Eating into my rest time...

Earlier this week I was put through an induction process in order to be given a site badge for a global customer of ours. Nothing unusual about that, you might say... just another wretched photo ID badge to leave behind at home on the wrong day. The ritual brainwashing was, this time, a little different. This particular company has a more refreshingly honest approach to the European Working Time directive.

For example:

(3) Time-off - Daily Rest. A worker has a right to 11 hours uninterrupted rest a day, between shifts/work patterns

(4) Time-off - Weekly rest. A worker has the right to one day off in every week, but can be averaged over two weeks - e.g. 2 days a fortnight

Now working includes "working lunches, travel as part of their work, job related training, on call when required to be at the place of work', but does not include include travel between home and work, or rest breaks (a concept I'm not sure I understand anyway!) The working lunch is a well known curse, and the clogging up of laptop keyboards with baguette crumbs is a well known hazard of the workplace these days.

Once I take my 4 hours of commute (non working time) from my rightful 11 hours of rest, I'm left with 7 hours to myself. It's merciful that I get by on six hours of sleep a day, or I'd never have time for a shower and a shave.

This leaves me thinking that the Working Time Directive enables me put in 78 hours a week, while commuting for a further 20 hours, enjoying a day to myself on a Sunday before getting another 42 hours rest the following week.

At least they're honest! The small print about the 48 hour 'maximum is just that, small print.

It's an interesting fact that when I first joined the industry, 32 years ago, we worked a strict 37 hours week, had no laptops so couldn't take our work home, no mobile phones or Blackberries, and yet it really does seem that we were at least three times as productive as we are today... What's going on here?!