CIPD - Working hours in the UK

HR practice

Revised October 2009

This factsheet gives introductory guidance. It:

examines trends in working hours in the UK
discusses the reasons for long hours working
outlines provisions of and proposed changes to the Working Time Regulations
includes the CIPD viewpoint.

This factsheet draws extensively on official survey evidence published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as well as on CIPD surveys and other independent research studies.

Trends in UK working hours

A century ago people in the UK on average worked more than 50 hours each week. The length of the average working week then fell to around 35 hours by the end of the 1970s, due to the combination of higher productivity and the gradual rise of part-time working as more women entered the workforce

The downward trend came to a halt in the 1980s. This was primarily the result of a structural shift in employment towards occupations where long hours are the norm – most notably, self-employment and managerial and professional jobs. However, the trend toward shorter hours resumed in the second half of the 1990s.

According to the Office for National Statistics, in December 2008, full-time workers averaged 37.0 hours. Part-time workers averaged 15.5 hours (though part-timers are working more hours than in the mid-1990s)¹.

The cause of the fall in average working hours in the UK is not entirely clear. Some commentators attribute the fall to the introduction in 1998 of regulations that implemented the EU Working Time Directive (see below). However, this seems unlikely to offer a full explanation.

The trend to shorter hours slightly pre-dates implementation of the regulations (though this could be explained by employers anticipating change in the law). But it is also seen amongst exempt groups, such as the self-employed. This implies that there must be other reasons for the fall in hours, including the possibility that people have been seeking to achieve a more positive work-life balance - see our factsheets on flexible working and work-life balance.

Usual weekly working hours

Year	Full-time staff	Pat-time staff
1996	38.7	15.1
1997	38.7	15.2
1998	38.5	15.2
1999	38.2	15.3
2000	37.9	15.4
2001	38	15.6
2002	37.6	15.6
2003	37.4	15.6
2004	37.3	15.6
2005	37.2	15.7
2006	37.1	15.7
2007	37.2	15.6
2008	37.0	15.5

Source: Labour Force Survey: actual hours worked

Does the UK have a long hours culture?

Just over a fifth of people in employment (6 million, or 20.1%) work more than 45 hours a week¹. This is a high proportion by EU standards though other developed countries such as Australia, Japan and the United States have more long-hours workers than the UK. UK workers also historically have less paid leave on average than their EU counterparts. Matters in the UK improved slightly with the increase to 28 days paid leave from April 2009. Despite this the UK still tails behind the entitlements available elsewhere in the EU , (for example Denmark 39.5 and Austria 38 days) .However we do better than Japan (10 days increasing to 20 depending on the length of employment) and the United States (where there is no minimum leave requirement but10 days is the average in practice).

An independent study of long hours working published by the then Department of Trade and Industry (now the Department for Business Innovation and Skills - BIS) found that those working the longest hours in the UK are men aged 30-49 with children and employed in the private sector. Unlike other EU countries, where people working long hours are most likely to be found working in hotels and restaurants, in the UK they are more commonly found in manufacturing. However, full-time managers in the UK, often stereotyped as classic ‘workaholics’, on average do not work longer hours than their EU counterparts.

The effects of long hours working

In 2003, the CIPD commissioned a survey amongst a representative sample of UK workers, with a particular emphasis on those working 48 hours or more per week. The findings were published as Living to Work² and showed that the main reason for working long hours was workload. However one in two workers said that working longer hours is ‘totally [their] own choice – doesn’t mind working long hours’ – up from two out of five respondents saying the same thing in the previous survey conducted in 1998.

In the survey:

more than one in four respondents reported some sort of negative impact on health
more than two out of five respondents reported a negative impact on their relationships
most respondents reported negative effects on their job performance.

A major review for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in 2003 of the literature on the relationship between long hours working and health³ concluded that ‘There is some evidence that working long hours can lead to stress or mental ill-health, although this is somewhat equivocal. The way an individual thinks about their job and the amount of control they have over their job will mediate this relationship’.

