About: working hours

Finland’s PM calls for shortening working hours

Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin called for cutting the current eight-hour working day in her keynote speech to her Social Democratic Party on Monday (24 August), arguing shorter hours could be offset by increased productivity.

European social dialogue still unknown to many workers

More than 30 years after it was launched by Jacques Delors, the European social dialogue is still struggling to reach workers. This is the main finding of a detailed survey published this week by Humanis. EURACTIV France reports

Killer clocks: Scientists count the health and economic costs of changing the time

It's that time of year again, when Europeans scratch their heads and wonder if the clocks will go forward or back an hour. Once again, experts have questioned the point of this practice. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Symmetric flexibility: A concept to square competitiveness with increased well-being

Working time arrangements are an area with considerable scope to improve efficiency and to foster well-being. Symmetric agreements can represent a win-win situation for both employers and employees, write Thomas Leoni and Vanessa Koch.

German workers put in more overtime than EU counterparts

According to EU statistics, German employees put in the most overtime work in the eurozone, with an average of 60% of these hours going unpaid. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Gloomy prospects for Working Time Directive talks

Trade unions and employers' groups are set to start a dialogue on the EU's Working Time Directive before the autumn even though they disagree over the scope of the talks. Meanwhile, MEPs remain pessimistic about the chances that the two sides will eventually strike an agreement.

Work-life balance ‘does not work for women’

Even in advanced economies, women are bearing the brunt of a lack of work-life balance, a panel at the Employment Week event found.

Workers prefer ‘nine-to-five’ jobs

Workers are happiest in traditional jobs with fixed working hours and least satisfied when they work long hours or are subject to the kind of so-called flexibility that makes it hard to balance private life and work. 

Working-time deal eludes ministers

Labour ministers broke up their 7 November 2006 summit with an agreement on working time further away than before. As a result, the British opt-out is there to stay and the Commission will begin infringement proceedings against most member states.

Working time showdown

Labour ministers are likely to spend the whole day and better part of the night at the negotiating table as they convene in Brussels to discuss the disputed Working Time Directive.

Finns get to grips with working time

An new proposal from the Finnish presidency on the stalled Working Time Directive would allow the UK to maintain its opt-out from the directive's 48-hour cap, but introduce a 60-hour cap for all.

‘Working-time opt-out leaves employees no choice’

Under the opt-out scheme of the Working Time Directive, workers don't have a real choice of not working longer hours if their employer wants them to, say MEPs from the Parliament's two largest groups. 

Špidla threatens member states with Court over working time

Reacting to a recommendation from the European Ombudsman, Commissioner Vladimír Špidla is putting pressure on member states to transpose and enforce EU working time law.

Europeans ‘more industrious than their reputation’

Europeans work on average much more than either collectively bargained agreements foresee and in many cases even more than the law allows, a new study by the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) reveals.

Social summit fails to break working time stalemate

In a meeting preceding the Informal Council of employment and social affairs ministers in Helsinki, the European social partners have confirmed their deep divide over the Working Time Directive. 

Flexible hours make workforce happy

New report indicates that both companies and employees benefit from more flexible working hours. Bigger smiles, lower absenteeism and less paid overtime figure among the spin-offs.

Parliament to vote on working time

In a vote on the revised working time directive the European Parliament is likely to back the scrapping of the controversial 'opt-out' clause, which is mainly used in the UK.

UK, Latvia and Poland top working hours poll

According to a new report, employees work just as hard in the new member states as they do in the EU-15.

Kok expert group was divided over working hours

Longer working hours and delayed retirement were the main sticking points among the expert group chaired by Wim Kok, which is carrying out a review of the Lisbon process.

No agreement on truckers’ working hours

EU transport ministers did not reach an agreement on the reduction of working hours for truckers.

Blockades of lorry drivers target EU transport ministers

Lorry drivers from France, Germany and the Benelux are blocking roads in Luxembourg to put pressure on EU transport ministers.