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| WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE FAQ’S |
EU Working Time Directive: FAQ’s
A selection of FAQ’s relating to the Working Time Directive, as featured in the RACO SDC 2018 document.
What is a Directive?
A Directive is a legal 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 normally leave Member States with a certain amount of leeway as to the exact rules to be adopted. What is the Working Time Directive? The objective of the EU’s Directive 2003/88/EC is to “enhance the safety and welfare of workers and to provide for greater compatibility between work and family life”. Accordingly, it is firmly rooted in health & safety rather than employment legislation and legal jurisprudence in the area has determined that it cannot be easily forgone by employers. Essentially the WTD sets out limits on the number of continuous hours employees can work over certain periods.
What does this mean in Practice?
In the absence of agreed derogations or exemptions employers must ensure their employees’ working hours meet the following minimum standards;
• Rest periods during working day. Where the worker has worked for 4.5 hours they are entitled to a fifteen-minute break. If they have worked in excess of 6 hours they are entitled to a 30-minute break.
• Paid annual leave of at least 4 weeks per year.
What is the current status of the WTD pertaining to the Defence Forces?
When Ireland transposed the Directive into Irish legislation, it enacted the Organisation of Working Time Act (1997). Section 3 of the Act states it does “not apply to a member of the Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces”, thereby evoking blanket exemption and derogations to the number of hours that personnel may work in a day, week, month or year.
What is an “Exemption”?
Article 2.2 of the WTD states that exemptions may be granted only for activities that “can be justified by an absolute necessity to ensure effective protection of the community”.
What is a “Derogation”?
Article 17.3 of the WTD states that derogations sought must be outlined for each activity and subject to compensatory rest being provided.
• • •
Average working hours must not exceed 48 hours in any week.
Minimum daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours in every 24 hours
Minimum weekly rest period of 24 uninterrupted hours for each 7-day period, in addition to the 11 hours daily rest i.e. 35 hour ‘weekend’.
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| WINTER ‘18 |