News: Contract Law
Employment law training: Working Time Directive opt-out remains in place
02 April 2009
The government has stood its ground on the EU Working Time Directive, meaning employees can continue to labour for more than 48 hours-a-week, those with contract law training may be interested to discover.
Differences between the European Parliament and member states have led to the decision being pushed back further, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has announced.
Pat McFadden, employment relations minister, states that the government has consistently opposed attempts to remove the opt-out clause and this continues to be the case.
He states: "We argued that everyone has the right to basic protections surrounding the hours that they work, but also the right to choose those hours."
Mr McFadden says that this method has worked successfully in the UK and a number of other countries for a long time and asserts that the government refuses "to be pushed into a bad deal".
The decision to retain existing employment law in this area has been criticised by the Trades Union Congress, which says it is "disappointed" by the resolution.
