Press Release

Men In Orkney Islands Work Longest Average Hours In UK

19 December 2005

AA accused by GMB of abusing EU hours opt out with excessive hours for patrol staff

Full time workers in the Orkney Islands work an average of 45.8 hours per week.  This puts them at the top of the UK league in for average working hours.

Other areas in the UK with average working hours for men above the average for the UK of 40.6 hours per week are:  Aberdeenshire 44.3 hours, Thurrock 43.5, Bexley 43.3, East Riding of Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire 43.1, Angus and Inverclyde 42.7 hours, Herefordshire 42.5, Rotherham and Lincolnshire 42.4. The East Midlands is the region with the longest average working hours of 41.3 per week.

The areas in the region>UKwith the lowest average weekly hours for men are:  City of London37.3, Tower Hamlets 38, Calderdale 38.4, Camden38.6, Edinburgh38.7 hours, Dundee City 38.8 hours and East Renfrewshire 38.9 hours. The UK region with the lowest average working week is London with an average working wee of 39.7 hours.

The hours worked in all twelve regions and 203 areas of the UK are available at www.gmb.org.uk.  These come from an analysis by GMB of the recently published Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings ranked from highest to lowest.

Working hours for The Automobile Association (AA) patrol staff varies and the AA are currently attempting to make overtime working compulsory. The AA calculates average hours worked for patrol staff per week over a 52-week period.  This leads to excessively long hours in some weeks in the worst possible driving conditions, i.e. bank holidays and very severe winter weather, followed by much shorter weeks to give an average over the year.

Paul Kenny, GMB Acting General Secretary said: “A long hours culture can be detrimental to workers’ long term health and increase the risk of accidents. It can also take its toll on personal relationships and family life.  It is for all these reasons that the GMB favours curtailing the opt outs to the current limit of 48 hours per week set by the European Union. 

“There is also evidence that employers like the AA, for example, are abusing the opt out to force patrol staff to drive for excessive hours to provide a service to stranded motorists and this dangerous practice must be stopped.  We must not forget that the official report on the Clapham Junction rail disaster, when 35 people died, identified the cause as excessive working hours.”

• Copyright 2008 Dod's Parliamentary Communications Ltd
• About ePolitix.com
• Stakeholders
• Contacts
• Terms & Conditions
• Blog guidelines