Employees — Little Option But To Opt-Out Under Working Hour Rules

Familiarity and compliance with the Working Time Directive is encouragingly high amongst UK private companies and the private sector, according to a recent MORI survey commissioned by Blick plc.

The survey shows that:

• Nine out of ten personnel professionals (92%) are aware that their company has a legal obligation to comply with the Working Time Directive;
• 86% say they know a great deal or a fair amount about the Working Time Directive;
• Between 89% and 99% of companies are complying with each of the individual regulations.

The survey also demonstrates that working hours have not substantially changed since the introduction of the new rules because of the large-scale use of the opt-out clause. ¹

• Over 1 in 2 staff had opted-out in 23% of companies questioned;
• On average, one in four employees had opted-out in each company surveyed;
• Opting-out is far more common in private rather than public sectors -- on average 28% of private sector employees have opted-out as opposed to 7% in public organisations;
• One in ten companies (10%) actively encourage their staff to opt-out;
• Among companies where staff have opted out, 14% said a requirement to opt-out is included in the terms and conditions of all new employees.

Mike Lee, Chief Executive, Blick plc commenting on the results of the survey said:

"The research shows there is a high level of compliance with the main regulations of the Working Time Directive. It also demonstrates strong support for the Directive amongst UK personnel professionals."

"The main area of concern thrown up by the report, is the extensive use of the opt-out provisions, which is substantially limiting the effect of the Act. Our evidence would appear to show that some employees have little choice and little option but to opt-out. This is at odds with the spirit and intention of the Act. We have shared our findings with Government and believe that our concern for the welfare of employees will be shared by Ministers."

Average percentage of workers who have opted-out of WTD

Base: All who know at least a little WTD and are complying

¹ Opting-out of the WTD is, in theory, a purely voluntary decision for employees. They can choose to "opt-out" of the Working Time Directive regulations and thereby work more than an average of 48 hours a week.

Technical Details

• Blick UK Limited commissioned MORI to examine the impact of the Working Time Directive on the small business sector in the UK.
• MORI polled 251 senior management for this survey, principally Human Resources and Personnel Directors.
• All the companies that MORI spoke to had between 50 to 1,500 employees.
• The interviews were conducted by telephone between 11th August and 13th September 2000.
• The principal aim of the research was to:
  • Establish awareness of the WTD and its individual regulations;
  • Examine the extent to which organisations are complying;
  • Assess the impact of the regulations on core working practices;
  • Explore ways of communicating changes to the WDT more effectively;
  • Provide information to predict future trends.