Proposals published this week include the continuation of the opt-out for UK workers from the 48 hour working week ceiling. The TUC which spearheaded a campaign to have the opt-out, which exists only for the UK, removed so full legal working time protection can apply to UK workers.
Commenting on the Commission’s proposals, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, said: 'This is a disappointing decision that will satisfy no-one.' He added: 'People at work will get some slight extra protections against bosses who try to force them to opt-out of a 48 hour working week. And union members will be able to negotiate a limit to their maximum hours.' Barber said the reforms did not go far enough and 'show that the Commission has failed to grasp the scale of the UK’s long hours culture and the damage it is doing to our workforce and economy. British bosses will still be able to rely on pressuring staff to work long hours instead of adopting safe, efficient and productive working practices.' The Europe-wide working time law was introduced as a health and safety measure, because long working hours lead to high accident and ill-health rates. A new analysis from the European Foundation notes the 'proportion of full-time employees in the EU15 working excessively long hours is less than 5 per cent, with the notable exception of the UK, where the figure is more than 20 per cent.'
Guild of Security UK Ltd Director, John Haywood said "This is indeed a disapointing result by the Commission - it satisfies no one accept the employers who this legislation was originally designed to stop from exploiting their workforce.
We have argued time and time again that this legislation is completely inadequate for protecting the health and safety of the workforce. In particular, the opt-out for security personnel is completely un-warranted. Whilst there is a need to provide a 24/7 service, most responsible employers simply have to recruit more staff to reduce the number of hours their exisitng workforce have to work.
Indeed, given medical evidence available today supporting the claim that shift work carries a higher degree of risk to a number of medical conditions, not least of which are heart problems and sleep apnea, many employers are STILL rostering officers for split shifts or shifts that rotate from days to nights during each working week - such is there disregard for their employees health. Perhaps if employers really had their employees health as a consideration, they would at the very least, keep them on the same shift for a whole week."