A business lobby group has slammed a European Court of Justice ruling that deemed the UK government was breaking the Working Time Directive.
The Forum of Private Business (FPB) said the judgement was “out of touch with the real world” after the court decided that the government was failing to force employers to five staff rest breaks between shifts.
Under the Working Time Directive, a European Union-wide employment law, workers are restricted to a certain amount of hours each ours, with designated rest periods.
Businesses are required to allow at least 11 hours between ending work one day beginning the next, plus a weekend break of at least one day plus 11 hours. Judges sitting in Luxembourg ruled that the laws were not being applied properly in the UK.
But the FPB said that the ruling was “needless nick picking” by bureaucrats.
Nick Goulding, the group’s chief executive, said that he didn’t want to see employees overworked, but that in reality agreements between staff and bosses will determine when breaks occur.
“The ruling implies that employers must enforce breaks irrelevant of whether it is in the interest of the worker or the business, something that just isn’t practical.
“It’s not possible for small business owners to stand watch over all their staff all the time, checking that they aren’t putting in extra hours that contravene these regulations.
“The most productive of working environments are always going to have an element of flexibility, the duty of the employer should be to ensure that breaks are available for staff in accordance with the Working Time Directive and that staff should fell able to take them,” he said.
© Crimson Business Ltd 2006
