Britain's Labour Government could face legal action for its failure to prevent the country's workers being exploited through working too many hours. The rare move comes following a key vote in the European Parliament that slammed the 'widespread and systematic abuse' in the UK of the rules to prevent people being overworked. The British Government could now face an infringement procedure from the European Commission.

The Plaid Cymru Deputy Leader Jill Evans MEP was amongst the Euro-MPs who supported action against the British government at a meeting of the European Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs Committee in Brussels. Euro-MPs were looking at how well countries were implementing the Working Time Directive, designed to prevent unscrupulous employers overworking their staff and specifically to outlaw employers from forcing workers to work more than 48 hours a week.

Speaking after the meeting, Jill Evans MEP said,

"This is a serious blow to the UK Labour Government's credibility on defending workers rights. Indeed recent reports have shown that British workers are working longer hours now than ten years ago with an increase in the number of people working over 55 hours a week as well. The European Commission must not delay in taking action.

"The Labour government have had long enough to sort this out. If they fail to act to protect workers from exploitation then they must be forced to act. This move is not an assault on competitiveness but an attack on worker exploitation. Too many people in the UK have been without adequate protection for too long and this must stop."

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.

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