EC Adopts Working Time Directive Proposal

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

24 September 2004

The European Commission on Wednesday adopted a proposal to update key aspects of the working time directive.

According to the EC, the proposal represents a balanced package of inter-related measures which retains the Commission's principal objective - the health & safety of workers - while responding to the needs of the modern European economy.

Key changes introduced under the new rules would mean that:

• The individual opt-out from the 48 hour week would remain possible, but would be subject to stricter conditions to prevent abuse;
• Member States would be given the possibility to extend the reference period for calculating the 48-hour maximum working week from 4 months to a year; and
• Time spent on call that is not worked would not be counted as working time, with compensatory rest granted within 72 hours.

Unveiling the planned new rules, Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Stavros Dimas explained that:

"This proposal will address shortcomings in the present system, demonstrated in the course of its application. It is a balanced package of measures that protect the health and safety of workers whilst introducing greater flexibility and preserving competitiveness."

Responding to the announcement, employee relations adviser with the UK's Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Mike Emmott observed that:

"The commission proposal needs very careful scrutiny. While we agree that managers should not be able to force their workforce to work long hours, it is far from clear why workers, through their unions, should be able to force their managers not to work long hours."

He continued:

"The commission is in danger of finding a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. The evidence suggests that managers and professionals are at least as likely to be working long hours as employees in front line jobs."

The proposal has been made by the Commission after a two-stage consultation process which culminated in the European social partners indicating that they were unable to enter into negotiations on this issue. The proposal will now be sent to the Council & Parliament for agreement.

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