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In June 2008, the EU Employment and Social Affairs Council adopted a common position on the opt-out from the 48-hour week and on what constitutes on-call time – two contentious matters that the governments of the EU states have been arguing over since the UK’s opt-out expired in November 2003.  The compromise would allow the opt-out to continue but with new upper limits and other restrictive conditions.  The agreement was subject to the approval of the European Parliament.

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Posted November 17th, 2008 | No Comments »

On 15 October, the European Commission adopted a proposal to modify the Directive on working time in road transport.  The new proposal aims to ensure that the existing working time rules apply to all employed professional drivers, including “false self-employed workers”.

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Posted October 27th, 2008 | No Comments »

In a decision given on 3 October in the case Hughes v Graham and Jones, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) allowed an appeal by Mrs. Hughes and ruled that (1) she was working while on call at nights, even though asleep, and (2) her work and pay arrangements constituted “salaried hours work” and she had been paid below the National Minimum Wage (NMW).

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Posted October 13th, 2008 | No Comments »

On 10 June, agreement was reached by the EU Employment and Social Affairs Council on the longstanding issues of the Working Time Directive.

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Posted June 23rd, 2008 | No Comments »