The organisation is reacting to recent statements from the Trades Union Congress that it says are myths.
While there are more people who work over 48 hours in the UK than in other EU countries, the CIPD claims there is also a far greater proportion of the UK workforce working less than 30 hours a week than on the continent.
The CIPD points out that the average working hours for full-time workers in the UK are actually falling. Its survey, Working Time Regulations: Calling Time on Working Time, suggests that three-quarters of long-hours workers do so out of choice.
According to the research, nearly a quarter of workers who work more than 48 hours a week do so for financial reasons – and the CIPD highlights this as a reason for not supporting proposed changes to the Working Time Regulations.
These Regulations implement the EU’s Working Time Directive, which currently provides that workers in all sectors, public or private, must not work longer than 48 hours a week, including overtime. The Directive also specifies requirements for rest periods, breaks and no less than four weeks' paid holiday per year. Its aim is to protect workers from the health and safety consequences of overworking.
In 1993, the UK negotiated an opt-out which allows Member States not to apply the limit to working hours under certain conditions: prior agreement of the individual; no negative fall-out from refusing to opt-out; and records kept of working hours of those that have opted out.
But there is a growing pressure to get rid of the opt-out clause, culminating in a vote in favour of scrapping the provision when the issue came before MEPs in May last year. The Council of Ministers has yet to approve the measure, which was mothballed during the UK’s Presidency of the EU in the latter half of 2005.
According to the CIPD, removing the opt-out clause would increase moonlighting, as employees may be forced to take up a second job if overtime is curtailed.
"The CIPD is opposed to long hours working and wants to see greater flexibility at work to help individuals balance their work and home lives more effectively,” said Ben Willmott, CIPD Employee Relations Adviser. “However, we don't believe that a statutory restriction on working time through the removal of the Working Time Regulations opt-out clause is the best way of achieving this.”
According to the CIPD, long hours can be best challenged by tackling workplace culture, shifting the emphasis from time spent at work to individual output.
Willmott also pointed out that France is in the process of effectively phasing out its statutory 35-hour maximum working week because of concerns that it has proved an added drag on their economy, damaging competitiveness and contributing to high levels of unemployment.
"The tight labour market in the UK and demographic changes will put further pressure on employers to embrace the work-life balance agenda. It is this business necessity to become an employer of choice in a competitive labour market which will increasingly encourage organisations to curtail long-hours working and embrace greater flexibility," he added.
