Long hours working is on the increase in the UK, reversing the slow but steady ten-year decline in people working more than 48 hours a week, according to a new TUC analysis.

The research found that more than one in eight of the workforce now work more than 48 hours each week, with as many as one in six in London putting in 48 hours plus a week.

The latest Labour Force Survey shows that 93,000 more people now work more than 48 hours a week, taking the total to almost three and a quarter million (3,242,000). This is a rise to 13.1% of the workforce (up from 12.8% last year).

The biggest increases in the numbers of people working in excess of 48 hours are in the South-East (an increase of 28,000 to 525,000), and London (an increase of 25,000 to 481,000). These two regions have the highest proportion of the workforce working long hours (16.1% in London and 14.8% in the South-East).

The biggest increase in the share of the workforce putting in more than 48 hours took place in Wales where it went up 1.3% to 12.2%. Only the South-West and the East Midlands buck the trend with a small fall in long hours workers.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber (pictured) says: “These are very disturbing numbers. They suggest that the slow, but at least steady, decline in those working more than 48 hours a week has come to an end. No-one should forget that 48 hours is six eight-hour days - more than enough for anyone every week.

“There is undoubted abuse of the law, but employers know they can get away with it because it is rarely enforced. Neither the Health and Safety Executive nor local authorities who share responsibility for enforcement have the resources to implement the law. And the government knows that employers can abuse the opt-out as ministers consulted on ways to close loopholes in 2004, but have yet to bring forward any concrete proposals for change.”