Luxembourg, 05/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - To comply with provisions of an EC directive of 1993 on changes to working time, a collective agreement cannot exceed 48 weekly hours including being on-call, without the free and explicit agreement of the individual worker. The European Court of Justice therefore decided in its Bernard Pfeiffer ruling, in the name of a worker at the German Red Cross, who was contesting their weekly working hours, brought up to 49 hours by way of the inclusion of a daily three hour on-call period during which they had to be available to work for their employer.
The Court explained that these paramedics, who provide first-aid to the injured, should not be included in exceptions to the rule in the directive, such as other sectors more closely linked to disasters where no planning is possible.
The average working week of 48 hours, including hours worked overtime, constitutes a rule in Community social law, which should benefit workers be providing minimum health and safety protection, indicated a Court press release. Exceeding 48 hours is illegal unless every worker has agreed to the increase individually "explicitly and freely". The Labour Court of Lörrach will be examining the facts.