HC Deb 30 October 2000 vol 355 cc220-1W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the effect of the Working Time Directive on the opportunities for postal workers to earn overtime payments. [134377]

Mr. Alan Johnson

The Working Time Regulations, which implement the provisions of the European Working Time Directive, are designed to protect employees from being required to work over a 48 hour week on average, but allow them to opt-out of this protection if they wish. This individual opt-out is reviewable by the EU Commission in 2003.

Overtime payments are a contractual matter.