Abstract
Recent Court of Justice judgments on working time
Highlights
Other matters regulated by the Directive include entitlements for workers to weekly and daily rest periods, rest breaks and limits on night work
The essential conceptual idea is that working time and rest periods are mutually exclusive to ensure a balance between working life on the one hand and personal/family life on the other
One issue of immense significance in an age of increasing precariousness in employment and uncertainty about employment status, is to establish who is a ‘worker’? The scope of the Working Time Directive is determined by reference to the parent Framework Health and Safety Directive, 89/391, which, under its Article 2(2), excludes workers performing ‘specific public service activities’ from entitlements in its “daughter” directives but, notwithstanding this exclusion, as those falling within this category are ‘workers’, their employer has a general duty to protect their health and safety at work
Summary
Directive 2003/88, the “Working Time Directive”,1 has established entitlements for ‘every worker’ in the EU to a maximum 48-hour average working week and a minimum four weeks of paid annual leave, except those in sectors subject to separate arrangements. Other matters regulated by the Directive include entitlements for workers to weekly and daily rest periods, rest breaks and limits on night work.. The essential conceptual idea is that working time and rest periods are mutually exclusive to ensure a balance between working life on the one hand and personal/family life on the other This bipolarity is set out in Article 2 where ‘working time’ is defined as ‘any period during which the worker is working, at the employer’s disposal and carrying out his activity or duties . The Directive is intended to balance rights with flexibility of application whilst ensuring the protection of the health and safety of workers. At the extreme end this allows Member States, if they wish, to legislate to permit a voluntary opt-out for workers from the maximum weekly working time limit, but, more generally, there are extensive derogations concerning, inter alia, the application of rest periods and breaks, with variations permitted following collective bargaining
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