| Long working hours erode family life { September 3 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3622084.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3622084.stm
Last Updated: Friday, 3 September, 2004, 01:38 GMT 02:38 UK Long hours 'erode family life'
Efforts to curb Britain's long working hours culture are failing and family life is suffering as a result, according to the TUC.
The TUC said more people were working longer hours than a decade ago, despite a European directive aimed at limiting the working week to 48 hours.
It claimed many people are being pressured to opt out of the ruling or were simply unaware of their rights.
Delegates will discuss the issue at a TUC conference later this month.
The TUC said an analysis of scores of calls to the charity Working Families showed almost half regularly put in a working week of more than 48 hours.
'Desperate'
As well as proving stressful for employees, time away from the family is damaging relationships.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "Excessive hours are bad news for everyone and especially damaging for workers with families."
Working Families chief executive Sarah Jackson said parents were struggling to find a balance between work and family life even on a 35-hour week.
"Callers to our helpline tell us of the desperate problems it causes when employers require them to work long hours," she said.
"Employees need the right to say no to long hours working, and employers need to recognise how much better it is for business to work smarter, not longer."
The European Working Time Directive was introduced six years ago to limit the working week to 48 hours.
'Suffering'
Mr Barber said: "Whilst ministers remain wedded to the idea of maintaining the UK's individual opt-out, the children of long-hours parents will go on suffering."
The TUC says rules introduced last year giving parents a legal right to change their hours are too weak.
Many had also asked to work flexibly but their requests have been denied.
The report contains a number of case studies.
Ewan, whose wife and sons are disabled, works in the catering trade and needs time to care for his family because his son needs to be taken to hospital for regular treatment and his wife cannot drive.
But if he takes an hour off, he is docked a whole day's pay.
Manager's curse
Beth and Carlos, who are both employed by the same supermarket chain, have a baby affected by Down's Syndrome.
They both need to work full-time to make ends meet, so one goes to work when the other clocks out.
They only have Sundays off to spend together as a family, but Carlos is being pressured into working on Sundays too.
But also high-fliers with no economic concerns suffer the consequences of long working hours.
In the UK, managers and those in control of their working time belong to a category exempted from the 48-hour week limit - it is the so-called "autonomous worker exemption".
It is this very category which, according to the TUC report, tops the unpaid overtime league in the UK.
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