TaxAssist Accountants
0800 0523 5550800 0523 555

MEPs scrap working time 'opt-out'

Date: 18th December 2008

British businesses have been rocked by the news that the European Parliament has moved to end the UK's Working Time Directive opt-out.

During a session yesterday (December 17th), members of the European Parliament voted in numbers of 421 for and 273 against to abolish the right to work more than 48 hours per week.

The decision could potentially affect a variety of British businesses, including sole traders, ltd companies and partnerships.

David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, commented: "This decision sends the wrong signals to the rest of the world.

"We're in the middle of a recession and as soon as we come out of this downturn, MEPs want businesses to have their competitive advantage stripped away."

Mr Frost urged the government to make sure the European Parliament's vote was "not the end of the road" for the opt-out.

Recent research by Spark Ventures revealed that the biggest worry for small businesses during the economic downturn was the loss of client contracts.


Related Articles



0800 0523 555 TaxAssist Accountants Locations Map
TaxAssist Facebook TaxAssist Twitter TaxAssist Blog RSS

Newsletter for Small Business

Join our newsletter and receive tax news every month suitable for small businesses.

Testimonials

View all

Over the past 10 years we believed that if we wanted outstanding service we should use traditional large accountancy firms. Oh how wrong we had been! We had been charged high fees without any real value being added to the business.
DAVE THOMAS
Bluegrass Consultancy Ltd

© 2012 TaxAssist Accountants. All Rights Reserved. TaxAssist Accountants Buy Local Campaign TaxAssist Accountants Supports Round Table Childrens Wish TaxAssist Accountants - Interactive Media Awards 2010 Best In Class Winner