Weakening of Working Time opt-out would send wrong signal, says IoD

Plans by the European Commission to scale back the opt-out from the Working Time Directive came in for criticism from the Institute of Directors (IoD) today.

Responding to policy proposals published by the European Commission today, the IoD said that the plan would undermine businesses at a time when policy-makers should be looking to boost the EU's competitiveness in the global economy.

The 'Communication' published by Employment Commissioner Anna Diamanantopoulou indicates that EU law may be changed so that fewer employees qualify for the opt-out in future.

The IoD's Parliamentary and European Adviser, James Walsh, said:

"If Europe is to compete in global markets, we should be looking to make our

economy more flexible, not less.

"Undermining the opt-out from the Working Time Directive would send the worst possible signal. It would show that the EU is still opting for state regulation of labour relations when the 21st Century way is to build modern partnerships between employers and employees.

"We have no objection to the Commission checking that the law operates as intended, but we are concerned that the real objective of this review is to reduce the number of employees to whom the opt-out is available.

"A recent IoD survey of Human Resources Directors showed that the Working Time opt-out is widely used and that removing it would increase business costs. "

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