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No drop in hours for site workers
00:00 12 Sep 2001
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by John d'Arcy
Latest official statistics confirm that the Working Time Regulations (WTR) have had no impact on construction industry working hours.
Figures published by the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) show that the average site working week in the year 2000 totalled 46.6 hours. The average weekly hours for manual operatives has remained virtually unchanged over the past 10 years. In 1990, the official average for the industry was exactly 46 hours.
The high average points to substantial numbers of site operatives working 60 to 80 hours per week, despite evidence that excessive overtime leads to reduced productivity.
The WTR, which aimed to encourage a maximum 48-hour week, were implemented on health and safety grounds. Construction's recent severely declining safety record is bound to add weight to arguments in favour of strengthening the regulations.
The law firm Simmons & Simmons states: "The WTR have failed to break the pattern of long working hours in the UK.
"Overtime is entrenched by custom - the expectation of managers that it is needed to get work done, and of employees as a boost to take-home pay. More fundamentally, it is institutionalised by low basic wages and the changing demands of an ever more competitive marketplace. This is exacerbated by new work arrangements such as 'lean time' and 'just-in-time' methods."
The lawyers say that enforcement remains a major weakness of the regulations. They conclude: "Enforcement of the WTR has been sporadic, especially in non-unionised workplaces where workers might feel more vulnerable in making a complaint."
The Simmons & Simmons analysis recalls that the government has the option in 2003 not to renew the individual opt-out to the Working Time Directive.
The report concludes: "Enforcing a 48-hour week will have major political, economic, and social consequences, and a balanced assessment of the advantages and disadvantages is needed."
l The DTI's latest Construction Statistics Annual says construction operatives last year had average gross weekly earnings of £369.10. That marked a 5% increase on the previous year. The figures are, however, based only on PAYE returns. Average weekly earnings of non-manual construction workers are put at £539.80, (up 6%), with an average week of 41.6 hours.
Latest official statistics confirm that the Working Time Regulations (WTR) have had no impact on construction industry working hours.
Figures published by the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) show that the average site working week in the year 2000 totalled 46.6 hours. The average weekly hours for manual operatives has remained virtually unchanged over the past 10 years. In 1990, the official average for the industry was exactly 46 hours.
The high average points to substantial numbers of site operatives working 60 to 80 hours per week, despite evidence that excessive overtime leads to reduced productivity.
The WTR, which aimed to encourage a maximum 48-hour week, were implemented on health and safety grounds. Construction's recent severely declining safety record is bound to add weight to arguments in favour of strengthening the regulations.
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The law firm Simmons & Simmons states: "The WTR have failed to break the pattern of long working hours in the UK.
"Overtime is entrenched by custom - the expectation of managers that it is needed to get work done, and of employees as a boost to take-home pay. More fundamentally, it is institutionalised by low basic wages and the changing demands of an ever more competitive marketplace. This is exacerbated by new work arrangements such as 'lean time' and 'just-in-time' methods."
The lawyers say that enforcement remains a major weakness of the regulations. They conclude: "Enforcement of the WTR has been sporadic, especially in non-unionised workplaces where workers might feel more vulnerable in making a complaint."
The Simmons & Simmons analysis recalls that the government has the option in 2003 not to renew the individual opt-out to the Working Time Directive.
The report concludes: "Enforcing a 48-hour week will have major political, economic, and social consequences, and a balanced assessment of the advantages and disadvantages is needed."
l The DTI's latest Construction Statistics Annual says construction operatives last year had average gross weekly earnings of £369.10. That marked a 5% increase on the previous year. The figures are, however, based only on PAYE returns. Average weekly earnings of non-manual construction workers are put at £539.80, (up 6%), with an average week of 41.6 hours.
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