10 November 2008
Jocelyn Dorrell

The opt-out from the 48-hour working week should be removed within three years, according to a majority of MEPs in the European Parliament's employment and social affairs committee.

On 5 November, members of the committee voted by 35 votes to 13 to limit the maximum working week to 48 hours and to eliminate the Working Time Directive's "non-participation clause" - which lets member states disregard the limit under certain conditions - three years after the revised Directive comes into force.

The vote puts the committee at odds with the European Council of Ministers, which decided in June that the opt-out from the 48-hour week should remain, with a 60-hour ceiling.

The UK has had an opt-out from the maximum working week since the European Commission passed the first Working Time Directive in 1993. The Directive was finally implemented into UK law five years later, after the Conservative government's arguments that working time was not a health and safety issue - and therefore not subject to EU regulation - were rejected (in 1996).

Unions and other bodies have long argued that the opt-out provision is open to abuse, allowing unscrupulous employers to pressure workers into giving up their rights. They also point to evidence of the detrimental effect of long hours on workers' health. But business leaders have fought strongly to retain the opt-out, saying that it grants employers and employees much-needed flexibility.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber welcomed the committee's vote, arguing that the opt-out has shored up a long-hours culture in the UK and risked the health of many workers.

"Regularly working more than 48 hours increases the chance of suffering from heart disease and stress-related illness, as well as diabetes and other ailments," said Barber.

"The vast majority of long hours workers want to move to a better work-life balance and are hungry for change. [The committee's] vote is a welcome step towards ending the opt-out and the pressure will now be on the European Parliament to ratify the decision next month."

But CBI deputy director-general John Cridland said the vote "by a small number of politicians is worrying because it shows how out of touch they are.

"Currently, people can work more than 48 hours a week if they choose. In hard times, they can do extra hours to support their family. In a company fighting for survival, they can go the extra mile. People in medical research can work longer if they wish. The proposals would end this, replacing freedom with frustration.

"We think people can look at their own circumstances and make their own decision about working longer hours."

MEPs and the European Council will now enter negotiations to try to reach a compromise before the European Parliament votes on the amendments in December.

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