Britain's Opt-Out of 48hr Week Under Threat!
"Oh no!" sound the cries of over-worked associates. Britain’s opt-out from the EU’s 48-hour working week was soundly defeated in a vote by the European Parliament on Wednesday, with many Labour MEPs voting against the Government’s attempts to keep the measure first won by John Major in 1993. What will this mean for all those super-keen junior lawyers chained to their desks for days and nights on end? Well according to the register , "My message to businesses is: don’t panic," said …
"Oh no!" sound the cries of over-worked associates.
Britain’s opt-out from the EU’s 48-hour working week was soundly defeated in a vote by the European Parliament on Wednesday, with many Labour MEPs voting against the Government’s attempts to keep the measure first won by John Major in 1993.
What will this mean for all those super-keen junior lawyers chained to their desks for days and nights on end?
Well according to the register , "My message to businesses is: don’t panic," said Tom Flanagan, an employment law expert at Pinsent Masons. "This was an opinion of the European Parliament. It is not a decision of the Council of Ministers, so it’s not yet a removal of the UK’s opt-out."
What if we do lose it though???
Flanagan added that he believes workers will still be able to choose to work longer hours even if the opt-out is lost.
"It would become unlawful to put a clause into a contract which makes a person opt out of this," he said. "But if someone wanted to work longer, they could. They just couldn’t be required to."
Well, we’re pretty sure we can see how that would work in practice.
Would losing the opt-out be good or bad for the legal profession?
December 19, 2008
Even if this goes through, firms will still find a way around it. The invisible pressure of making sure things get done will not go away. IMHO that is ok – you know what is expected when you join a large corporate so why complain. This is just socialist nonsense.
December 19, 2008
I think it is actually to protect more vulnerable workers. I did not sign up to be bullied into working every hour God sends me but that is what happened. It is difficult to say no as a junior associate.
December 19, 2008
There has always been and always will be a lot of pressure on junior lawyers. You know what to expect but at the same time you do not have to feel like you are being abused; you can stand up for yourself and as long as you are not just trying to skive people will respect you if you stand your ground when you have to. If you make yourself a doormat you will be treated like one.
December 19, 2008
The first couple of years are the worst as you have to find your own pace and abiltiy to manage your workload whilst having little control over it. I don’t think changing the law will change the culture of big law firms.
December 19, 2008
fair comments
can i just add
socialist europeans should not be interefering in these sorts of national issues