Annual hours working in Britain

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.