Business backing work life balance

More than three in five human resource professionals have given their backing to European Union measures which aim to restrict company employees’ working hours to a maximum of 48 a week.

A survey carried out by Croner, one of the UK’s leading providers of business information, advice and support, found that 61 per cent of respondents thought their employers should not be able to ask employees to
work more than the set limit of hours.

The survey, carried out via Croner’s www.humanresources-centre.net website, comes as the EU is investigating the UK’s opt out clause on the Working Time Directive, which, in the UK has allowed employees to opt out from the 48
hour weekly working limit since the Directive came in to force in October 1998.

Employment law expert at Croner, Richard Smith, says: It’s perhaps surprising to find that a large proportion of businesses we surveyed are happy to see a wholesale limit imposed on the length of time they can ask their employees to work.

A lot of companies tell us they feel they need to be able to ask certain essential staff groups to work more than the suggested maximum number of hours in order to keep the business viable.

ìHowever, our survey also shows that many firms are increasingly keen to support the rights of employees to go home at a reasonable time and enjoy their private life.

This a positive indication that work-life balance is being taken seriously by employers, and there is a strong case to say it could make employees more productive and motivated.

Richard comments that, even if employers had this right, they would need to think carefully about whether it would be the right way for them to get the results they want.

He continues: UK workers already average the longest working hours in the EU, and giving employers the right to ask their staff to work more than the statutory number of hours could make staff feel like they have no option but
to agree.

Even if employers aren’t consciously exerting any pressure and would accept workers rejecting the request, employees could easily feel that would lose status within the company if they didn’t agree and would look uncommitted in front of both bosses and colleagues.

The subsequent fear might then be that if, in the future, a downturn in business meant that redundancies were necessary, the employee’s refusal to agree to work longer hours would be remembered and they would be first in
line for being let go.

The Directive does state that the 48 hour week should be ’on average,’ and employees are usually aware that, in today’s business world, a degree of flexibility can be required to ensure business success. They know that,
occasionally, they may need to put extra hours to get an important job done and are usually happy to do so.

Croner often receives calls to its helplines from employers concerned if employees can be expected to work longer than their contracted hours.

Hours of work should clearly be stated in the contract of employment, but employers can stipulate in the contract that flexibility of working hours may sometimes be required. We would also advise employers to possibly
stipulate maximum weekly working hours in the contract.

It will be interesting to see whether employees will continue to be able to opt out of the Working Time Directive. In any case, we would advise employers to keep a record of the hours employees are working and assess
whether this could be reduced through careful management.

If the requirement for extra hours becomes a regular or permanent occurrence, it could indicate that employers need to reassess their staffing needs or working procedures.