Overtime - European Union (EU) Directives

European Union (EU) Directives

Directives issued by the European Union must be incorporated into law by member states.

Directives 93/104/EC (1993), 2000/34/EC (2000), which limited working hours, were consolidated into 2003/88/EC (2003). Employers and employees could agree to opt out, but this exception is to be tightened up, after the EU reported evidence that the opt-out was being abused in the UK, in a new proposal for a directive expected to be adopted in early 2006, and adopted into the law of member states within 2 years.

The directives require:

• maximum average working week (including overtime) of 48 hours over a 17 week reference period
• minimum daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours in every 24
• breaks when the working day exceeds 6 hours
• minimum weekly rest period of 24 hours plus the 11 hours daily rest period in every 7-day period
• minimum of 4 weeks paid annual leave
• night work restricted to an average of 8 hours in any 24-hour period

The directives apply to:

• all sectors of activity, both public and private
• Doctors in training used to work a maximum week of 58 hours until 2009. From 1 August 2009 their maximum working week fell to 48 hours.

Exemptions:

• Member States of the EC may exempt: managing executives or other persons with autonomous decision-making power; family workers; and workers officiating at religious ceremonies. These are workers whose working time is not measured and/or pre-determined or can be determined by the workers.
• Other categories can be exempted from the directive's key provisions provided compensatory rest or appropriate protection is granted. These include employees who work a long way from home, or whose activities require a permanent presence or continuity of service or production, or who work in sectors which have peaks of activity. Examples include off-shore workers, security guards, journalists, emergency workers, agricultural workers, tour guides, etc.

The conditions attached to the worker's individual consent are somewhat modified by the proposed new directive: member states may allow workers to opt out from the limitation of hours worked so long as this is expressly allowed under a collective agreement (e.g., with a trade union), and if the individual worker consents. The individual's consent is subject to conditions:

• It cannot be given at the same time as the contract of employment is signed or during any probation period
• It is valid for a maximum of one year (renewable)
• No worker can work more than 65 hours in any week, unless exempted
• Employers are obliged to keep records of the number of hours actually worked and to make those records available to the responsible authorities if required.