WTD vs RTD

27-05-2005

Moves are afoot in the European Parliament to extend the influence of the Working Time Directive in such a way that all workers would be subject to the 48-hour maximum working week, similar to the RTD.

The road transport industry is subject to the Road Transport Directive (RTD), which has a mandatory working week of 48 hours for all industry workers. Until now, employees in other sectors have been given the option of working longer hours if they choose to do so and sign an opt out agreement with their employers.

Spanish Socialist MEP Alejandro Cercas has suggested that the stricter RTD style rules should apply to all workers, with no opt out possible.

The European Commission has proposed that:

• Employees should not be asked to sign the opt out form at the same time as signing their employment contract;
• An employee should be able to withdraw consent at any moment;
• Where unions are recognised, they should have a veto on working weeks of more than 48 hours;
• On-call time should not be counted as working time.

The proposals have already been approved by the parliament's Employment Committee.

Brendan Barber, the TUC General Secretary said "This issue has been deadlocked for too long. The European Parliament should accept this sensible compromise. It certainly does not go as far as we would like, but it does meet the key objection from most employers who encourage their staff to sign an opt out. Employers say they need the flexibility to be able to cope with the peaks and troughs of workload. An annual average does precisely this."

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