CBI highlights worth of working time directive

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has praised the European Union's working time directive.

Describing it as representing a foundation of Britain's "competitive advantage", Louise Morgan, senior policy adviser for the CBI's employee and employee relations team, believes that one of the benefits of the directive is the ability of workers to decide upon their own working hours.

The terms of the working time directive have been structured with the aim of offering employees protection from employer exploitation.

"Although there are clearly still restrictions in place - the individual part opt-out in the first four weeks of a job and the 60 hour cap - our members generally agree that it is a price worth paying," said Ms Morgan.

Ms Morgan also praised the directive for enabling businesses to respond flexibly to demand peaks.