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Mixed progress on agency and hours laws

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Mixed progress on agency and hours laws

The UK government will keep its opt-out from the European Union's 48 hour weekly work ceiling, but has agreed a series of improvements to working time rules. A meeting of the EU's Employment and Social Affairs Council also reached an agreement on the agency workers directive, which provides new protection for temporary workers. The UK agency workers' rights will be based on an agreement struck last month by the government, the CBI and the TUC (Risks 357). TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the deal agreed this week by EU ministers, which now goes before the European Parliament, 'adds up to good news for people at work in the UK. The agreement on agency work is a major step forward in delivering a fair deal at work for UK agency workers and a real breakthrough on an issue that has been stalled at EU level for many years.' He added: 'While we are disappointed that the UK opt-out on the 48 hour working week remains, there has been real progress on other working time issues. Employers will no longer be able to put pressure on staff to sign away their working time protection for four weeks and there will be an absolute limit of a 60 hour average week for most of the workforce - affecting more than 400,000 workers. All these measures have been opposed by employer lobby groups. Nor has the UK government won a permanent opt-out, despite its energetic campaign. The opt-out will be reviewed again in the future. While there will need to be detailed negotiations, and attention to the small print, the EU has once again proved an important route to better working conditions and employment rights.' The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the Socialist Group of MEPs in the European Parliament have both said they will challenge the working time compromise. Socialist Group spokesperson Stephen Hughes described the deal as 'a setback for Europe', adding: 'This is a health and safety law - and as a point of principle there should be no room for an opt-out.'

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