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The 48-hour culture
According to a new analysis by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), more than one in eight of Britain's workers now work more than 48 hours each week- the equivalent of six eight-hour days - with as many as one in six in London putting in over 48 hours per week.
While the law protects people against an average working week of more than 48 hours unless they opt out of working time rules, the TUC says that a lack of enforcement means that bad employers know that this is one employment right that they can breach with little or no risk of any consequences.
According to the TUC, good employers have responded to concerns about the need for a greater work-life balance, but the figures show that a hard core of bad employers are taking no notice of either the law or calls from government, progressive employers and unions.
The latest Labour Force Survey shows that 93,000 more people now work more than 48 hours a week, taking the total to almost three and a quarter million — 3,242,000. This is a rise to 13.1% of the workforce — up from 12.8% last year.
The biggest increases in the numbers of people working in excess of 48 hours are in the South East — an increase of 28,000 to 525,000, and London — an increase of 25,000 to 481,000. These two regions have the highest proportion of the workforce working long hours —16.1% in London and 14.8% in the South East.
The biggest increase in the share of the workforce putting in more than 48 hours took place in Wales where it went up by 1.3% to 12.2%. Only the South West and the East Midlands bucked the trend with a small fall in long hours workers.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
“These are very disturbing numbers. They suggest that the slow, but at least steady, decline in those working more than 48 hours a week has come to an end. Many employers recognise that overworked staff are unproductive by introducing more flexibility and better work-life balance, often under union pressure. But it now looks as if their efforts are being undone by those who don’t care about long hours.
“There is undoubted abuse of the law, but employers know they can get away with it because it is rarely enforced. Neither the Health and Safety Executive nor local authorities who share responsibility for enforcement have the resources to implement the law. And the government knows that employers can abuse the opt-out as ministers consulted on ways to close loopholes in 2004, but have yet to bring forward any concrete proposals for change. The current discussions on how best to protect vulnerable workers and enforce existing rights must include working time rights and closing the loopholes that make a voluntary opt-out a joke.”
The TUC says that these official figures underestimate long hours working as the sample on which the survey is based is unlikely to include a proper share of migrant workers, and excludes those who live at their place of work, such as some hotel and care staff who work long hours.
Under Europe’s working time regulations, workers are protected from working more than an average 48-hour week. But in the UK — unlike other EU countries — all workers have the 'right' to opt out of this protection.