6. LIMITING WORKING TIME

The main limitation on working time in the Working Time Regulations (WTR) is the 48-hour maximum working week, averaged-out over a “reference period”, but from which individual workers can opt-out. Some of the other working time rules and regulations set other weekly limits, or limit annual working time, or rely solely on regulating minimum rest, and have no individual opt-out, proving that it is possible to manage without it.

The temptation to work long hours may be purely financial or it may be a matter of workers doing what’s expected. Four out of 10 employees agree or strongly agree that “people in this workplace who want to progress usually have to put in long hours” (WERS 2011). That view is most widely held by managers as well as professionals and in the private sector: The more strongly full-time employees agreed with the statement, the longer their average hours are likely to be.

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) warns that pay structures such as hourly rates can give employees an incentive to work long hours, and recommends having an agreed policy or arrangement for authorising overtime, using overtime as a trigger for fatigue assessment.