Organisation of working time

SUMMARY OF:

Directive 2003/88/EC – certain aspects of the organisation of working time

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DIRECTIVE?

The directive sets out minimum safety and health requirements for the organisation of the working time of workers in the European Union (EU). These cover:

minimum periods of daily and weekly rest, annual leave, breaks and maximum weekly working time;
aspects of night and shift work.

KEY POINTS

EU Member States

Member States must ensure that all workers are entitled to:
- a minimum daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours in every 24-hour period;
- a rest break in any working day longer than 6 hours;
- an uninterrupted 24-hour rest period in every 7-day period, in addition to the daily 11 hours;
- at least 4 weeks of paid annual leave;
- an average maximum working week of 48 hours, including overtime, over 7 days.
Normal night work should be no more than 8 hours on average in any 24-hour period.
Night workers are entitled to free health checks at regular intervals.

National authorities

National authorities may:
- use reference periods not exceeding 14 days to calculate weekly rest periods, and not exceeding 4 months to calculate average maximum weekly working time;
- exempt managing executives, other senior decision-makers, family workers and religious officials from parts of the legislation.
Derogations from certain provisions may also apply for any of the following:
- security and surveillance activities requiring a permanent presence to protect people or property;
- continuity of service or production in areas such as hospitals, docks, airports, the media and agriculture;
- foreseeable surges in activity (notably in agriculture, tourism, postal services, railways and cases of accidents);
- derogations agreed in collective agreements between employers and employees.
The legislation does not apply to seafarers, nor does it apply to workers covered by more specific rules (such as mobile workers in the road transport, civil aviation, cross-border railway or inland waterway transport sectors).
Member States may apply more favourable health and safety rules if they wish.

Interpretative communication

The right to fair working conditions is underscored in Principle 10 (the need to ensure a healthy and safe work environment) of the European Pillar of Social Rights and in Article 31 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (working conditions with respect to workers’ health, safety and dignity and which set out maximum working hours, daily and weekly rest periods and an annual period of paid leave).

With a view to increasing workers’ awareness of their social rights, in early 2023, the European Commission adopted an interpretative communication to increase legal certainty and clarity concerning the interpretation of Directive 2003/88/EC. The communication goes through the directive, article by article, and the relevant jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the EU (up to 22 September 2022), with a view to assisting Member States’ authorities, legal practitioners and social partners in its interpretation. It updates a similar communication from 2017.

The Commission’s most recent report on the implementation of Directive 2003/88/EC was also published in March 2023.

FROM WHEN DO THE RULES APPLY?

Directive 2003/88/EC repeals and codifies Directive 93/104/EC. For this reason, there is no deadline for its transposition into national law. The rules in the directive have applied since 2 August 2004.

BACKGROUND

For further details, see:

Working conditions – Working time directive (European Commission).

MAIN DOCUMENT

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 (OJ L 299, 18.11.2003, pp. 9–19).

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