30 January 2015

The Bill began its second reading debate (23 January) but was adjourned. The second reading debate will recommence on 27 February.

The insidious bill aims to impose “Limitations on definition of working time”, as stipulated in the EU Working Time Directive.

The directive would not apply to “any employee who with the agreement of the employer has chosen to opt out of the provisions of the Directive and the Regulations” or “doctors and other health professionals”. It would also not apply to calculation of entitlements to holiday and holiday pay, bonuses and overtime, or travel time.

Conservative Christopher Chope MP said:

I have had the privilege of discussing recent court cases relating to that situation with the Minister and others, and she concedes that the current position will cost British industry tens of millions of pounds. The Government do not want that to happen, but what are we going to do about it? The Bill would allow us to disapply the working time directive from such calculations so that we could go back to having holiday pay, bonuses and overtime calculated on the basis of privity of contract between employer and employee…The Government need to do something, instead of just sitting back and saying, “We’re terribly worried about all this.”

More information on the bill here