TUC argues enforcement of 48-hour working week

The
TUC will use its annual conference in Brighton next month to push for a 48 hour
working week in line with the European Working Time Directive (WTD).

Union
leaders say Britain must abandon a ‘work ’til you drop’ culture and are calling
on the Government to scrap the opt-out from the WTD.

Currently,
employees can choose to work more than 48 hours a week if they opt out of the
directive, and business leaders want this to continue.

CBI
director general Digby Jones told BBC Online: "People should have a right
to say no to long hours, and the directive rightly gives them that protection.

"But
they don’t want unions and politicians telling them when they can work or for
how long. That would be over-zealous interference of the ‘nanny state’.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

“Further
restrictions on working time would be a kick in the teeth for many firms,
particularly smaller ones."

By Michael Millar