Working Hours and Holidays

Working hours and holidays are now subject to a raft of legislation aimed at making sure that workers get a reasonable work-life balance that will reduce stress and increase performance. Working hours are restricted to minimum levels although there are some exceptions and loopholes. There are a number of different types of leave as well; annual holiday allowances, compassionate leave, maternity and parental leave to name just a few.

Working Time Directive

The European Working Time Directive has had a direct impact on many people, particularly those working on production lines and other more traditional factory-based jobs. Generally most workers will now have the right to a non-working period of at least eleven hours each day, a whole 24 hours off every week, a 48 hour working week and four weeks annual leave in each year. There is also a break of at least 20 minutes if the working day is six hours long or more, but the employer is not obliged to pay during the rest period or count it towards the working day.

But the law is very complicated and it's tricky making simple rules. Many of the restrictions on hours are averages so complex time recording and periodical reviews are necessary to ensure compliance. And people can opt out of the working week, either by choice or coercion. Night shift workers also must now have health assessments to make sure that night work is not damaging their health and they are not allowed to opt out.

Peer Pressure

In many white-collar (i.e. office-based) jobs the working hours directives are completely ineffective. As there is no official time keeping in many offices, workers put in long hours if they see their managers and co-workers doing the same, or are pressurised to work for as long as it takes to get a project finished or a deadline met. Many office-based workers will not have union representation either, which makes it difficult to break a culture of commercial and peer pressure that causes this culture of long hours.

Taking Time Off

Many people are lucky enough to have a greater holiday allowance than the norm, currently 24 days each year, for people who work a five day week, and in April 2009 it will go up to 28 days. Part-time workers now receive the same amount of leave as full-timers but pro rata for the hours they work.

Although there are eight Bank Holidays in the UK, employers are not obliged to give them as time off and if they do, they are allowed to count them as part of a holiday allowance. The allowances also depend on whether someone is considered a worker, an employee, or self-employed.

Maternity, Paternity and Parental Leave

Maternity leave has been established for many years now but paternity and parental leave are relatively new on the scene in the UK. Maternity leave is up to 39 weeks on statutory maternity pay although it does vary depending on how long you have been employed. Many employers offer their own scheme, which is likely to be more generous and related to an employee's salary at the time of the pregnancy.

Paternity leave is intended for the non-child carrying partner to be available at the time of the birth and for the first few weeks afterward. Paternal leave can be taken by either parent regardless of their sex and at anytime until the child is 5 years old. Any parent who has been employed for a year or more can take 13 weeks off at any point during those first five years, although it is unpaid. There is more detail about both paternity and parental leave in our Family Commitments article.

Other types of leave, such as compassionate leave, are known in government-speak 'time off for dependants'. There is a statutory right for employees to be given time off, without pay, to deal with emergencies such as a death in the family, an ill child, or anything else concerning a dependant that requires someone to be at home. Employees are allowed 'reasonable' time off, and as with maternity leave, this can be paid, depending on the organisation's policy, if there is one.

Check Contracts

As has been made clear throughout, the government lays down minimum requirements and it is up to the employer to decide whether to stick to those minimums, with regard to both working hours and leave, or to offer more. An employment contract, sometimes with an associated staff handbook, will detail the allowances and improving them is up to the bargaining powers of the employee or a union, if there is a recognised one at the workplace.