Citation
(2004), "Not amicable", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 53 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijppm.2004.07953cab.004
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2004, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Not amicable
The UK government must end the UK Working Time Directive opt-out and stop the UK’s long hours culture, according to Amicus, the UK’s largest private-sector union.
Thousands of UK workers are exceeding the European statutory 48 hour working week because of the UK’s opt out but the exemptions expired at the end of last year. For some time, Amicus has been pressing for the European Working Time Regulations to be implemented fully in the UK and for the opt-out to be lifted but the CBI and other employer groups are lobbying hard for the opt out to remain.
Over four million people in Britain still work over 48 hours a week and one in five UK workers work more than 60 hours a week.
The European Working Time Regulations were introduced in the UK in 1998, but the UK was the only EU member to allow all workers to opt out of the 48-hour weekly working limit. As a consequence, 71 per cent of larger companies inserted opt-out clauses in their terms and conditions of employment and the number of people working longer hours has actually increased in the UK has actually increased since the introduction of the Working Time Regulations.