ACS

Following negotiations at the EU Employment Council on Tuesday, the UK, among other Member States, negotiated an opt-out clause to be reinstated into the Working Hours Directive.

The deal has secured the right for UK workers to choose to work longer than 48 hours a week, although a working hours cap has been set at between 60 and 65 hours per week down from the previous 78 hours. Workers in the UK will not be able to sign waivers exempting them from the Working Time Directive during their first month of employment, and cannot be penalised by their employers if they subsequently decline to do so. The ministers also agreed that seven years after the new law comes into force, the European Commission would write a report on the use of the opt-out. After the ministers evaluate the report, the Commission could potentially propose to scrap the opt-out altogether.

Parliament's consent is still needed in order to proceed with the agreement reached by EU Ministers. If the vote scheduled for the end of this year fails, the deal will go back to the drawing board.

During the negotiations the UK accepted the Agency Workers Directive which means that following a 12-week qualifying period, agency workers are to be given equal treatment to permanent employees, thus qualifying for holiday and sick pay. The qualification period has increased from initial discussions that would have given temporary employees these rights after six weeks.

Business Secretary John Hutton said: "This agreement means that people remain free to earn overtime and businesses can cope during busy times. The agreement on agency working will give a fair deal for agency workers and prevent unfair undercutting of permanent staff while retaining important flexibility for businesses to hire staff for short-term seasonal contracts or key busy times."