Working Time Directive
Encyclopedia
The Working Time Directive 2003/88/EC is a European Union Directive
, which creates the right for EU workers to a minimum number of holidays each year, paid breaks, and rest of at least 11 hours in any 24 hours; restricts excessive night work; and makes a default right to work no more than 48 hours per week. It was issued as an update on an earlier version on 22 June 2000. Excessive working time being a major cause of stress, depression and illness, the purpose of the Directive is to protect people's health and safety.
s, this is an instrument which requires member states to enact its provisions in national legislation. Although the directive applies to all member states, in the United Kingdom
, it is possible to opt out of the 48 hour working week and work longer hours. However, it is not possible to opt out of the other requirements. France
passed stricter legislation limiting the maximum working week to 35 hours
, but French president Nicolas Sarkozy
promised to abolish this legislation.
After the 1993 Council Negotiations, when the Directive was agreed to after a 11-1 vote, UK Employment Secretary David Hunt said "It is a flagrant abuse of Community rules. It has been brought forward as such simply to allow majority voting - a ploy to smuggle through part of the Social Chapter by the back door. The UK strongly opposes any attempt to tell people that they can no longer work the hours they want."
arts 25-26 review of derogations for fishing boats and passenger carriers
. The most notable of these have been the "SIMAP" and "Jaeger" judgments (Sindicato de Médicos de Asistencia Pública (Simap)
v. Conselleria de Sanidad y Consumo de la Generalidad Valenciana, 2000 and Landeshaupstadt Kiel v Norbert Jaeger, 2003). The SIMAP judgment defined all time when the worker was required to be present on site as actual working hours, for the purposes of work and rest calculations. The Jaeger judgment confirmed that this was the case even if workers could sleep when their services were not required.
Judgments from the European Court of Justice
Non-governmental organization documents
With regard to the United Kingdom
European Union directive
A directive is a legislative act of the European Union, which requires member states to achieve a particular result without dictating the means of achieving that result. It can be distinguished from regulations which are self-executing and do not require any implementing measures. Directives...
, which creates the right for EU workers to a minimum number of holidays each year, paid breaks, and rest of at least 11 hours in any 24 hours; restricts excessive night work; and makes a default right to work no more than 48 hours per week. It was issued as an update on an earlier version on 22 June 2000. Excessive working time being a major cause of stress, depression and illness, the purpose of the Directive is to protect people's health and safety.
Background
Like all European Union directiveEuropean Union directive
A directive is a legislative act of the European Union, which requires member states to achieve a particular result without dictating the means of achieving that result. It can be distinguished from regulations which are self-executing and do not require any implementing measures. Directives...
s, this is an instrument which requires member states to enact its provisions in national legislation. Although the directive applies to all member states, in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, it is possible to opt out of the 48 hour working week and work longer hours. However, it is not possible to opt out of the other requirements. France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
passed stricter legislation limiting the maximum working week to 35 hours
35-hour workweek
The 35-hour working week is a measure adopted first in France, in February 2000, under Prime Minister Lionel Jospin's Plural Left government; it was pushed by Minister of Labour Martine Aubry. The previous legal duration of the working week was 39 hours, which had been established by François...
, but French president Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
promised to abolish this legislation.
After the 1993 Council Negotiations, when the Directive was agreed to after a 11-1 vote, UK Employment Secretary David Hunt said "It is a flagrant abuse of Community rules. It has been brought forward as such simply to allow majority voting - a ploy to smuggle through part of the Social Chapter by the back door. The UK strongly opposes any attempt to tell people that they can no longer work the hours they want."
Aims and definitions
- art 1 purpose as health and safety
- art 2 definitions; night time is between 12pm and 5am and not less than seven hours
- art 14 more specific EU provisions take precedence
- art 15 minimum standards directive
- art 16 maximum reference period is 14 days for art 5; 4 months for art 6; and determined by collective agreement for art 8;
- art 23 the Directive cannot be a reason to reduce protection
- art 24 report to Commission about the implementation of the WTD
arts 25-26 review of derogations for fishing boats and passenger carriers
Breaks
- art 3 daily rest of 11 hours per 24 hour period
- art 4 a rest period for every six hours, set by legislation or collective agreement
- art 5 weekly rest of 24 hours uninterrupted, on top of the daily rest in art 3, but derogation justifiable for technical, organisational or work reasons
Working week
- art 6 (a) member states must ensure weekly working time is limited by law, or collective agreement(b) average working time should not exceed 48 hours for each 7 day period
- art 17 derogations allowed under arts 3-6, 8 and 16 for (1) ‘managing executives or other persons with autonomous decision making powers’, family workers and religious leaders (2) …. (5) doctors’ provisions
- art 18 derogations by collective agreement
- art 19 limit to derogation for reference period
- art 20 mobile and offshore workers
- art 21 workers on fishing vessels
- art 22 ‘miscellaneous’ (1) individual opt out for art 6 where (a) the worker agrees (b) no detriment for not agreeing (c) records kept up to date (d) authorities kept informed (e) information given (2) three week trasitional provision (3) inform Commission
Holidays
- art 7 annual leave of at least four weeks (ie 20 days on a full-time basis) and no payment in lieu except where employment is terminated
Night work
- art 8 (a) eight hours night work in any 24 hour period on average (b) eight hours where hazardous or strenuous work
- art 9 free health assessments for night workers
- art 10 night workers who risk health can be given guarantees (?)
