JD wrote:
said Tom Flanagan
Oh no, not another one.
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| EU Parliament vote on working hours opt-out, meaningless http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10363 |
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| Author: | JD [ Thu Jan 01, 2009 7:14 pm ] |
| Post subject: | EU Parliament vote on working hours opt-out, meaningless |
UK will save its 48-hour opt-out, says employment lawyer OUT-LAW News, 17/11/2008 The European Parliament has voted to end the UK's opt-out of laws banning people from working for more than 48 hours a week, but a leading employment lawyer has said that the opt-out is likely to remain in place. "My message to businesses is: don't panic," said Tom Flanagan, an employment law expert at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM. "This was an opinion of the European Parliament. It is not a decision of the Council of Ministers, so it's not yet a removal of the UK's opt-out." The European Union's Working Time Directive says that employers cannot ask people to work for more than 48 hours a week, but the UK won the right to opt out of that provision. EU authorities have been discussing whether or not to extend the 15-year exemption. The UK Government is keen to retain the opt-out, believing that it suits the UK's work culture, which generally involves longer hours than that in other EU member states. Though the Parliament's vote is a blow to the Government's desire to keep the opt-out in place, Flanagan said that it is not the final word on the issue. "The Council of Ministers will have to knock out a deal early in the New Year and while we may lose the opt-out, I don't think that our European partners would do that to us," said Flanagan. "The Czech Republic is taking over the presidency and they are eurosceptic so are not likely to follow this kind of line." The EU's 27 member states have until May to agree a deal through the Council of Ministers, but if they fail to do so the new agreement will fail and the status quo, including the opt-out, will remain in place. The Government believes that the opt-out makes the UK economy more productive. Think tank Open Europe has said that ending the opt-out would cost the UK £57 billion between now and 2020, more than £2,300 per household. Business lobby group the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) condemned the vote. "This vote is misguided. Trying to ban people from choosing to work more than 48 hours a week is a mistake, and would replace opportunity with obstruction," said CBI deputy director general John Cridland. “Many people want to work longer hours, in professions ranging from manufacturing to medical research," he said. "They do so to further their careers or earn extra money, or to help their firm through difficulties. They should be able to do so if they choose." Flanagan, though, said that he believes that workers will still be able to choose to work longer hours even if the opt-out is lost. "It would become unlawful to put a clause into a contract which makes a person opt out of this," he said. "But if someone wanted to work longer, they could. They just couldn't be required to." Flanagan also said that the working week is measured over such a long period that very few jobs would actually currently count as lasting longer than 48 hours in a week. "The measurement is over a 17-week period. People are talking as if this affects many people, but there are not that many jobs where you do those hours over such a long period," he said _____________________________ |
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| Author: | wannabeeahack [ Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:14 pm ] |
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bring back slavery too why dontchya if the job aint paying why do it? if a business cant pay a decent wage in 39 hours whats the point? |
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| Author: | toots [ Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:52 pm ] |
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Some jobs do pay a decent wage for 39 hours but some people choose to work longer hours because they enjoy it or they prefer to be at work earning overtime or extra cash. It's all about choice. You should be able to earn enough money to live on with regular hours but it should be your choice to work longer if you want to and it's safe to do so |
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| Author: | bloodnock [ Fri Jan 02, 2009 1:16 am ] |
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toots wrote: Some jobs do pay a decent wage for 39 hours but some people choose to work longer hours because they enjoy it or they prefer to be at work earning overtime or extra cash. It's all about choice. You should be able to earn enough money to live on with regular hours but it should be your choice to work longer if you want to and it's safe to do so
My sentiments enitirely... |
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| Author: | GBC [ Fri Jan 02, 2009 2:09 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: EU Parliament vote on working hours opt-out, meaningless |
JD wrote: said Tom Flanagan
Oh no, not another one.
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| Author: | wannabeeahack [ Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:09 am ] |
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safety is the main point here, and it isnt what hours YOU feel you can work safely that take precedence, because that means working till you cant just to find the edge of the envelope. a coffee and pro-plus arent enough to ensure passenger safety, proper legal driver and rest rules are. |
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| Author: | brightonbreezy [ Fri Jan 02, 2009 4:25 pm ] |
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wannabeeahack wrote: safety is the main point here, and it isnt what hours YOU feel you can work safely that take precedence, because that means working till you cant just to find the edge of the envelope.
a coffee and pro-plus arent enough to ensure passenger safety, proper legal driver and rest rules are. These regulations will come, the point is, shall we be part of the rule making process or let other people decide what is best for us! Regards BB |
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| Author: | bloodnock [ Fri Jan 02, 2009 6:06 pm ] |
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wannabeeahack wrote: safety is the main point here, and it isnt what hours YOU feel you can work safely that take precedence, because that means working till you cant just to find the edge of the envelope.
a coffee and pro-plus arent enough to ensure passenger safety, proper legal driver and rest rules are. well.I can happily do 10 hours seven days a week as self empoyed for weeks on end if needed, and im not in least bit tired......thats 22 more hours than the EU directive... Luckily the directive only targets employees..but the easy work-a-round here is take on staff as self employed...its not rocket science. |
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