Opting Out Of The 48-Hour Week – Employer Necessity Or Individual Choice? An Empirical Study Of The Operation Of Article 18(1)(B) Of The Working Time Directive In The UK

Catherine Barnard, Simon Deakin and Richard Hobbs

Working Papers from Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge

Abstract: The EU Working Time Directive has so far had little impact on an ingrained culture of long-hours working in the UK. Case studies suggest that the use of individual opt-outs from the 48-hour limit on weekly working time is a principal reason for this. However, removal of the individual opt-out (currently under consideration at EU level) is unlikely to make much difference to UK practice in the absence of a wider review of working time policy. In particular, the UK’s individualised system of workplace bargaining is currently ill-placed to adapt to a continental European model of working time regulation.

Keywords: working time; labour standards; collective bargaining; European Union (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J53 J81 K31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004-04
Note: PRO-2
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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