Working time opt-out to be retained
After five years of negotiations, attempts to reach agreement between Member States and the European Parliament on a revised Working Time Directive have failed, the main stumbling block being the opt-out from the 48-hour working week. In the absence of agreement the Directive as it currently stands, including the opt-out, remains in force for the foreseeable future.
The European Parliament had insisted that the opt-out be phased out as it believed that workers should not be able to opt out of health and safety legislation. However, certain Member States, including the United Kingdom, were adamant that the opt-out was of vital importance to business. It also proved impossible to reach agreement on the treatment of on-call time and its relationship with the calculation of working time.
A conciliation meeting in Brussels between the Member States, European Parliament and the European Commission was unable to resolve the long-standing differences between the European Parliament and Member States. With the deadline for reaching an agreement rapidly approaching, and the differences between the parties too great, it was agreed there was no value in continuing the negotiations any further.
The proposed revised Directive will officially fail when the conciliation period comes to an end this month. It will then be for the European Commission to decide whether to introduce a new proposal for reform of the Directive.
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said: “Millions of people are better off because of the opt-out and I am relieved we have been able to resist its removal.”
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