Major union and market analysts don’t see eye to eye
The UK's largest manufacturing union and a group of leading market analysts were at loggerheads yesterday over the thorny issue of work-life balance.
Despite the pressure to work longer hours, many employees claim to be happy with the amount of time left over for their personal life, according to a survey published by market analysts Mintel.
However Roger Lyons, Amicus Joint General Secretary, today branded British employers as “short-sighted” on work-life balance, when speaking at the opening of the DTI’s international conference on worklife balance.
A total of 46% of those interviewed said they thought they had the right balance between work and home, according to Mintel. The apparent drive to earn more is also contradicted by the poll which found 66% of men and 67% of women claim there is more to life than making money.
Far more important is spending time with family, according to the 2,000 adults questioned. Seven out of 10 said keeping in close touch with loved ones was the most important “lifestyle priority”. The result appears to be falling levels of stress among the working population, if the poll is to be believed. When asked, 46% said their life was “quite stressful”, down from 48% when the same question was asked in 1997.
Shaheed Alam, a statistician at Mintel, said: “The general theme from the survey was that people are getting the balance between work and life better than we might have thought. Family is seen as important, more important even than money.”
But Mr Lyons said: “Britain has the longest working hours in Europe and lower productivity than France and Germany who have the shortest.
“British management is short sighted; they can't see the wood for the trees. Workers who can fit work and life responsibilities together are more productive. The key to success is investment in skills and new technology not longer hours.
“78% of British managers are determined to retain the opt out to the working time directive despite evidence published by the DTI that shows this has a negative effect on productivity. British Business will never win the productivity and competitiveness needed for an international market place if it refuses the flexibility required for a decent worklife balance.”
In Britain there are four million people working more than 48 hours a week despite European limits. In 1998 the European Directive was implemented with a 48-hour working week limit. In Britain there is an opt-out clause making the Directive voluntary but to give workers proper protection the Government must make the directive compulsory.
The CBI wants workers to continue to have the choice but this allows managers to take advantage of staff.
“The Government has made some gestures toward flexible working, giving employees the right to ask for flexible working arrangements. Sadly the employers still retain the right to say no and recent evidence says they fully intend to exercise that right,” said Roger Lyons.
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