Employment

B P Collins Solicitors: talk to the experts

Gerrards Cross: +44(0) 1753 889995
Beaconsfield: +44(0) 1494 675363

Brits can still opt out of Working Time Directive

11 June 2008

Workers in the UK can continue to opt out of the Working Time Directive and work more than 48 hours a week following the agreement of the European Commission.

Employees who do opt out will have a cap of 60 to 65 hours a week, averaged over three months, instead.

Business secretary John Hutton welcomes the agreements, which will have to go through the European Parliament before coming into force.

He says the agreements provide the right way forward for Europe.

"They deal fairly with the long-standing concern of many member states, including the UK, and they represent the best obtainable balance between the need for fair treatment for employees and flexibilities for employees," he says.

Contract workers on arrangements of less than ten weeks will be able to opt out of the 48-hour week immediately and permanent employees must wait four weeks.

The new agreement also addresses the issue on on-call time for people such as medical staff.

At the same time an agreement was reached on agency workers receiving equal treatment after 12 weeks in a job.

Currently any agreement to work more than 48 hours a week must be made in writing and although there is no legal right to pay for working extra hours, average pay must not fall below the minimum wage.

Andrew Haywood, associate in the employment practice, comments: "It will be a relief to employers that workers can continue to opt out of the 48 hour week.

"However, employers must ensure that they always keep accurate and up to date records of the working hours of opted-out workers."