Employment opt-out stalls at EU

Attempts to renegotiate an opt-out from the EU’s 48-hour working week have stalled.

Currently the EU has a directive that European workers should not have to work over 48 hours in a week.

Additionally, they should be entitled to 1 day off each week, with 11 days of assured holidays.

However, the UK is one of a small number of countries that demanded an opt-out clause when implemented, so that workers could be forced to work longer weeks if companies demanded it.

Austria had hoped to renegotiate the directive so that the UK would accept it, but the UK continues to demand that workers be allowed to work longer hours if they wish to.

Talks will continue after July under the presidency of Finland.

Although the UK’s position does have some support, what the UK government seems to completely fail to appreciate is that many low-income workers may be forced by their employers to work extra - or face losing their jobs.

So while the UK government tries on the one hand to implement poverty relief measures such as tax credits - it’s position on working practice leaves low income families forced to continue to work long hours across the week, destabilising the family home, and continue to foster the very underlying social problems it claims it is trying to address.