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EU to scrap overtime
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by letsbfrank | December 19, 2008 at 11:34 am
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The country is seeing one of it’s worst financial break down for generations, and many families in the UK are struggling to survive in this heated financial climate. Unemployment in this country is reaching the region of 2 million, and could see it reach 3 million by the end of next year top economist say, and no bail out or government planning can change this fact.
With so many people up and down the country struggling to live on the amount they are paid, this is the time were people would go in to do more over time to get more money to help them survive, with many people losing there homes and struggling to pay back bad debt, news from the EU of scraping the 48 hour week could have a damaging effect on everyone who used to put in those extra hours to help towards paying bills and food shopping. From next year that could all change with fears that the 48 hour week could be scraped all together. The UK is the only country in the EU apart from Latvia that does the longest amount of over time and this could of be a thing of the past, if European ministers have their way.
Struggling companies who are suffering from the recession say that they will be hit very hard from the news that people will no longer be liable to work extra hours, and would have a massive effect on businesses all around the country. With so many companies struggling as it is, this would be another massive blow for the UK economy, a blow that couldn’t of happened at a worse possible time. The only countries that come close to doing the highest amount of hours in the EU is Latvia, and out side the EU Australia is the only other countries who allow longer periods of work, to allow employees to earn more money.
If plans were to go through, this could cripple an already damaged UK economy.
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Anonymous user
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at 05:15 on December 21st, 2008
I disagree. Speeding up work time and increasing work hours, part of the unsustainable growth, did not help deter the current crisis. An increased work week is not the answer to more efficient work, or even getting more work done. Better policy on the part of economic and political parties is the answer. Allowing employers to more cost-effectively employ more people more efficiently could lead to a decrease in consumerism and overspending while increasing the individual's quality of life and improving the individual's investment in their work time. Limiting work time can lead to a more effective work ethic and more effective personal spending and saving, improving both the individual and the society's way of life.
Consider that the downturn in economy combined with the lower work week could result in more people being employed. Plus, the work week in the UK has, some studies in consumerism suggest, in many ways driven over-consumption as a means of compensating for lack of time, e.g. time to cook, time to spend on child-care, time for relaxation (think of the "stress-busting" vacations that seek to cram in all the down-time missed during the work year). Having less money and more personal time could reduce compensatory consumerism. It's time, especially in this current economic climate, to slow down, reassess and thoughtfully invest rather than speed up and try to reaccumulate the money that disappeared as a result of a lack of thoughtful investment and saving.
We need to see how to spend personal and professional time more efficiently and with less financial waste rather than put more pressure on an already over-worked society.