In a ruling delivered on Thursday 9 November on Case C-306/16, judges at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) stated that the weekly rest period for workers does not necessarily have to be granted the day following six consecutive working days and may be granted on any day during each seven-day period.
The judges at the Luxembourg Courts therefore followed the reasons underpinning the conclusions of the Advocate General on 21 June last (see EUROPE 11813). In this case, a Portuguese citizen employed at a casino between 1991 and 2014 had sometimes been obliged to work seven consecutive days and therefore considered that his rights had not been respected.
When requested to assess the dispute, a Portuguese court sent a referral to the ECJ in an effort to determine whether, under directive 93/104/EC on certain aspects of the organisation of working time, the weekly working time should have been granted on the seventh day following six consecutive working days. Mr Saugmandsgaard Øe considered that the weekly working rest time should be granted within each seven-day period, which paves the way to a working period of twelve consecutive days.
In its decision, the ECJ considers that the afore-mentioned directive should be interpreted in the sense that member states are obliged to ensure that any worker has a minimum rest period of 24-hours without interruption during a seven day period. The judges also consider that the text allows for a certain amount of flexibility in its implementation and that the member states therefore have a certain room for manoeuvre with regard to setting out the period from which this minimum period must be granted. The introduction of more favourable standards is therefore ultimately within the remit of the member states and cannot therefore be decided under Union law. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)