Similarly a report by Professor David Guest on Pressure at work and the psychological contract⁴ examined the impact of a range of factors on employee perceptions of their health and daily well being. The report concluded that ‘…although working longer hours may be harmful to health, the social support received by those working long hours and their control over their work have a positive effect, mitigating some of the negative effects’.

The legal position

The main regulations governing working time are the Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833) (WTR) which came into force on 1 October 1998. The WTR implement the provisions of the original Working Time Directive (93/104/EC) and they lay down minimum conditions relating to weekly working time, rest entitlements and annual leave, and make special provision for night workers.

The WTR have been subsequently amended or supplemented on an almost annual basis by domestic regulations . and the original EC Working Time Directive has also been supplemented by further EC Directives.

In June 2008, the European Council agreed amendments to the Working Time Directive which will require amendments to the WTR – these are expected to take place by 2010.

CIPD members can find out more on the legal aspects of working time from our FAQ on Working Time Regulations and from our Recent developments table on EU Directives in the Employment Law at Work area of our website.

Definition of working time

‘Working time' means any period during which the individual is working, is at the employer's disposal and is carrying out their activities or duties.

Working time includes:

any period during which the employee is receiving training in connection with the job
travel time during the working day (for example, the journey between two clients)
time spent waiting at the place of work for work to be allocated
time spent working away from home
time on call at the workplace.

Working time does not include:

the journey to or from the workplace and home
time resting at the end of the working day, even if the worker is required to stay away from home overnight
time spent on call' when away from the workplace and not carrying out duties.

The basic rights

The WTR currently provide employees with the following basic rights and protections:

a limit of an average of 48 hours a week over a 17 week period which a worker can be required to work
a limit of an average of eight hours work in 24 hours which night workers can work
a right to 11 hours rest a day and a right to a day off each week
a right to a day off each week
a right to an in work rest break if the working day is longer than six hours
a right to 28 days paid leave for full-time workers per year.

The original WTR contained a number of exemptions from the 48-hour requirement, but these are gradually being removed.

Opting-out

Organisations in Britain actively implement the opt-out clause to the 48 hour limit, which allows for companies to ask employees to agree to work more than 48 hours a week in a 4-month period. But employers cannot force employees to sign an opt-out: it must be agreed to and employees cannot be fairly dismissed for refusing to sign one.

However, the opt-out has been the cause of some controversy between EU partners. Following the 10-year review of opt-out, the European Commission appeared to agree changes to the Working Time Directive. However these changes have been very contentious and currently seem unlikely in the near future.

CIPD viewpoint

The CIPD believes that, even in difficult economic times, employers should protect their employees from overwork. Where employees are working consistently long hours and/or this is having a negative impact on their employment performance or well being, employers should take steps to establish why this is so and consider what might be done to address the issue.

In this respect the Working Time Directive may have encouraged positive changes in the attitudes and behaviour of employers and employees. However, any attempt to entirely remove the right of employees to voluntarily opt out of the provisions of the directive would harm labour market flexibility in the UK.

The CIPD believes that the best way to tackle the long hours culture is to promote a restructuring of working time and the way in which people work, by, for example, offering people flexible hours. CIPD therefore welcomes the statutory right for parents with young children and carers of certain categories of adults to request flexible working, and the extension of this right to parents of older children in 2009.

Useful contacts

References

OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS. (2009) Labour force survey [online]. London: ONS. Available at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/
LMS_FR_HS/WebTable08.xls
CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF PERSONNEL AND DEVELOPMENT. (2003) Living to work? Survey report. London: CIPD.
WHITE, J. and BESWICK, J. (2003) Working long hours. Sheffield: Health and Safety Laboratory. (HSL/2003/02).
Available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/hsl_pdf/2003/hsl03-02.pdf
GUEST, D. (2002) Pressure at work and the psychological contract. Research report. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Working hours in the UK