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EU in showdown over working time UK working time opt-out holds
(about 7 hours later)
EU employment ministers are holding crunch talks on an EU working hours law that may weaken a UK opt-out from the 48-hour maximum working week. France, Italy and Spain have barred changes to EU working time rules because the UK would have kept its opt-out from the 48-hour working week.
Amendments tabled by the Finnish government would cut the absolute maximum working week - for people using the opt-out - from 78 hours to 60. Ministers from the 25 EU countries were debating a Finnish proposal, which would have cut the maximum hours people could work, even under the opt-out.
They would also schedule a review of the opt-out, with a view to its "gradual ending" at a later date. But the deal only contained vague words about ending the opt-out in future.
States wanting to end the opt-out right have never yet had a majority. The lack of a deal means that a bid to exclude doctors' "inactive" on-call time from working hours has collapsed.
Prosecutions
Employment Commissioner Vladimir Spidla said he would now start prosecuting countries that were in breach of the directive in its original form - because of their policies on doctors' on-call time, or for other reasons.
"We need to be logical... if a country does not respect the treaty we must bring proceedings against it," he said.
"We should move as fast as possible."
It is reported that only two member states are currently fully in compliance.
The UK, as the country which has fought hardest against the amended directive over the last two-and-a-half years, could be in the front line for legal action.
Germany, which takes over the EU presidency in January, has said it will not deal with the dossier, so the issue will remain unresolved at least until July 2007.
On-call timeOn-call time
European Employment Commissioner Vladimir Spidla began the meeting by threatening to withdraw the amended bill if there was no agreement - and to start prosecuting countries in breach of the original directive.
Q&A: Working time directive It is reported that only two of the 25 member states are currently fully complying with the directive.
The UK, as the country which has fought hardest against the amended directive, would be in the front line for legal action.
The European working time directive guarantees workers at least four weeks' paid annual leave, a minimum period of 11 hours' rest every 24 hours, at least one day's rest per week, and a rest break if the working day is longer than six hours.The European working time directive guarantees workers at least four weeks' paid annual leave, a minimum period of 11 hours' rest every 24 hours, at least one day's rest per week, and a rest break if the working day is longer than six hours.
It also says night workers should work a maximum of eight hours, on average, in every 24, and entitles them to health assessments. href="/1/hi/world/europe/4536891.stm" class="">Q&A: Working time directive It also says night workers should work a maximum of eight hours, on average, in every 24, and entitles them to health assessments.
The UK has fought moves to end the opt-out, on the grounds that labour market flexibility promotes economic growth and lowers unemployment.The UK has fought moves to end the opt-out, on the grounds that labour market flexibility promotes economic growth and lowers unemployment.
Other countries, including France and Spain, argue that the opt-out is bad for workers' health, and gives the UK a competitive advantage. Other countries, including France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus argue that the opt-out is bad for workers' health, and gives the UK a competitive advantage.
However, most countries face difficulties complying with a recent European court ruling, which says that time spent at work on call counts as working time, even when the worker is asleep. However, most countries face difficulties complying with a European court ruling, which says that time spent at work on call counts as working time, even when the worker is asleep.
The amended law, both in the original form proposed by the European Commission and the form now proposed by Finland, the current holder of the EU presidency, states clearly that inactive time on call does not count as working time. The amended law - both in the form proposed by the European Commission and the form now proposed by Finland, the current holder of the EU presidency - stated clearly that inactive time on call does not count as working time.
Workers' consent In the UK, this principle is key to government plans for reform of the health service.
There have been reports that the UK may be prepared to accept the Finnish proposal if the absolute maximum working week is set at 65 or 70 hours, and if there are legal safeguards to prevent courts overturning the opt-out. Finnish proposals
Surrendering the opt-out would be equivalent to abandoning British businesses but so would allowing it to be watered down with tons more red tape Alan Tyrrell, Federation of Small Businesses Some professions, such as company executives and emergency workers, would still be exempt. Amendments tabled by the Finnish government would also have cut the absolute maximum working week - for people using the opt-out - from 78 hours to 60.
Under the Finnish proposal, a workers' 48-hour working week could be averaged out over a reference period of up to 12 months, the precise period being set by national governments. They would also schedule a review of the opt-out, with a view to its "gradual ending" at a later date.
This would enable most employers operating in markets where there are seasonal peaks to avoid violations. There were reports before the meeting that the UK might have been prepared to accept the Finnish proposal if the absolute maximum working week had been set at 65 or 70 hours, and if there had been legal safeguards to prevent courts overturning the opt-out.
The maximum working week of 60 hours, for those making use of the opt-out, would be averaged over three months. Some professions, such as company executives and emergency workers, would still have been exempt.
Workers would have to agree to opt out, and would be able to withdraw their agreement at any point in the next three months without suffering any penalty. Under the Finnish proposal, a worker's 48-hour working week would have been averaged out over a reference period of up to 12 months, with the precise period being set by national governments.
The UK Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) says the Finnish proposal would impose a huge bureaucratic burden on companies, which would be forced to submit exhaustive records of hours worked by staff. This would have enabled most employers operating in markets where there are seasonal peaks to avoid violations.
UK debate The maximum working week of 60 hours, for those making use of the opt-out, would have been averaged over three months.
"Surrendering the opt-out would be equivalent to abandoning British businesses but so would allowing it to be watered down with tons more red tape," said FSB national employment chairman Alan Tyrrell.
An FSB spokesman said the fact that Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Alistair Darling was due to attend the meeting himself, rather than sending a junior minister, was a signal that a deal could be about to be struck.
The Trade Union Council said the UK no longer needed the opt-out, because:
  • Fewer workers are now working more than 48 hours - roughly 3.3m instead of 4m eight years ago
  • Some 1.5m workers would cease working more than 48 hours per week if their working hours were averaged over 12 months
  • Up to one million "autonomous workers" such as senior managers are exempt from the restriction anyway
"This means that only 800,000 to 1m UK employees would have to make a serious change to their working patterns," the TUC said.