The 48-hour working week may soon be set in stone if Europe rules to remove the opt-out clause. Jackie Annett investigates how this will affect the trade.
Most of us would love to spend less time at work. Given a choice between the workplace and spending time at home with the family and kids or with friends, the latter would almost always win hands down.
But is this practical and could we all be spending less time at work in the future?
Well the European Commission seems to think so. At present the Working Time Directive, which came into force two years ago, stipulates that nobody should be forced to work more than 48 hours a week and employees can only work longer if they sign an opt-out clause expressing their wish to do so. However, this could all be set to change. Come November, the European Commission will be considering proposals to remove the opt-out clause from the directive. This will mean nobody can work longer than 48 hours - whether they wish to or not.
Their aim is to create a better work/life balance and stop companies from pressurising their employees to work all the hours God sends.
But there is another side to the coin. Not only would such a move force wage costs up for many pub operators, it could also crucify many low paid workers who need to work more than 48 hours to make ends meet.
The pub trade would be one of the worst casualties. Many licensees would love to work for just 48 hours a week, but in reality they tend to work for twice as long, opening up for deliveries as early as 5am and sitting down for a drink themselves at around 2am, when the last customers have been thrown out and the pub has been cleaned.
And if pubs take advantage of extra hours under the new Licensing Bill then they may have to work even longer still.
It's important to note, however, that the law will not affect tenants and freetraders who are self-employed but they will have to safeguard their pub staff who, along with managers, will be bound by the new regulations.
Managed houses will be the worst hit. The Publican's Market Report 2002, a survey of 750 licensees, found that 85 per cent of managers work above the 48-hour limit, with 26 per cent claiming to work in excess of 91 hours.
Abolition of the opt-out clause will affect managed house operators who will be required to recruit extra staff and implement workable rota systems.
There is, however, better news with pub employees. Only six per cent of full-time barstaff worked more than 48 hours.
Tony Payne, chief executive of the Federation of Licensed Victuallers' Associations, said: "The law will affect business and workers. What about someone who wants to work extra hours because they are looking to buy a house - will they not be allowed to work over-time to save up the extra money?
"It will affect a lot of employees because there are quite a lot that breach the hours, not just the workers but the company executives as well.
"Those people who hold down two jobs maybe because they want to give their kids the best start in life, will also be affected by the directive."
But the National Association of Licensed House Managers (NALHM) is working hard to persuade companies to implement schemes so that they adhere to the Working Time Directive. Although it believes it will be difficult at first it sees no reason why such a scheme would not work in practice.
Peter Love, national officer for NALHM, said: "We are looking at the Working Time Directive as it applies to licensed house managers. We've been through the regulations already with Six Continents, Scottish & Newcastle Retail, Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries, SA Brain and Hardys & Hanson and hopefully in the next three months we'll have Laurel on board as well."
NALHM agrees that the opt-out clause should be abolished. "It will be huge and will fundamentally change the way the industry works but there's absolutely no reason why it can't be done," Mr Love said. "JD Wetherspoon manages it," he added.
JD Wetherspoon implemented a 48-hour working week about six years ago - long before the European Commission became involved.
Eddie Gershon, spokesman for JD Wetherspoon, said: "It has been very successful. We figured that if our managers worked 48 hours a week rather than 70 we would get much better work out of them."
Many employees who feel they are pushed to do extra hours by their companies will be happy about the news.
Last September a survey into working patterns found that British employees would rather work shorter hours than win the lottery.
A fifth of workers want a better work life balance according to the survey, which was conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry. There has also been a steep rise in the number of people who are working excessive hours, it found.
The British Beer & Pub Association's Mark Hastings said the key was to offer workers greater flexibility.
He added that if the government believed so strongly in a 48-hour working week then Tony Blair and his MPs should apply it to themselves.
"The real difficulty would be for licensees not for barstaff," he said.
"But it would affect those bar workers who wish to work more than 48 hours to earn extra cash."
Whether pub companies and licensees agree in principle with a 48-hour working week or not, it's important that they don't breach the directive.
At the moment they should ensure workers do not work more than 48 hours a week unless they have signed a specially drawn up letter.
If the opt-out clause is abolished in November then licensees need to make sure their staff never work more than 48 hours in total - no matter how many jobs they might have or how much they want to do over-time.
Maureen Lambard sued her employer, Martins the newsagents, last year and won £1,200 in compensation because they ignored the Working Time Directive and made her work up to 97 hours a week.
If they're not careful pub companies could find themselves in the same boat.
Pictured: JD Wetherspoon introduced a 48-hour working week over six years ago and has found it to be a success.
DTI guidelines on the working week
The guidance notes on the Department of Trade and Industry's website inform licensees that:
- workers cannot be forced to work for more than 48 hours a week on average
- working time includes travelling where it is part of the job, working lunches and job-related training
- working time does not include travelling between home and work, lunch breaks, evening classes or day-release courses
- the average weekly working time is normally calculated over 17 weeks. This can be longer in certain situations (26 weeks) and employers can agree to extend it (up to 52 weeks)
- workers can agree to work longer than the 48-hour limit. An agreement must be in writing and signed by the worker. This is called an opt-out. It does not need to be renewed
- an employer need only maintain a record of workers who have signed an opt-out. No further records for these workers are required
- workers can cancel the opt-out agreement whenever they want, although they must give their employer at least seven days' notice, or longer (up to three months) if this has been agreed
- the working time limits do not apply if workers can decide how long they work.
Latest Euro legislation to affect the trade
Latest legislation to affect the pub sector:
- Noise - licensees will have to impose a maximum noise limit of 85 decibels to protect the hearing of their staff from over exposure to loud noise. The only glimmer of hope that the trade can hang on to is that pubs will be given until 2008 to enforce the ruling. That is two years more than other workplaces which are expected to only have until 2006.