The Members of the European Parliament (EP) have, May 11, voted to scrap the right of individual workers to opt out of the maximum 48 hour working week. The Parliament has also voted to for on-call hours to count as working time. The vote was carried by 345 votes to 264 against, with 43 abstentions.

In a statement, the European Parliament said “members thus disagree with the proposal put forward by the European Commission, which would keep the individual opt-out while tightening up the conditions for its application” and said that, “Again in contrast to the Commission, MEPs want the entire period of any time spent on-call, including the “inactive part”, to be regarded as working time.”

According to the Parliament, MEPs have “decided that working hours should be organised in such a way as to give employees the opportunity for life-long learning.” It also says that they want to “achieve the right balance between reconciling work and family life and the need for more flexible organisation of working time.”

The working time directive (Directive 2003/88/EC) is intended to “provide a basic level of protection for most workers, (with the notable exception of managers) and means (according to the EP)that employees have the right to “a daily 11 hour rest period, regular breaks, a weekly working time of no more than 48 hours, and a minimum annual holiday of four weeks.”

The ‘opt-out’ was negotiated In 1993 by the UK government, and authorised Member States not to apply the 48 hour limit under certain conditions. In a background briefing, the EP explains that under the opt-out, “The individual employee had to agree in advance, workers who refused to waive their rights must not be victimised and working hours of people who did waive their rights must be recorded.”

It continued, “Concerns have been raised about potential abuse of the individual opt-out system, for example by workers being presented with the opt-out clause at the same time as their contract, which could be seen as limiting the individual’s real freedom of choice.”

Commenting in advance of the decision, Confederation of British Industry chief Sir Digby Jones said that abolishing the opt out would remove “a vital choice for employees.”

Sir Digby added, “It would seriously restrict the UK’s flexible labour market and flies in the face of the EU’s ambition to become the most competitive economy in the world by 2010,” and continued,

“There is no place for handcuffs in a competitive economy -as long as employees work in safe conditions and have freedom of choice they should also have the freedom to work.. if the opt-out is not preserved millions of aspiring employees, looking to improve their lifestyles and those of their families, will lose a great deal of money and I doubt that the EU will be rushing to compensate them.”

The final decision on the opt-out will be taken by the European Council in June.