Public and Commercial Services Union

Workers in the UK currently work the longest hours in Europe, take the shortest lunch breaks and enjoy the fewest public holidays.

Childcare is expensive and difficult to find, care for older people is of inconsistent quality and financial support during family related leave is lower than in some other parts of Europe.

Long hours culture

The quest for higher productivity and the long hours culture limit the effects of improved rights and progressive management and can undermine equal opportunities policies.

The TUC estimates that if all the unpaid overtime worked by the average employee were put together at the start of the year, it wouldn t be until mid February that they would start to be paid. Work your proper hours day marks this date.

The workforce is changing

The workforce is changing: more women are working and taking shorter breaks after childbirth; there are more single parents working or seeking work; people are working later in life and are likely to have increased responsibility for the care of elderly dependants as people live longer.

In the 21st century, workers will need to take a “life course” approach to balancing the different aspects of their lives in order to maintain their skills, health and earnings potential.

The Government s policy is to promote work life balance and in particular to support working families but in this as in other aspects of management, its actions towards its own workforce contradict this aim.

Government actions contradict policies

Instead of the Government leading by example and the Civil Service implementing good work life balance policies, the efficiency agenda has led to longer hours, poor job design, intensified workloads, longer travel times and withdrawal of opportunities for flexible working.

This affects PCS members in the civil service, in non-departmental public bodies and in private companies.

Even where good policies exist, workloads prevent people from taking advantage of them.

The 24/7 Survey carried out by Keele University in 2006 found that over half of the PCS members who responded worked above their contracted hours and a third had been unable to take their full holiday allowance.

This is very worrying as the Whitehall ll study of the health of civil servants demonstrated how conflict between work and family demands can lead to both physical and mental health problems. Rather than improving efficiency, this situation increases stress, reduces productivity and creates a greater likelihood of illness and absence.