One area where employment rights legislation has dramatically affected people's work and lifestyles is that of the organisation of working time. This area covers issues such as holiday entitlements, rest periods, maximum working time and night work. Changing social needs and technological advances have influenced the way we work and the length of time in terms of days and hours per week we spend in the workplace. For example, the maximum number of hours people work per week has fallen over the years from 60 hours to 48 hours. The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, which implemented an EU directive on working time, set the maximum number of hours that may be worked in a week at 48 hours.