Gilman, Mark

This reports analyses 386 agreements which had been signed when the Directive came into force on 22 September 1996, and Article 13 ceased as an option for the establishment of a European Works Council.

1999 saw GDP growth decrease to 1.2%, from 2.2% in 1998 and 3.5% in 1997. However, inflation slowed, to 1.3% compared with 3.2% in 1998 and 2.8% in 1997. The unemployment rate decreased slightly from 6.4% (1,804,000 people) in 1998 to 6.3% (1,778,000) in 1999, continuing the decline which has been witnessed since 1993, when the rate stood at 10.7% (2,996,000). Public debt as a percentage of GDP fell from 41.4% in 1998 to 39% in 1999, continuing a decline from the recent high-point of 44.2% recorded in 1996.

Dissatisfaction on the part of junior doctors in the UK over out-of-hours pay and excessive workload has been fuelled by the outcome of the meeting of the EU's Council of Labour and Social Affairs Ministers on 25 May 1999 concerning proposals for extending the 1993 EU Directive on certain aspects of the organisation of working time (93/104/EC) [1] (EU9906178F [2]). The Council reached political agreement on a common position on the proposed "horizontal" Directive extending the provisions of the original Directive to non-mobile workers in previously excluded sectors. The Council proposed a nine-year transition period before the standard 48-hour limit on average weekly working hours would apply to doctors in training: a maximum average working week of 60 hours would apply for the first three years; a 56-hour limit would apply for the following three years; and a 52-hour limit would apply for a further three years. Taking account of the proposed four-year timetable for national transposition of the Directive, the limit on the weekly working hours of doctors in training would be brought down to 48 hours over a total of 13 years after the adoption of the Directive. [1] http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=en&numdoc=31993L0104&model=guichett [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-working-conditions/council-agrees-to-extend-working-time-directive-to-excluded-sectors

In the third quarter of 1998, the UK's GDP was 2.5% higher than a year earlier. Balance of trade in goods was in deficit by GBP 3.9 billion, compared with GBP 2.6 billion a year earlier. In December 1998, the all-items retail prices index (RPI) inflation rate stood at 2.8%, down from 3.0% in November.

From 1 October 1998, the UK is covered, for the first time, by a set of general statutory rules for the regulation of working time - the Working Time Regulations 1998 [1] (UK9810154F [2]). The Regulations represent mainly the UK's implementation of the 1993 EU Directive on certain aspects of the organisation of working time (93/104/EC) [3]. Among other issues, the new Regulations thus stipulate the following rights: [1] http://www.dti.gov.uk/ER/WTR/ [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-working-conditions/new-working-time-regulations-take-effect [3] http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=en&numdoc=31993L0104&model=guichett

Delegates at a joint conference, organised by theTrades Union Congress (TUC), Alcohol Concern and the Institute for the Study of Drug Dependency (ISDD) on 12 October 1998, heard that alcohol and drug misuse is estimated to cost employers nearly GBP 3 billion per year - GBP 2 billion for alcohol misuse and GBP 800 million for drug misuse. While it is estimated that 14 million working days are lost through alcohol misuse each year, very little is known about the impact of drug misuse so the true cost may be higher than estimated. Delegates were told that one in four workplace accidents involve workers who have been drinking alcohol. Furthermore, three out of four people with alcohol problems and one in four seeking help with drug problems are estimated to be in employment.

A survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), published in September 1998, indicates that sickness and other forms of absence cost British firms an estimated GBP 11 billion in total in 1997. Some 197 million days of work were lost, and the cost worked out at GBP 478 per employee for the year. The figures show that the costs to business remained broadly unchanged from those of the previous year. Minor illness was the main cause of absence, followed by serious ill-health, family responsibilities, personal problems and work pressure. The survey also found that workers in the public sector took more time off than those in the private sector. The CBI reported that stress-related illness was not among the most significant causes of absence, despite other surveys indicating that long hours and pressure at work affect the health of employees.

The annual Trades Union Congress (TUC) was held in Blackpool on 14-17 September 1998. In his opening address, the TUC president, John Edmonds, launched a widely-reported attack on some UK company directors, calling them "greedy bastards" and advocating government action against directors who take excessive pay increases (UK9808146N [1]). He also called for higher tax levels for top earners, saying that "executive pay is now the politics of the pig trough. We have little chance of creating a fair society unless we insist that people with great power act with a similar level of responsibility." [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/fat-cat-directors-pay-back-in-the-headlines

The introduction of the UK's first statutory National Minimum Wage (NMW) came one step closer on 11 September 1998, when the Department of Trade and Industry launched a public consultation on draft regulations implementing the NMW. The NMW was one of the key commitments of the Labour Government when it came to power in May 1997 (UK9704125F [1]), and the new proposals by and large put into effect the proposals of the Low Pay Commission (LPC) set up to recommend the level of the NMW, which published its report in June 1998 (UK9807135F [2]). The draft regulations would: [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-labour-market/the-industrial-relations-consequences-of-the-new-labour-government [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/the-national-minimum-wage-report-of-the-low-pay-commission

At the end of July 1998, the Government backed away from the idea of controlling the salaries of companies directors in the utilities. After leaked rumours of plans to prevent large pay rises for directors by linking them to customers' bills, Margaret Beckett of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) commented that "it is not the government's job to set the pay of utility company executives."