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| Would UK workers stick to a four day week? | Would UK workers stick to a four day week? |
| (about 2 months later) | |
| The UK needs a four-day working week to combat stress, according to the president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, Prof John Ashton. | The UK needs a four-day working week to combat stress, according to the president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, Prof John Ashton. |
| Denis Campbell reported Ashton as saying: | Denis Campbell reported Ashton as saying: |
| When you look at the way we lead our lives, the stress that people are under, the pressure on time and sickness absence, [work-related] mental health is clearly a major issue. | When you look at the way we lead our lives, the stress that people are under, the pressure on time and sickness absence, [work-related] mental health is clearly a major issue. |
| We should be moving towards a four-day week because the problem we have in the world of work is you've got a proportion of the population who are working too hard and a proportion that haven't got jobs | We should be moving towards a four-day week because the problem we have in the world of work is you've got a proportion of the population who are working too hard and a proportion that haven't got jobs |
| He also mentioned that the lunch hour had been eroded, with people simply taking sandwiches at their desk. Unfortunately, we can't get statistics on the percentage of lunches taken in front of a computer screen, but we can find both the averages for the hours people have agreed to work and the amount of time full-time employees actually spend working in their main job. | He also mentioned that the lunch hour had been eroded, with people simply taking sandwiches at their desk. Unfortunately, we can't get statistics on the percentage of lunches taken in front of a computer screen, but we can find both the averages for the hours people have agreed to work and the amount of time full-time employees actually spend working in their main job. |
| Working hour reality in the EU | Working hour reality in the EU |
| The UK average shows that the number of hours actually worked is 3.1 hours higher than the average for the number of hours collectively agreed - a bigger gap than anywhere else in Europe. | The UK average shows that the number of hours actually worked is 3.1 hours higher than the average for the number of hours collectively agreed - a bigger gap than anywhere else in Europe. |
| The average gap for the EU28 is 1.4 hours. The majority of EU countries are spending more time than the average collectively agreed time for working. The UK is only one of only three where the gap exceeds two hours. | The average gap for the EU28 is 1.4 hours. The majority of EU countries are spending more time than the average collectively agreed time for working. The UK is only one of only three where the gap exceeds two hours. |
| The data comes from the latest Developments in collectively agreed working time report by the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO). | The data comes from the latest Developments in collectively agreed working time report by the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO). |
| Surprisingly there are three countries where the amount of time spent working is lower than the average for collectively agreed hours: Ireland, Malta and Hungary. | Surprisingly there are three countries where the amount of time spent working is lower than the average for collectively agreed hours: Ireland, Malta and Hungary. |
| In terms of actual time spent working, the UK at 40.8 hours comes third after Luxembourg (41) and Romania (41.2). But, when it came to collectively agreed hours, the UK was more or less on par with the EU15 average of 37.6. | In terms of actual time spent working, the UK at 40.8 hours comes third after Luxembourg (41) and Romania (41.2). But, when it came to collectively agreed hours, the UK was more or less on par with the EU15 average of 37.6. |
| Hungary, Greece, Romania, Croatia and Malta had the joint-longest average collectively agreed working week at 40 hours. | Hungary, Greece, Romania, Croatia and Malta had the joint-longest average collectively agreed working week at 40 hours. |
| European working law geeks will be unsurprised to see France at the bottom of the list for both agreed working hours and actual hours worked. This is at least in part due to the Aubry law, implemented in 2000, which imposed a statutory 35 hour working week. | European working law geeks will be unsurprised to see France at the bottom of the list for both agreed working hours and actual hours worked. This is at least in part due to the Aubry law, implemented in 2000, which imposed a statutory 35 hour working week. |
| UK: one of the 48 hour states | UK: one of the 48 hour states |
| The big framework for working hours across the union is the Working Time Directive, introduced by the European commission in 1993 - but it only came into force in the UK in 1998 after a lost court battle two years earlier. | The big framework for working hours across the union is the Working Time Directive, introduced by the European commission in 1993 - but it only came into force in the UK in 1998 after a lost court battle two years earlier. |
