Derek Kotz
Industrial reporter

TEARING UP the 48-hour maximum working week will result in “hundreds of thousands” more people working unacceptably long hours, the Labour Party has warned.

Ahead of today’s Commons vote on keeping the 48-hour limit, the party said that failing to do so would likely result in a 15 per cent rise in people working longer hours.

According to government figures, the limit’s introduction saw the number of workers putting in more than 48 hours fall by 15 per cent between 1997 and 2013: scrapping it risks seeing that reversed, the party says.

The current rules are already weak, with as many as 3.4 million workers signed up to an opt-out clause — often under pressure from employers but often because of low hourly pay.

The party says that 10 per cent of nursing assistants already work more than 47.6 hours, half of all crane drivers put in more than 47.7 hours and 20 per cent of construction workers do more than 45 — and they and many others would be pressured to working even more.

In some occupations, such as airline staff, there is a legal bar to working more than 48 hours, and there is concern for safety if that were changed.

Shop and distribution workers’ union Usdaw said that core employment rights that its members depend on needed to be protected.

General secretary Paddy Lillis said: “These minimum employment standards help ensure fairness in the workplace and a level playing field that stops rogue employers undercutting rivals at the expense of their staff.

“Usdaw consistently called for legal guarantees on maintaining existing employment rights, and we welcome Labour challenging the government on their plans.”

Labour shadow business secretary Ed Miliband said: “The 48-hour week is a vital right for workers. Scrapping this hard-won protection would be the thin end of the wedge, causing working hours to spiral up, risking safety and wellbeing, and meaning many people could have less time to spend with their families.  

“That ministers are clapping key workers on the front step and considering forcing a longer working week on them via the back door shows how seriously out of step their priorities are with those of the British people.

“The government is also failing to listen to businesses who are urging them to tackle the virus, secure the economy and protect jobs — not take a wrecking ball to the rights of working people.”