Sean Jones KCThe UK Govt wants to "sunset" laws that derive from EU legislation. Top of their hit list in Employment Law seems to be the Working Time Regulations 1998. You probably won't have heard them referred to in that way. The Govt prefers the "Working Time Directive" which is the piece of EU legislation that the Regulations implement. That is not accidental. They would rather you thought we were "ridding ourselves" of EU law than that they were considering removing UK employment rights. 1/n
The Conservative party has long hated the Working Time Regulations. Why? Three reasons. First, when the Directive was issued we were not signed up to the Social Chapter. The then Tory Govt thought the Directive was really a Social Chapter measure. However, the EU (and ultimately the ECJ) saw it as a Health and Safety measure. The Govt brought and lost a challenge in the ECJ and some Tories have never forgiven the EU or the ECJ for "forcing" these measures on us. 2/n
Second, as we'll see, it created a maximum working week. Many politicians still confuse productivity with the number of hours you work and resented the restriction. Third, and specifically, they wanted to junior doctors to work impossible numbers of hours and it took a while for the protections to extend to them. Productivity and doctors are still cited as reasons for wanting to be rid of the Regulations. 3/n
So what, very broadly, do the Working Time Regulations do? What is their malign purpose? Well, ignoring the various complexities and exceptions, the answer is:
1. Unless the worker agrees in advance, they cannot be forced to work more than 48 hours in a 7 day period;
2. They limit the length of night shifts
3. They create rights to minimum periods of daily and weekly rest
4. They create a right to rest breaks whilst at work
5. They create a right to paid annual leave 4/5
1. Unless the worker agrees in advance, they cannot be forced to work more than 48 hours in a 7 day period;
2. They limit the length of night shifts
3. They create rights to minimum periods of daily and weekly rest
4. They create a right to rest breaks whilst at work
5. They create a right to paid annual leave 4/5
6. They create a right to be paid for untaken days of accrued holiday on termination of employment.
These rights are all now very much taken for granted. I'm really not sure how many people realise that, as matters stand, unless the Govt decides to save them, they may simply vanish next year. / end
These rights are all now very much taken for granted. I'm really not sure how many people realise that, as matters stand, unless the Govt decides to save them, they may simply vanish next year. / end
Matthew Malthouse@SeanJones the 48 hours in a 7 day period is not quite right. It must be no more than that, true, but normally averaged over 17 weeks.
So where other restrictions do not apply one can be require to work more than 48 hours in any particular 7 day period.
@calmeilles It's a good point, but, as I hope I have made clear, I have deliberately simplified.
Val Hudson@SeanJones I remember their introduction in the UK. Worked in a hospital at the time. Saw how they transformed junior doctors lives
PJ "Vote Green" Coffey@valhud @SeanJones prior to there introduction every week had another JD dying in a car crash or making life changing errors.
The guy who initiated the schedule like that? He did a lot of meth.
@Homebrewandhacking @SeanJones exactly Itwasnt so good for patients either
@valhud @SeanJones well no. Obviously. It's a terrible idea all round and the NHS still pulls illegal hours on doctors using wards which don't start until they're supposed to have finished!
@valhud Early on I was junior to a silk who was advising on proposals for JD hours that only really made sense if they lived on the wards.