Re‐evaluating the concept of working time: an analysis of recent case law

Abstract

ABSTRACTControversy abounds the Working Time Directive seven years since its implementation as the European Commission seeks to unpick the compromise that led to the notorious individual opt‐out from maximum weekly working time. This article explores the roots of that controversy in the context of the Court of Justice’s expansive interpretation of the concept of ‘working time’. To what extent is it possible to maintain a health and safety guarantee but allow for more flexibility in the organisation of working time for individual workers in an increasingly heterogeneous working environment?