British workers fed up with long hours, short holidays

British workers are fed up with the long hours and short holidays they have to endure in the pursuit of profit.

A government survey published this month revealed that flexible working times, allowing parents to spend more time with children, is rising up the list of priorities of job seekers above pay.

The publication of the survey came days after it was revealed that almost a million people had worked on Christmas Day, traditionally the one day of the year reserved for the family to get together to wear funny hats and enjoy a large turkey dinner.

Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said workers wanted more. "The best businesses are already switched on to this and are using flexible working policies to attract and retain the people they need in the war for talent," she said.

The number of Britons in work constantly breaks new records, unemployment is hovering at lows not seen for a quarter of a century, ever more women are in work, and yet dissatisfaction is on the rise.

The drive for higher productivity, slimmed-down work forces and improved shareholder value, that gathered pace during the 1980s, has taken its toll on family life and society in general.

The Trade Unions Congress (TUC) says more than a million workers, in a work force approaching 28 million, are missing out on the holidays they are entitled to.

More than 400,000 Britons are receiving fewer than 12 days' paid holiday a year, and a further 850,000 are missing out because employers count public holidays as part of the holiday entitlement.

On top of that Britain has eight public holidays a year. Italy has twice that. British workers get 20 paid working days' holiday, by contrast with 32 in Germany, 36 in France and 38 in Austria.

"There is no good reason why British workers should have the lowest paid holiday rights in the European Union," outgoing TUC head John Monks says.

"We are a prosperous country and can certainly afford to raise our minimum standards. Indeed, there is evidence that more holidays and increased productivity go hand in hand," he says.

Government statistics bear him out. British productivity is rising, but still lags around 15 percent behind that in Germany and almost 10 percent behind France.

TUC figures show four million people working longer than 48 hours a week, in defiance of the law, and one in 25 men work at least 60 hours -- and the trend to longer hours is rising. The labour federation described the situation as a "national disgrace."

"Half the country is caught in a vicious circle of low pay, low productivity and long hours, with the other half trapped in their offices and battling ever-growing in-trays. Other countries produce more, earn more and work far shorter hours," Monks says, noting that highly paid executives often suffer worst.

One in four British workers takes time off because of stress, more than half are suffering from stress and the problem is getting worse, an independent survey has found. The cost to the economy could be as high as US$11 billion a year.

The anecdotal evidence of dissatisfaction is overwhelming. Callers to a BBC radio phone-in said late last year they resented working as hard as they did.

A sales representative said he got 16 days' holiday a year, including bank holidays. "Whenever I'm at work I resent half the time I'm here," he says.