29-11-2007
New concern over country's culture of long hours
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Britain's business culture is leaning towards employees working longer and longer hours, it has been claimed.
Data highlighted by the UK's Trades Union Congress (TUC) shows that while one out of every six workers in London works more than 48 hours every week, Britons elsewhere fare little better at over one out of every eight.
Although protection from working over excessively long periods does exist in the form of Council Directive 93/104/EC - better known as the European Working Time Directive - within the UK, this protection is lessened by the provision that allows Britain-based workers to opt out.
"Many employers recognise that overworked staff are unproductive by introducing more flexibility and better work-life balance, often under union pressure," said Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC.
"But it now looks as if their efforts are being undone by those who don't care about long hours," he added.
In 2005 the BBC reported on a study by the University of Massachusetts, which found that those engaging in work for long periods of time were more likely to experience injury or episodes of illness.