EC orders UK government to enforce 48-hour week
Pubs may have to ensure that staff take proper breaks and use their full holiday entitlement after the European Commission (EC) ordered the UK government to enforce the 48-hour week.
If the directive is enforced, licensees and pub companies may have to employ extra staff to cover long hours. Barstaff who are paid an hourly rate could suffer financially, while salaried managers could be forced to job share.
Business in Sport & Leisure (BiSL) has called on the government to fight to keep its controversial "opt-out" clause, which allows staff to work longer than 48 hours a week voluntarily.
The EC has upheld a complaint from manufacturing union Amicus that the UK has "unlawfully and inadequately" implemented measures to limit working hours. Britain could now be hauled before the European Court of Justice if it does not properly enforce the Working Time Directive.
Amicus, the UK's second biggest trade union, claimed the government has been lax over enforcement. The union's submission also highlighted the issues of shift breaks and holiday entitlement. Currently, it is largely left to staff to ensure they take their entitlement. The government may now put the onus on employers to make sure staff take breaks and holidays.
BiSL chief executive Brigid Simmonds said: "The government did not take the hospitality sector properly into account during implementation. This has made the regulations impossibly complex and expensive to implement for leisure companies. It has also fundamentally affected employees' ability to earn their money as and when they choose."
BiSL is calling for a clearer definition of "autonomous worker" - those covered by the opt-out - which would cover pub managers. It will lobby to retain the UK's 48-hour opt-out, up for renewal in 2003. A survey in association with the British Hospitality Association is planned, to see how widespread use of the opt-out is in the sector.
Related stories:
Smaller pubcos fear impact of new working week regulations (2 August 2001)
48-hour working week loophole to be closed (17 July 2001)
