Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the cost to the British economy of the EU Working Time Directive in the most recent year for which data is available.

The Balance of Competence Review, published in July 2014, said that costs would dramatically rise if the flexibility afforded by the individual opt-out were no longer available. Respondents to the Balance of Competence Review’s Call for Evidence felt that the ECJ judgments surrounding on-call working, accrual and carry-over of annual leave as well as payment for annual leave posed further significant costs.