professional and managerial jobs were least likely to be involved in the care of their children.
- long hours for either fathers or mothers are associated with less involvement in children's activities and the frequent disruption of family activities.
- 4 out of 5 mothers whose partner works more than 48 hours want them to work fewer hours.
Ending the long hours culture
The UK has now started to move away from excessive hours. The number of employees regularly working more than 48 hours per week has fallen by 400,000 in the 6 years since the Working Time Directive became law.
The problem is that the rate of progress is far too slow. The UK Government could end the long hours culture at a stroke simply by changing the law and ending the opt-outs.
The European Commission is currently reviewing the directive. It is certain that the UK will be forced to tighten working time law at some point during the next few years, but UK workers should not have to wait for Europe to come to their rescue.
Most employers are too sensible to rely on long hours. More and more companies have come to realise that long hours are counter productive. This applies even in the industries where long hours have been widespread. For example, the contractors building Heathrow Terminal five were given the job on the basis that their workers would not break the 48-hour limit.
In fact, a large number of companies have moved away from long hours during the last few years, including ACC Transport, Arla Foods, British Gas, British Nuclear Group, British Telecom, Jaguar Land Rover, McVities, Rolls Royce and Transco (see also Changing Times)
Some public sector bodies are also working to eradicate long hours. For example, the health service is planning to reorganise hospital working patterns to do away with the opt-out altogether. The TUC has also helped a number of public sector bodies to reorganise their working time Bristol City Council report.
We can certainly do away with the need for long hours if we work together through our unions. The TUC's Changing Times process is a proven step-by-step guide to changing working time. The TUC and its member unions use Changing Times on a regular basis.
Moving away from long hours usually requires better work organisation and often requires a rethink on investment and training. As a result, employers usually gain increased productivity and often gain flexibility and extended hours of operation, whilst workers usually gain by having their hours reduced either with no loss of pay or at least with a reduction in hours that is greater than their loss of pay.
Changing working patterns usually results in more flexibility for workers as well. Workers increasingly want more control over their hours and patterns of work - nearly 1 in 2 say that they would like to change their current hours. Moving away from long hours can create the space to introduce new working practices such as flexitime. Both the availability and take up of flexible working practices have increased in recent years.
The best results have been achieved where employers work together with the employees and their trade unions to solve their working time problems.
TUC reports
Health
'Overtime and Extended Shifts: Recent Findings on Illnesses, Injuries and Health Behaviours' US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, April 2004. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2004-143/pdfs/2004-143.pdf
' Working time: Its impact on safety and health', Anne Spurgeon, International Labour Organisation, 2003 http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/condtrav/pdf/wtwo-as-03.pdf
'Working Long Hours', Health and Safety Laboratory, HSE, 2002 http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/hsl_pdf/2003/hsl03-02.pdf
Abuse of the opt-out
'A survey of workers' experiences of the Working Time Regulations', DTI EMAR Study 31, 2004
http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/emar/errs31.pdf
Long hours and business
House of Commons Trade and Industry Select Committee Report #7, 'Labour Market Flexibility and Employment Regulation', 2005. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmtrdind/90/9002.htm
Families
S.Dex, 'Families and Work in the 21st Century', Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2003
http:www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/ebooks/1859350968.pdf
Women workers
Office of National Statistics Labour Force Survey Microdata Service www.statistics.gov.uk/about/NS_ONS/ONS_microdata_releases.asp
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