Pressure is being put on pubs to tighten their working time policies following the loss of a court appeal by Mitchells & Butlers (M&B). The company asked the Court of Appeal in Cardiff to reverse a decision to award pub manager Mark Hone £21,000 after he successfully sued it last year.
In the original case against Bass, now renamed M&B, held at Swansea County Court in July 2004, it was found that the company had not taken reasonable steps to ensure Mr Hone did not work over 48 hours a week. He suffered a collapse and anxiety disorder in 2000 after he worked an average of 90 hours a week in one of their pubs in Luton. He started working as a pub manager for Bass in 1995 but by 2000 was suffering from headaches and insomnia.
Rhian Ashton from the Cardiff office of South Wales law firm Leo Abse & Cohen represented Mr Hone. She said: "He repeatedly complained to his employer that he was working too many hours, but nothing was done. He had no assistant manager at the pub and other staff members who left, including two chefs and an admin worker, were not replaced, leaving Mr Hone with all those roles on top of his own.
"This should be a wake-up call to any business that doesn't have a working time policy in place to protect the health and safety of their employees."
A spokesman for Mitchells & Butlers said: "We hold in the highest regard our commitment to the health and safety of our employees. We are disappointed with the outcome, but do not regret our decision to appeal."