Working-time directive plans spark anger

By Martin Banks

Date: 23/09/04

PROPOSALS from the European Commission to revise the working-time directive have been condemned by both sides of the debate on social protection.

With a tussle expected in the Council of Ministers, neither side was happy with the proposals presented on Wednesday (22 September) by Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Stavros Dimas.

The Commission is proposing to set stricter conditions for using the opt-out from a 48-hour maximum working week. The reference period for calculating the average working week would be extended from four months to 12. Time spent on call, for instance by doctors, that is not worked would not count as working time, unless national law or collective agreements dictate otherwise, but compensatory rest must be granted within 72 hours.

John Monks, secretary-general of the European Trade Union (ETUC), accused the Commission of "failing in its duty", saying that the EU executive had "largely caved in to pressure from certain member states and employers' lobbies by making the individual opt-out more widely available and practically ending protection for on-call workers".

His counterpart on the employers' side, Philippe de Buck, general secretary of UNICE, said the proposals fell short of its requirements.

Hans-Werner Müller, secretary-general of UEAPME, the European SME employers association, said the proposal was "unsatisfactory" and Philip Bushill-Matthews, UK Conservative spokesman on employment, said it was "a charade and a disgrace".

And the Socialist group in the European Parliament threatened the Commission with legal action, saying the changes breach EU treaty rules.

The proposals for an amended Working Time Directive, presented by the European Commission on 22 September 2004, face strong criticism from European employers and trade unions, the article reports.