- art 11 night workers to be notified to competent authorities ‘if they so request’
- art 12 night and shift workers should have health protected
- art 13 ‘an employer who intends to organise work according to a certain pattern takes account of the general principle of adapting work to the worker, with a view, in particular, to alleviating monotonous work and work at a predetermined work-rate’
Case law
The Working Time Directive has also been clarified and interpreted through a number of rulings in the European Court of JusticeEuropean Court of Justice
The Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...
. The most notable of these have been the "SIMAP" and "Jaeger" judgments (Sindicato de Médicos de Asistencia Pública (Simap)
Sindicato de Médicos de Asistencia Pública (Simap)
Sindicato de Médicos de Asistencia Pública, the Spanish doctors' union, started on 22 August 1991, under the acronym SIMAP-CV. Simap is a union of doctors working in public health...
v. Conselleria de Sanidad y Consumo de la Generalidad Valenciana, 2000 and Landeshaupstadt Kiel v Norbert Jaeger, 2003). The SIMAP judgment defined all time when the worker was required to be present on site as actual working hours, for the purposes of work and rest calculations. The Jaeger judgment confirmed that this was the case even if workers could sleep when their services were not required.
See also
- EU labour law
- UK labour law
- German labour lawGerman labour lawGerman labour law refers to the regulation of the employment relationship and industrial partnership in Germany.-Contract of employment:*Burgerliches Gesetzbuch §§ 611–630...
- Labour lawLabour lawLabour law is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents which address the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working people and their organizations. As such, it mediates many aspects of the relationship between trade unions, employers and employees...
- Working Time Regulations 1998Working Time Regulations 1998The Working Time Regulations 1998 are a United Kingdom statutory instrument, which regulate the time that people in the UK may work. It is intended to implement the EU Working Time Directive 2003/88/EC. Firstly, it sets a default rule which, although one may controversially opt out of it, that...
(SI 1998/1833)
External links
Documents from the European Council, Commission, and Parliament- Council Directive 93/104/EC of 23 November 1993 concerning certain aspects of the organization of working time – repealed by Directive 2003/88/EC, as follows
- Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time
- Prelex: adoption procedure of Directive 2003/88/EC
- National implementing measures of Directive 2003/88/EC
- Report from the Commission on the operation of the provisions of Directive 2003/88/EC
- Commission Opinion — Extension of transitional arrangements for the working time of doctors in training in the United Kingdom
- Commission Opinion — Extension of transitional arrangements for the working time of doctors in training in Hungary
- Prelex: Adoption procedure file for the Commission's proposal for revision of Working Time Directive, COM(2004) 607. Legal Observatory: The European Parliament's procedure file for the proposal.
Judgments from the European Court of Justice
- Judgment of the Court of 12 November 1996. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland v Council of the European Union. Council Directive 93/104/EC concerning certain aspects of the organization of working time - Action for annulment. Case C-84/94.
- Judgment of the Court of 3 October 2000. Sindicato de Médicos de Asistencia Pública (SiMAP) v. Conselleria de Sanidad y Consumo de la Generalidad Valenciana
- Judgment of the Court of 9 September 2003. Landeshauptstadt Kiel v Norbert Jaeger
Non-governmental organization documents
- European Public Health Alliance: "Impact on health workforce of the working time directive"
With regard to the United Kingdom
- Department of Trade and Industry: Working Time Regulations
- Health & Safety Executive: The Working Time Regulations
- Department of Health: European Working Time Directive
- Guardian (2006-11-06): Q&A: the working time directive
- BBC News (2002-04-29): Q&A: Working time directive
- NWP and the Working Time Directive 2009. In 2009 the maximum hours that junior medical staff in the NHS work will be reduced from 58 to 48 under European law. This is a major challenge for the health service and will require new ways of working to be adopted. NHS National Workforce Projects has been appointed as the lead organisation to help support the NHS in finding and implementing solutions to WTD 2009. We are working with a wide group of stakeholders and piloting solutions that look at new ways of working and communicating best practice in the build up to 2009.