EU Working Time Directive?

- T-Mobile UK launches White Paper in response to EU Working Time Directive

- T-Mobile calls for shift in debate with focus on flexible working

- Win-win: Both employers and staff can both benefit from Mobile Working opportunities

August 11th 2006, London: The issue of EU working hours is becoming an increasingly pressing issue. T-Mobile UK today calls for a debate around working time to encourage staff to work more flexibly.

People should be given the mobile tools necessary to enable them to work where they want, when they want.

T-Mobile is launching a White Paper, ìTime for a Deadtime Directive?î highlighting the need to elevate the issue of flexible working onto the business agenda. The Paper looks at the standpoints on the EU Working Time Directive, and examines how a flexible approach to when and where we work, through access to mobile working opportunities, can help business productivity whilst at the same time ensuring that workers benefit from an optimum work/life balance.

The European Parliament and a number of EU states are keen that all member nations adhere to the EU Working Time Directive - a working week of no longer than 48 hours. However, the UK and other countries (including Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland) want employees to be able to work additional hours if they volunteer to do so.

With a decision regarding the UKís opt-out of the EU Working Time Directive still hanging in the balance, businesses must examine ways in which they can reduce staff working hours whilst retaining and even improving productivity. A move to adopt mobile working will assist in ensuring all goals are achieved.

T-Mobile today calls for a Deadtime Directive to encourage employers and employees alike to take advantage of mobile working practices and to be able to work where and when they work best - whenever and wherever they want to.

ìT-Mobile calls for all parties to take a fresh look at flexible working practices as a mutually beneficial solution. The UK government has recognised that a flexible workforce is a more productive workforce. However, this should not necessarily mean working longer hours for those that do not wish to, rather people should be allowed to work on their own terms and take advantage of tools that enable them to work smarter,î says Derek Williamson, Head of Business Marketing at T-Mobile UK.

The benefits of mobile working are numerous. For example, mobile working enables staff to make more effective use of their time ëdeadtimeí - be it waiting at an airport for a flight, travelling to or from work or on work business, or just simply waiting for a meeting to start. By being able to connect to the internet, email and office systems, staff can check email, continue to work on documents etc. Enabling staff to make effective use of this deadtime during the day ensures that companies can reduce the number of hours their staff have to work tied to a particular office or work location.

However, enabling staff to make use of this deadtime can also enable companies to be more efficient. Access to information on the move can prove invaluable for companies, by giving them the opportunity to respond to new business, to check the latest information before an important business deal or deal with existing customer enquiries, and do so more rapidly than organisations without these solutions. A rapid response to enquiries from potential or existing customers suggests an organisation is on the ball and able to deal with all eventualities.

ìT-Mobile is calling on businesses to embrace mobile working to enable staff to work more effectively in dead periods of the day to free up more personal time later. The growth in the range of mobile devices, services and applications is opening the floodgates for business to work almost anywhere and providing a variety of opportunities for where, when and how they can work,î continues Williamson.