Average working hours per week:

UK: 43.6 Greece: 40.8 Spain: 40.6 Portugal: 40.6 Austria: 40.2 Sweden: 40.1 Germany: 40.1 Ireland: 40 Luxembourg: 39.7 France: 39.6 Finland: 39.3 Netherlands: 39 Denmark : 38.9 Italy: 38.5 Belgium : 38.4 Source: Workplace Employee Relations Survey 1998

Four million people regularly flout the 1999 directive by putting in more than 48 hours a week, according to the Trades Union Congress and the Industrial Society.

"The UK is the only country in the EU where people are allowed to opt out of the directive," a TUC spokesman told BBC News Online.

Making matters worse, the two organisations said, flexible working remains a rarity in the UK.

"Too many workers in the UK are expected to work long hours and inflexibly for no return," said TUC general secretary John Monks.

Quarterly UK surveys back the findings of the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey which showed how UK employees worked the longest hours, the TUC spokesman told BBC News Online.

Benefits for all

The TUC and the Industrial Society said both employers and workers would benefit if people were able to strike a better balance between their job and their life outside work.

"Balancing work and life is crucial to better workplace performance and productivity," said Industrial Society chief executive Will Hutton.

Attacking the embedded culture of presenteeism in UK companies, he added that "the irony is that this inflexible approach to work-life balance decreases employee motivation and results".

"Reduced absenteeism, less staff turnover and a more productive, highly committed workforce" would be the result if workers were offered a better work-life balance, employment relations minister Alan Johnson said.

New guidelines

To improve the situation in the UK labour market, the TUC has launched new guidelines aimed at showing companies how flexible working can be achieved and how it will benefit both them and their staff.

Along with the guidelines, a video training package on how to balance work and life outside was launched by the TUC and the Industrial Society.

"Work-life balance isn't just about introducing policies for working parents but ensuring everyone at work has the opportunity to take the time to pursue other interests," they said in a statement.

"Recent surveys suggest the majority of employees do not have the freedom to do this."

Just one in four are allowed parental leave, 16% of workers have access to job-share schemes and fewer than one in three are offered flexitime, the organisations said, quoting recent surveys.