The UK government will try to force a solution to the ongoing saga of the Working Time Directive (WTD) before its EU presidency comes to an end on 31 December.
A source at the European Parliament in Brussels told Personnel Today that the UK would table its solution to the present impasse over how the WTD should operate at a meeting this Thursday (8 December).
The document will recommend that EU member states be able to exclude themselves from the WTD opt-out, which allows individual staff to work beyond the 48-hour limit allowed in the directive.
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It also calls for an end to the system whereby the opt-out only applies to a single contract, which allows employees to work in multiple roles under different contracts, each potentially up to 48 hours.
To counter claims that the opt-out is abused by employers, the proposal calls for a ‘cooling off’ period, so staff could only opt out after being in the job for three months.
