TUC: Long hours culture ‘could reduce productivity’

A long hours culture could be detrimental to businesses as well as their employees, with raised levels of stress and reduced efficiency, a trade union leader has said.

The comments came after new figures revealed the number of employees working for more than 48 hours a week has risen by 180,000.

Brendan Barber, general secretary for the Trades Unions Congress (TUC), condemned business lobbyists, who he said ‘act as apologists for Britain’s long hours culture’.

“Employees across the UK already work the longest hours in Western Europe and the recent increase will mean lower productivity,” he said.

The figures, published this week, revealed the number of people working long hours has risen to 3.3 million.

The sharpest increase was in the east, where the number of employees working long hours rose by 2.1%, followed by 2% in London.

The TUC said the figure was due in part to employers being more reluctant to hire new staff during the credit crunch, forcing existing workers to put in more hours.

The report also revealed 85% of ‘new long hours workers’ are male – a trend which the TUC said could hamper efforts to close the pay gap as senior jobs become increasingly reliant on long hours, excluding women with childcare responsibilities.

Barber called on the government to back proposals to strengthen the Working Time Directive (WTD) to reduce excessive long hours, due to be discussed at the EU Social Affairs Council meeting on June 9.

“When the government meets with other European Ministers next week, the government should take action to end excessive working time,” he said.

© Crimson Business Ltd. 2008