The government said that negotiations on the European Union Working Time Directive between the Member States, the European Parliament, and the European Commission had broken down without agreement – thus defeating a proposal by the European Parliament to phase out the United Kingdom opt-out within three years. Employees would be able to continue to work more than 48 hours per week if they chose.
Source: Press release 28 April 2009, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (020 7215 5000)
Links: DBERR press release | TUC press release | CBI press release | Personnel Today report | Guardian report | FT report
Date: 2009-Apr