CBI and TUC comment on Working Time Regulations consultation

Following the release of the government's consultation paper on the future of the opt-out from the 48-hour week rules, both the CBI and the TUC have issued statements.

The CBI welcomed the government's commitment to maintaining the right of UK employees to opt-out of the Working Time Directive and said unions should not use talk of abuse to deny UK employees the freedom to choose the hours they work.

The employers' organisation said it has published proposals to ensure that employees working long hours are genuinely choosing to do so and that firms do not breach the rules because they misunderstand the law. Measures that the CBI is considering to prevent abuse include :

• preventing the opt-out being a condition of an employment contract
  
  
• requiring opt-out agreements to state that the employee can rescind them at any time, after a reasonable notice period
  
  
• pressing for a government awareness-raising campaign so that employers and employees know their rights and responsibilities under the directive.

The TUC response was that "it's hard to take this consultation seriously" and it called for the government to stop defending the indefensible and end the UK opt out of the 48-hour working week. Some of the statistics quoted to support to TUC position are

• 3.75 million work more than 48 hours a week on average, 500,000 more than in 1992 when there was no long hours protection
  
  
• one in three people at work know that there is a 48-hour average working week limit
  
  
• one in three of those who have signed an opt-out say they were given no choice
  
  
• 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.

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...back to 9 July 2004

Sources:
www.cbi.org.uk/ndbs/press.nsf/0363c...
www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-8211-f0.cfm