Monday, 17th November 2008 - 10:30CET
Working time opt-out must stay, MEP insists
The right of workers to choose if they want to work more than 48 hours a week must be preserved, MEP Simon Busuttil insisted.
He was addressing a congress organised by the World Organisation for Workers in collaboration with Union Haddiema Maghqudin (UHM) entitled ‘Workers sold out?’.
The Employment Committee of the European Parliament recently voted to rule out the so-called opt-out and limit the weekly working hours to a maximum of 48 hours a week. This put the European Parliament in direct confrontation with the Council of Ministers which favours keeping the opt-out.
Dr Busuttil said that along with the large part of the EPP-ED group in the European Parliament, he favoured the Council position to preserve the opt-out leaving it up to individual workers to decide.
He felt that a measure of flexibility was needed to enable workers to decide if they wanted to work more than 48 hours a week, rather than deciding for them by changing the law.
“Individuals already have the right to work a maximum of 48 hour-week and it is up to them to work longer hours if they choose to do so. We should not decide for them.” he said.
On the other hand, Dr Busuttil acknowledged that the system should not be abused and employers should not be able to force employees to sign off their rights at the point of recruitment by getting them to accept to work endless overtime hours against their will. Under EU law a worker who refuses to work more than 48 hours can do so without suffering any penalties or dismissal.
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Comments
Furthermore I would like to comment on a sector of workers, who are 'forced' to work 'overtime' without pay. I am referring to many salaried staff in private enterprises who often have to work themselves to extremes due to their contract saying that overtime is included in their salary. Then their employer just stretches this clause to his own needs making them work long hours including Saturdays. I appeal to Dr. Busuttil to look into this kind of abuse by employers.
Do you recognize that the legislation would prevent workers from working any more than an average of 96 minutes overtime a day? Why should we prevent individuals from working more if there is the demand for more work, and if individuals are willing and able to? Some individuals actually enjoy their work and would like to work for longer hours. Others simply need to earn the extra income to meet their financial targets...
With the opt-out workers are NOT in any way obliged to work more. To say that there could be abuse and to propose curbing this abuse by PREVENTING extra work is like suggesting that driving a car should be made illegal on the basis that some people might drive recklessly. How unfair is such a remedy?
It happens everywhere but in particular in the hospitality/tourism sector.
It seems that you agree with Dr Busuttil that ‘the system should not be abused and employers should not be able to force employees to sign off their rights at the point of recruitment by getting them to accept to work endless overtime hours against their will’ due to ‘family values’. I see some conflicting arguments in your contribution by saying that ‘Dr Busuttil is on the side of exploiters’