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.
Barnard, Catherine ; Deakin, Simon ; Hobbs, Richard
2003
32
4
December
223-252
EU Directive ; legal aspect ; working time
Working time and leave
English
"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."
Paper
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