A new House of Lords Sub-Committee today launched a short inquiry examining the UKís opt-out from the EU Working Time Directive.
The Chairman of the Committee, Lord Williamson of Horton, said: On average UK workers spend more time at work than those in other Member States. Why is that and who benefits most?
We recognise that employers need flexibility to meet global business challenges. We also appreciate that workers need protection from exploitation and the right to choose long hours if they want. Many people also want a better work/life balance. We need to re-examine the UKís ’opt-out’ from all these angles.
We must also investigate the implications of two recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgements which ruled that the time hospital doctors spent asleep while on-call could be counted as working time.
The inquiry aims to answer the following questions:
How is the UKís opt-out working?
How important is it to the UKís economy? What about other factors?
What are the consequences of the ECJ rulings about doctors on-call?
Is the ukís long hours work culture working?
Lords committee ask: