UK's TUC union makes case for limit on working week
Britain's TUC union today published a pamphlet setting out the case for a limit on the working week, ahead of an EU meeting on Thursday at which the British government will argue to keep the UK's opt-out from the European 48-hour maximum.
EU employment ministers meeting in Luxembourg on June 2 will discuss a European Parliament vote to end Britain's opt-out, which British Prime Minister Tony Blair has vowed to overturn.
The TUC today said the case for the opt-out rested on a series of "myths" about Britain's long-hours culture.
According to today's pamphlet, employers' organisations have wrongly claimed that long hours are not a health and safety issue; that employees are happy to work them; that bosses are simply defending workers' right to work overtime; and that the UK economy - and particularly small business - depends on people putting in extra hours at work.
But the TUC argues that evidence shows that those who regularly work more than about 48 hours per week are likely to suffer an increased risk of heart disease, stress-related illness, mental illness, diabetes and bowel problems.
They are also likely to drink and smoke more, and to adopt a poor diet.
Of those working long hours, some 58% told a Department of Trade and Industry survey last year that they would be happy if their bosses limited them to 48 hours a week, says the pamphlet.
And some 600,000 told the same survey they were pressured by their employer to work over 48 hours.
Six out of 10 long-hours workers - 2.2 million people - receive no extra pay for their overtime, according to a separate survey by the Office for National Statistics. Of the 1.4 million who were paid overtime, 1 million said they would like to work shorter hours.
And far from boosting Britain's economy, the pamphlet claims that long hours actually impede productivity.
"Long hours workers become fatigued, which leads to lower output per hour, a decline in the quality of work and more mistakes," states the document.
"The UK already works the longest hours in EU-15 (the 15 EU members prior to 2004), but we are only tenth out of 15 in terms of productivity per hour. We need investment, training and better work organisation, not more hours."
Meanwhile, the pamphlet argues that the long hours culture impedes women from promotion at work, harms family life and prevents workers getting extra training and education.
"This briefing demolishes the myths that are being peddled by the employers organisations about the effect of the 48-hour week on health and safety, worker choice and business success," said a TUC spokesman.
