eec ruling on 48 hours a week

[bigbaz123]

I work in a factory working on the night shift 4 x 12hr's 1 x 7 hours plus sometimes saturday and sunday , I just been told by my boss that none of the staff can work over 48 hour's per week,is this true? This lost of over time will put me and other members of staff in a lot of financial problems,is there any way around this?

[gina32]

i dont think its that you cant work more than 48 hrs but that you cant be contracted for more, im trying to find a website link for you.

[Goodsoulette]

You can't unless you sign an opt out but I expect they arent giving you that option to save on man hours. The 48 hours a week is worked out on a period of 17 weeks so you could work a hundred hours one week and less in the following weeks. I really think this is to do with man hours as their are rules around how many hours you can work on a night shift too.

Try asking your employer if you want to opt out and stay on the same working hours.

[Goodsoulette]

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employe es/WorkingHoursAndTimeOff/DG_10029426

[Hammer]

It's a European law to protect the worker. Your employer cannot make you work more than an average of 48 hrs per week over a 17 week period.

The UK government negotiated an opt out clause, so as long as an employee chooses to opt out (they cannot be forced to) then they can work as many hours as they wish.