Employers must promote flexible working, not stress

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News analysis: Why workers in Britain are still chained to their desks

The French working week: It's Thursday - and the weekend starts here

If Tony Blair were looking for an eye-catching way of convincing the business world that his commitment to the principles of the free market remains intact, he could point to the present legal action being pursued against his government by the European Union.

In the wake of a complaint by the white-collar union Amicus, the EU's officials are investigating whether the British Government has "unlawfully and inadequately" implemented the EU's Working Time Directive, which is designed to limit the working week for most Britons to 48 hours.

The evidence that British ministers have indeed taken such a laissez-faire approach is compelling. The UK is the only country to have negotiated a special dispensation whereby some workers can "volunteer" to work longer than 48 hours if they wish to do so. Amicus adds that the British Government is not doing enough to enforce even this weaker version of the directive. And, should there be any residual doubt about the amount of time Britons spend at work, the official statistics show that the UK has the highest average working hours in the EU. Indeed, given the large amount of overtime worked by professionals in environments where working hours are not recorded, the figures may even understate matters.

What those statistics do not reveal is the damage to people's health and family life wrought by the national addiction to late nights at the office and overtime at the factory or on the farm. Stress is the great modern occupational disease and, while reports of an epidemic are surely an exaggeration, it is certainly on the rise. We should welcome any initiative that might halt its spread.

According to the Confederation of British Industry, business is concerned about the implications of the EU move; but if companies in Britain want to head off the heavy hand of legislation they will need to demonstrate a much more flexible attitude to work. That means more part-time jobs, better maternity and paternity leave and sabbaticals; and less pressure on "volunteers" to work more than 48 hours a week.