Removing
the right for workers to opt out of the European Working Time Directive could
be catastrophic for business, claims the CBI.
Its
survey of new research involving 400 firms reveals that a ‘significant or
severe’ impact on business would be the likely result.
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.’
“Further
restrictions on working time would be a kick in the teeth for many firms,
particularly smaller ones."
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