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'It's About Time' Campaign

The 'It's About Time' Campaign aims to put long hours and work/life balance at the top of the workplace agenda. It builds on growing evidence of long hours, greater pressure at work, and the need to introduce more flexibility to UK workplaces.

Image: TUC General Secretary, Brendan Barber, launches the 'It's About Time' Campaign at the 2003 Congress. Credit: TUC

The EU Working Time Directive sets a 48 hour average limit to the working week. The UK introduced the directive in 1998, but secured an opt-out for certain workers and industries. The European Parliament wants the UK to be compelled by the European Commission to 'come into line' with the rest of Europe.

In 2002, the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) found that twice as many UK employees would rather work shorter hours than win the lottery. Read the DTI press release on this topic.

The 2003 Labour Force Survey (LFS) found that four million people work more than 48 hours a week on average. That's 700,000 more than in 1992 when there was no long hours protection.

A TUC poll in 2003 found that only one in three people at work know that there is a 48-hour average working week limit

The 2003 TUC survey found that one in three of those who have signed an opt-out say they were given no choice. Nearly two out of three people who say they work regularly more than 48 hours a week say they have not been asked to opt out of the working time regulations. The TUC believes that either the law is being ignored, or the loopholes and exceptions are so great that few workers enjoy protection.

This case is an interesting example of how employee and employer organisations try to influence government policy in the UK and in Europe. As further research, why not go to the following Guardian article, 'CBI to stamp out abuse of 48-hour week', and find out what strategy the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) followed, as it tried to retain (as it sees it) Britain's renowned 'flexibility' in labour law.

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