Overtime

Is it true that if we join the EU, I cannot work more than eight hours overtime every week?

No. Not at all. If we join the EU, you can still work overtime. You can even work more than eight hours overtime every week.

The only difference will be that EU law will give you the right to refuse to work more than eight hours overtime every week. Today you do not have this right.

I have already discussed this issue in this column back in August 2000 and repeated this position since. Nothing has changed. Those who now claim that you will lose your right to overtime are not correct and have not understood EU law and what was negotiated on this issue. Had they been involved in negotiations - like trade unions and industry - they would have understood this issue from the start.

The EU has a specific law known as the "working time directive". This seeks to ensure that workers' health and safety is not put at risk because of long work periods, whether during the day or night shifts.

It lays down that the average working time for each seven-day period, including overtime, should not exceed 48 hours. This works out roughly at a working week of 40 hours, plus 8 hours overtime.

However, the law does not stop there. It goes on to allow EU countries "not to apply" the 48-hour-week if workers agree to do so and provided that their health and safety is not put at risk. Specifically, the law states that no employer may oblige a worker to work more than 48 hours a week "unless he has first obtained the worker's agreement to perform such work".

In other words, a worker can still work overtime. But his or her consent is needed if the 48-hour-week is exceeded.

Malta will apply this law and will also continue to allow workers to work overtime, even beyond eight hours a week.

As a result of this law, the Maltese position will change as follows: today workers can be obliged to work more than eight hours overtime per week. After membership, they cannot be obliged to do so. To work longer hours, their consent is required. Workers who refuse to work more than 48 hours may not be penalised or dismissed from work.

So if anything, EU law increases the rights of workers. It does not decrease them. This is, after all, what EU labour law is all about.

This law was also raised during negotiations. Following a survey among industry, it emerged that some companies were concerned that the right of workers to "say no to overtime" could affect their organisation of work and production.

For this reason, during negotiations, Malta obtained a transitional period to introduce this new right over a longer time frame in order to give the affected sector - the manufacturing sector - enough time to adjust. Originally, Malta requested an adjustment period of four years but later settled for two following agreement with the interested parties. The transitional period ends in December 2004 at the latest.

This means that workers in the manufacturing sectors will only get the right to "say no to overtime" after this transitional period. All other workers will get this right immediately upon membership (or before if the law is introduced before). And their right would also be defended by their trade unions.

If any confirmation was needed, in their final agreed position, EU countries said that they accepted the transitional period because they understood that it was needed to give the manufacturing sector more time to adjust when the status of overtime in Malta is changed "from a mandatory obligation at the request of the employer, to a discretionary and voluntary decision by the employee."

So it is clear that workers can still work overtime and this will not change after 2004. If anything, after 2004, the new right will be extended to all workers, including in the manufacturing sector where the transitional period was negotiated.

This simple issue was plunged into the political arena unnecessarily and workers have been scared into thinking that if we join the EU their overtime will be at risk. These claims are incorrect and coming at this crucial time a "mistake" of this magnitude is very serious.

Those who claim that overtime will be lost have either failed to read the law in full or failed to understand it or failed to understand what was negotiated. This point was thoroughly discussed during negotiations for more than a year. All those who were involved in negotiations, including trade unions and industry, understood this simple point from the start. Those who chose not to participate did not.

Malta-EU Information Centre: Tel: 25909192; Fax: 21227580; E-mail address: euinfo.mic@magnet.mt; Website: www.mic.org.mt

Readers wishing to put questions to Dr Busuttil may do so directly with the centre or through The Times.