More than two thirds of UK bosses are working in excess of the European Union’s Working Time Directive, according to the results of a survey by financial business adviser Grant Thornton.

The EU’s Working Time Directive states that employees should work no more than an average of 48 hours per week over a seventeen-week period.

The results of the email survey into the concerns of UK business owners discovered that 64% of senior business people worked between 9 and 11 hours a day, in effect clocking up to 55 hours a week. The survey also revealed that another 5% of business leaders said they routinely worked 60 hours a week.

The survey also found that despite 41% of companies offering flexible working conditions, this did not lead to a reduction in the hours that people worked. 86% worked five days a week; nearly 10% worked a six day week; and 17% worked at weekends. Only 4% worked a four day week or less.