MEPs want to end 48hr opt-out

BRITAIN’S OPT-OUT from the EU’s 48-hour maximum working week has come under renewed threat, following this week’s vote by Euro-MPs to do away with the special derogation.

According to the European parliament, the opt-out is a “flagrant contradiction to the objectives of the Working Time Directive” and a risk to the health and safety of workers.

It should be abolished as soon as possible.

But farm leaders have warned that an end to the opt-out would spell disaster for many farmers dependent on hired labour.

“The whole thing is a nonsense,” said NFU employment spokesman Bob Fiddaman. “We could not survive if we had to abide by a 48-hour maximum.”

This is despite the fact that the new proposals also allow the hours worked to be averaged out over a 12-month period, rather than the six months that currently applies.

“On our combinable crop farm that would give sufficient leeway for our regular staff who, over a full year, work an average 41-42 hours a week,” said Mr Fiddaman.

“But for temporary staff, their hours have to be worked out over the period of their employment, which may just be for a few weeks at harvest time.”

There is no way they could achieve a 48 hours/week average, or even the 65-hour maximum for any one week, which is also on the table in Brussels.

Dairy farmers would also struggle, since milking is a seven-day-a-week job and full-time herdsmen currently average 51 hours/week throughout the year, Mr Fiddaman added.

These views were echoed by several MEPs in their debate in Strasbourg on Tuesday (May 10).

UK Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies said blanket controls from Brussels would only serve to bolster Euro-scepticism in the UK and would drive people into the “black economy”.

Conservative MEP Philip Bushill-Matthews added that it was not for out-of-touch politicians to decide how long people should work for, when many wanted to put in longer hours to boost their incomes.

But Labour MEP Stephen Hughes, said “opening the door to a universal opt-out is in reality the path to a long-hours economy”.

He was one of 339 MEPs who voted to end the opt-out, compared with 268 who wanted to keep it.

The review of the Working Time Directive will now be sent to EU member states.

If they oppose the European parliament’s amendments, the dossier will return to the European parliament for a second reading.