The UK has safeguarded its right to allow workers to opt-out of European laws restricting them from working more than 48 hours a week.
Last December, the European Parliament voted to stop the UK, and other member states, from having the ability to opt out of the European Working Time Directive, a set of laws designed to protect employees from being overworked.
While unions applauded the decision to end the opt-out in 2011, business groups argued that it should be up to individuals, not MEPs, to decide how many hours they worked.
Lobbyists warned that this flexibility would prove vital for many people during the recession, and the government vowed to contest the decision.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) welcomed today’s news that the UK will maintain its opt-out powers, after negotiations in Brussels broke down.
Mike Emmott, employee relations adviser at the CIPD, said: “The British government and its allies are to be congratulated for seeing off attempts to remove the opt-out from the Working Time Directive.
“There is a strong business case for having healthy, happy and ultimately more productive and effective employees. But this doesn’t mean that employees who choose to work long hours should be prevented from doing so. Our research has shown that long-hours workers support the opt-out.”
More than three million UK workers currently take advantage of the opt-out, and it was estimated that scrapping it would cost the UK economy £66bn.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2009