§ Mr. TynanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many employees in her Department have(a) signed a formal opt out from and (b) are exempt from the Working Time Directive; and how many employees in her Department have recorded hours, including any accruing on a flexitime basis, in excess of the maximum allowed under the Working Time Directive in the last month for which figures are available. [178363]
§ Alun MichaelCurrently 13 staff in DEFRA have signed voluntary agreements to disapply the 48 hour limit set by the Working Time Regulations. The Department has determined that none of its staff is exempt from their provisions. The Department does not have centralised records to show how many staff have worked in excess of the maximum in the last month. The Regulations require that the 48 hour limit is measured792W over a 17 week period but a flexibility to the Regulations introduced in 1999 removed the requirement for employers to keep records of the hours worked by staff who voluntarily agree to disapply the limit. DEFRA has stated its commitment to keep to an absolute minimum the numbers of staff who regularly work more than 48 hours per week and continually reviews this including staff who are working close to but may not actually exceed the limit.