British Working Time is different from the Continent
For once European legislators have seen common sense. If a UK employer wants its staff to work longer hours, the employees will have the chance to do so.
After five years of tough negotiation the UK government has reused to concede the opt-out from the 1993 law limiting workers to 48 hours a week and the European parliament has finally given up the fight. The battle will be abandoned formally in May.
The chance to work overtime during a recession makes the limit less pressing anyway, but recession is the worst time for forcing firms to forfeit their flexibility in employing staff. However, while the slump might have been the straw that influenced the Brussels legislators, the principle applies at any time – employers and employees should be allowed to agree their own terms.
Trade unions are disappointed at the decision but this was not a battle against Dickensian conditions. Companies cannot compel employees to work longer hours any more than staff can demand to do overtime. But if one wants to offer it the other should be free to accept.
There is a case during a recession for work being spread thinly over a wide employment base to keep as many people as possible earning, but it is for employers – whether hospitals or retailers - to decide how to deploy their staff to meet demand.
One only has to look at France with its 35-hour week to see how working restrictions can make a country less competitive and also serve its customers less well.
But while the opt-out was fought by Britain, most of the 27 EU members have exemptions. It is those countries that have eagerly accepted the law that have made themselves less competitive and deprived willing workers of the chance to enhance their earnings. The UK government has done a good job in keeping working hours a local issue.
