In a judgment on Thursday 11 April in Case C-254/18, the judges of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that national rules could provide, subject to safeguards, reference periods corresponding to fixed calendar dates for calculating the average weekly working time.
The Syndicat des cadres de la sécurité intérieure (Union of higher-ranking security forces personnel) and the French State have a dispute concerning the reference period chosen in calculating the average weekly working time of active civil servants in the national police.
A decree concerning the working conditions of civil servants provides that the weekly working time for each seven-day period (including overtime) may not exceed 48 hours on average during a six-month period of the calendar year.
In 2017, the trade union organisation brought this dispute before the Conseil d’État (Council of State) to request the annulment of this provision of the decree. It submits that, for the purpose of calculating the average weekly working time, a reference period expressed in terms of half-yearly periods of the calendar year (fixed period), unlike a period whose beginning and end would change (rolling reference period), stands in contradiction with the provisions of Directive 2003/88/EC on certain aspects of the organisation of working time.
The Conseil d'État referred the matter to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling in order to ascertain whether French law, which provides for such reference periods beginning and ending on fixed calendar dates, was in breach of the Directive in question.
In their judgment, the judges of the Court responded in the negative to this question, considering that Member States are free to determine the reference periods according to the method of their choice, provided that they respect the objectives pursued by Directive 2003/88/EC.
However, the maximum limit on average weekly working time is in line with the objective of better protecting the safety and health of workers. Thus, whether fixed or rolling, work reference periods comply with this objective if they help ensure that a worker does not work more than 48 hours on average per week over the entire duration of the period concerned and if the requirements relating to their health and safety are respected.
The judges nevertheless note that fixed reference periods, unlike rolling reference periods, may cause a worker to exceed the maximum weekly working limit over a period straddling these two fixed periods, which could correspond to a rolling reference period of the same duration. Therefore, these fixed reference periods should be accompanied by mechanisms to ensure compliance with the maximum 48-hour average weekly working time over each six-month period straddling two successive fixed reference periods.
It will be for the national court to determine whether French law provides for such safeguards. Link to the written judgment: https://bit.ly/2UuYZoW. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)