Once again the EU Working Time Directive has reared its ugly head in the news. This badly thought-out piece of legislation should have been got rid of years ago. Under the directive, a worker in the EU can only work an average of 48 hours per week, averaged out over the year.
It’s a big contrast from the 1970s, when a manual worker could volunteer for unlimited overtime, which was a boost to income and was useful where a worker was saving for a house or getting married.
Fast forward four decades to today, when the EU Working Time Directive has cut workers’ income, and the overtime has been converted info casual jobs instead of full-time positions. The idea that it is unhealthy to work more that 48 hours per week is nonsensical. Give workers back the choice that they once had.
Patrick Confrey
Rathfarnham, Dublin 14
