Annual hours working in Britain

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to investigate the extent of the implementation of annual hours working in Britain and its impact upon employers, organisations and employees.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper deploys secondary data and sources to establish an overview of the salient issues.

Findings

Although there has been a growth in the extent of annual hours worked in the last decade, the rate of growth has slowed. This is related to the reduction in extant organisations that may consider introducing annual hours in tandem with the problems associated with annual hours worked.

Research limitations/implications

Issues of working time remain a key area of contestation between employers and employees, particularly as in recent years coercive competitive pressures on organisations have increased whilst a discourse about ‘family‐friendly’ working time polices has also emerged.

Practical implications

The plaudits of management consultants and policy groups concerning annual hours worked are revealed to be rather one‐sided, with considerable problems emerging for employers and employees alike.

Originality/value

Brings together an array of data to build up an analysis of annual hours worked.

Citation

Gall, G. and Allsop, D. (2007), "Annual hours working in Britain", Personnel Review, Vol. 36 No. 5, pp. 800-814. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480710774052