| Employees in the UK in certain sectors can choose to opt-out of the rules, which require maximum working hours to not exceed an average of 48 hours. In the latter respect , the country is joined by Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland and Malta although none of the countries mentioned in this paragraph come close to the average full-time week. In that respect the limit acts more as a safety net. | Employees in the UK in certain sectors can choose to opt-out of the rules, which require maximum working hours to not exceed an average of 48 hours. In the latter respect , the country is joined by Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland and Malta although none of the countries mentioned in this paragraph come close to the average full-time week. In that respect the limit acts more as a safety net. |
| Elsewhere the picture is quite fuzzy, with lots of country-specific rules and regulations. For example, some countries have a statutory working week of 40 hours but those 40 do not include overtime. | Elsewhere the picture is quite fuzzy, with lots of country-specific rules and regulations. For example, some countries have a statutory working week of 40 hours but those 40 do not include overtime. |
| That's not to say the rules in the initial batch of countries are easy, the report explains how the Netherlands law operates: | That's not to say the rules in the initial batch of countries are easy, the report explains how the Netherlands law operates: |
| The limits referred to may be exceeded in many countries where working time flexibility schemes allow weekly hours to be varied around an average over a reference period, as permitted by the Working Time Directive. | The limits referred to may be exceeded in many countries where working time flexibility schemes allow weekly hours to be varied around an average over a reference period, as permitted by the Working Time Directive. |
| Weekly maximum working time under such hours-averaging schemes may itself be subject to a ceiling, such as 60 hours. In the Netherlands, for example, weekly working time – including overtime – may not exceed 48 hours, on average, over a 16-week reference period, or 55 hours per week on average over a four-week reference period, unless otherwise agreed by the employer and trade union or works council, subject to an absolute weekly limit of 60 hours. | Weekly maximum working time under such hours-averaging schemes may itself be subject to a ceiling, such as 60 hours. In the Netherlands, for example, weekly working time – including overtime – may not exceed 48 hours, on average, over a 16-week reference period, or 55 hours per week on average over a four-week reference period, unless otherwise agreed by the employer and trade union or works council, subject to an absolute weekly limit of 60 hours. |
| A similar principle applies in the UK, with people who do not opt-out of 48 hour weeks allowed to spend more time than that working on a given week, so long as their average over 17 weeks remains below the limit. We invite commenters to try and work out their average working time over that time frame. | A similar principle applies in the UK, with people who do not opt-out of 48 hour weeks allowed to spend more time than that working on a given week, so long as their average over 17 weeks remains below the limit. We invite commenters to try and work out their average working time over that time frame. |
| No EU state has a four day working week | No EU state has a four day working week |
| If we take a day of work in neat segments as seven hours a day, five days a week then no country is close to meeting that, even France. | If we take a day of work in neat segments as seven hours a day, five days a week then no country is close to meeting that, even France. |
| Taking those two days out then the average working day in every country is at least 7.48 hours (France). On average, an employee in the UK is doing 8.16 hours as can be seen in the chart below. | |
| So to conclude, if the UK was to follow Professor Ashton's advice, it would be a relatively unprecedented step among EU countries. Although, there is no doubt that considerably less time may be spent removing crumbs from laptops. | So to conclude, if the UK was to follow Professor Ashton's advice, it would be a relatively unprecedented step among EU countries. Although, there is no doubt that considerably less time may be spent removing crumbs from laptops. |
| Download the data | Download the data |
| • DATA SOURCE: EIRO | • DATA SOURCE: EIRO |
| More open data | More open data |
| Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian | Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian |
| Development and aid data | Development and aid data |
| • Search the world’s global development data with our gateway | • Search the world’s global development data with our gateway |
| Can you do more with this data? | Can you do more with this data? |
| • Contact us at data@theguardian.com | • Contact us at data@theguardian.com |
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