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Feedback urges INTD opt-outs
Page 8
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WITH THE DEADLINE for the Working Time Directive barely a year away, the cut-off date for responses to the government's first consultation on the issue has finally arrived.
In its submission, the Freight Transport Association has called on the government to take full advantage of the two possible derogations. or opt-outs, which allow extended night working and a longer period of reference over which the average 48-hours is calculated.
Joan Williams. the FTA's working time specialist, says: "The European Commission has written in the derogations and we expect the government to use them when applying the rules to the real world, just as they have for every other industry. It's absolutely crucial that we have the flexibility to cope with the unexpected."
The Road Haulage Association takes a more robust line, lambasting the government for the lateness of the report. Ruth Pon. the RHA's head of employment, says: "We are a bit despondent that it's taken them so long to produce so little. We just hope that they don't waste the next 12 months fiddling around drafting legislation. They've got to give maximum time to allow comp, flies to make the major changi to their operating systems that ti WTD will force."
The government will now drE WTD rules before further const tation. The WTD must come in force by 23 March 2005.