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It's about time to end the long hours opt-out

Issue date

European Working Time Directive

Review of UK opt-out

November 2003

UK men with full time jobs work the longest hours in Europe. This is because the UK is the only EU country that allows every worker to opt out of the 48-hour limit on the average working week. The law is widely ignored, and only a minority know their working time rights. The EU will shortly start a review of the UK opt out. We believe it’s about time to end the opt-out and introduce a 48-hour limit on the average working week.

In the United Kingdom , 4.5 million employees work more than 48 hours a week, 25% of the workforce. Three million of them ( 68.8% ) say they want to work fewer hours, according to the Labour Force Survey. The TUC estimate that more than 350,000 of them were given no choice about signing an opt-out, and nearly three million are working more than 48 hours but have not signed an opt-out. Only 34% know that there is a 48 hour limit, according to the TUC poll.

Background

The UK opt out was negotiated by Gillian Shepherd for the last Conservative government. But the then Conservative government refused to implement the Working Time Directive. They argued that it was a social chapter measure (and therefore covered by a general UK opt-out of the social chapter), even though the Directive had been introduced by the Commission as a health and safety measure. The UK lost a subsequent European Court case, and the incoming Labour government was left to introduce the directive. They did so, but preserved the individual opt-out, the only EU government to do so for everyone at work. (A minority of EU governments allow some very specific opt-outs from small groups in the workforce, and some groups of workers are covered by other EU rules.)

What do the rules say?

The 48-hour limit is an average, not an absolute, limit worked out over a reference period. This is 17 weeks for most people, but is different for some groups. It can also be varied by collective agreement between managers and the workforce. Indeed an annual reference period can be agreed in this way.

Individuals can sign an opt-out that ends their working time protection (and can also opt back in). This is meant to be a free choice, and the law theoretically protects against intimidation. However employers appear to be able to make opting out a condition of appointment.

Not all time at work counts as working time under the regulations. While paid overtime will always count, white-collar workers doing unpaid overtime may be doing what the law calls ‘partially unmeasured working time’ which does not count against the 48 hour limit. This was introduced as an amendment to the working time regulations after employer lobbying. Only work over which an employee has no choice and would suffer detriment if they did not perform now counts as working time.

The problems with this are obvious. Few white-collar workers are given direct orders to stay at work after the ‘normal’ leaving time. It’s usually some combination of excess work, peer group pressure to ‘pull your weight’ and fear of not getting on that keeps people working regular excess long hours. Employers will claim that extra work over the 48 hours was voluntary. The regulations therefore do little to challenge the UK’s long hours culture. White collar workers have seen the biggest increase in their working hours.

What effect have the working time rules had?

It’s hard to see any great effect:

  • 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).

  • 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.

Is there government research?

Yes. A study for the DTI (http://www.dti.gov.uk/work-lifebalance/press300802.html) found:

  • 1 in 6 (16%) of workers surveyed now work over 60 hours a week compared to just 1 in 8 (12%) of all UK workers in 2000;

  • The number of women working over 60 hours has more than doubled from 1 in 16 (6%) in 2000 to approximately 1 in 8 today (13%);

  • Twice as many employees would rather work shorter hours than win the lottery;

  • Three quarters (75%) of employees currently work overtime, and of these, only a third (36%) are rewarded with extra pay or time off in lieu;

  • 7 out of 10 (72%) highly stressed workers do not have access to any formal flexible working practices;

  • The largest proportion of very stressed workers - 1 in 5 (19%) - are in their mid to late thirties

  • 1 in 5 (19%) men have visited the doctor because of stress, rising to one quarter (23%) of over 40s;

  • Nearly half of employees (48%) say that their employer will only step in to redress a work-life problem when a crisis looms;

  • Over a quarter of workers (25%) would like to get a better balance but think that their career would suffer; and 4 in 10 (40%) unstressed workers play regular sport compared to one quarter (25%) of those with high stress levels.

What do employer lobbyists say?

Employers argue that working very long hours should be a matter of individual choice. But official figures show that a big majority of those who work more than 48 hours want to work fewer hours. The official Labour Force Survey finds that two out of three of those who work more than 48 hours say they would like to work fewer hours.

Of course some need to work many hours of overtime to overcome poverty pay rates. But working very long hours is often a symptom of poor productivity and bad work organisation. Other European countries that obey the 48 hour limit, and where people work fewer hours than the UK, manage to be more productive, more prosperous and have less low pay.

Why are long hours a problem?

The original working time directive was introduced as a European health and safety measure because of the evidence that long hours were bad for people. There is continuing evidence that our long hours culture is bad for the individuals doing the long hours, their families and the rest of society.

  • 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."

  • A DTI survey of long hours working 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.

Professor Shirley Dex has just completed a major study for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (more info at http://www.jrf.org.uk/pressroom/releases/020903.asp) She found

' that today’s ‘typical’ family with dependent children is one where one parent (usually the father) works full-time and the other (usually the mother) works part-time. But while many of these ‘1.5’earner households cope with juggling work with family life, the research programme found evidence of widespread dissatisfaction among working parents:

  • More than half all fathers work more than a 40-hour week, including 30 per cent who routinely exceed the 48 hours a week limit set by the EU Working Time Directive. One in eight mothers also work more than a 40-hour week, including 6 per cent who regularly work more than a 48-hour week.

  • Employed parents are more likely to work outside the normal ‘nine to five’ than other workers. Some 53 per cent of mothers, 54 per cent of lone mothers and 79 per cent of fathers frequently work at atypical times of day.

  • More than half all fathers, and over a third of mothers work at least one Saturday a month, while a quarter of mothers and nearly a third of fathers work on Sundays.

  • Although having two earners gives families a higher standard of living and protects them against financial hardship, most working mothers say they would reduce their hours or stop working altogether if they could afford to do so.

  • She concludes: 'this research programme found a lot of tired parents, a large amount of dissatisfaction, and a desire to cut down working hours, or even give up paid work altogether. Despite the plethora of new legislation and policy on families and work - and the need for new employment laws to bed down - there are areas where the Government needs to consider further intervention alongside its targets to eliminate child poverty. Long working hours that routinely breach the EU Directive and pressure to work on Sundays and at weekends deserve particular consideration because they are areas where parents express the strongest levels of dissatisfaction.'

  • A long hours culture has wider effects on the community. The decline in voluntary activity, political party membership and activity and community groups may be due in part to people simply not having the time.
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