Plaid Cymru Deputy Leader Jill Evans MEP has described a new report from the European Commission as a damning indictment of the British Government's attitude to workers' rights. The report - published this week - severely criticises the way the British Government has responded to the 1993 European Working Time Directive.

The UK is singled out for particular criticism for having a significantly longer working week than other EU countries and for being the only European country where the number of people working more than 48 hours a week has increased.

Jill Evans MEP, who represents the whole of Wales in the European Parliament, said:

"This report is a damning indictment of the British Government's attitude to workers. The plight of UK workers has deteriorated since the Labour government opted out of the 48 hour working week requirement.

”The Labour government's failure to improve the situation represents nothing less than a betrayal of UK workers, some 4 million of whom - or 16% of the workforce - currently work more than 48 hours a week. And the situation is getting worse not better with an increase in the number of people working over 55 hours a week.

”It is particularly worrying that people who hold down two or more jobs which combined add up to a working week of over 48 hours are not even taken into account in these figures and there are an estimated 1 million workers in this situation in the UK.

”The fact of the matter is that too many people have been working too many hours for far too long and this is totally unacceptable."

The European Commission report reveals that frequently employees are asked to agree to opt-out of the provisions of the working time rules as part of their employment contract, which the Commission says 'appears to undermine the worker's free consent'.

The report is open to consultation until 31 March and Jill Evans MEP is contacting all Welsh trades unions urging them to submit evidence of the health and social repercussions of working long hours.

The European Working Time Directive was enacted in the UK from 1996 and includes provisions for maximum working hours, rest periods and annual leave. The UK Government negotiated an opt-out of the provision for the number of hours that can be worked in a week (the 48 hour week rule) arguing that it needed to adapt gradually from the long working hours culture prevalent in the UK. This was supposed to be a voluntary agreement for individuals such as managers who wished to work more than a 48 hour week but this is blatantly being misused and is far from being voluntary.

The report can be seen here.

Diwedd/End.