Bosses fear 48-hour working limit will make staff shortages worse

Staff shortages in the hospitality industry could become significantly worse if the European Commission gets its way and imposes a weekly 48-hour working limit, according to the British Hospitality Association.

Martin Couchman, deputy chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, said the "writing is on the wall" for the opt-out clause from the Working Time Directive.

"There are well over 100,000 workers in this country who opt out of the 48-hour working week, mostly in the restaurant trade. Generally people are happy to work these hours," he said. He added that the burden of finding more staff to work fewer hours would compound existing recruitment problems.

The European Commission is expected to launch an attack on Britain in a report due to be published next week. It's expected to claim that British employers are abusing the opt-out clause.

The UK Government is assessing ways to prevent abuse of the opt-out clause. This could include a system whereby it would be compulsory for employers to regularly ask staff if they want to continue working more than 48 hours a week.

It's also looking at ways to prevent employers refusing to take on employees who decide not to sign the opt-out clause.

Measures such as these would mean even more bureaucracy for employers and, said Couchman, were likely to be ignored.