Luxembourg, 02/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - In the “Dellas”proceedings, the European Court of Justice considered that what it had given in earlier rulings as an indication of payment for doctors on-call during the night also applied to healthcare workers in specialised institutions. Hours spent during the night overseeing patients must be counted for on an hourly basis for payment of that worker. The Court considered as incompatible with the provisions of the 1993 Directive on working hours the French decree of 2001 that did not take into account real time worked by educational specialists, nurses and nursing auxiliaries, but according to the ratio of three hours on duty/one hour effective duty. The Court rules in favour of Abdelkader Dellas, a specialist health worker in a clinic for young adults with disabilities, who had been dismissed after a dispute with his employer over the notion of hours effectively worked while on stand-by duty. Dellas' employer and the French government considered in substance that night-time wardens should be paid differently given the lower intensity of work provided, thus making a difference between such workers and doctors who, they said, are always on high alert even during the night hours.
Three trade unions, the Confédération générale du travail, Fédération nationale des syndicats des services de santé et des services sociaux (CFDT) and the Fédération nationale de l'action sociale Force ouvrière had joined Abdelkader Dellas in initiating legal proceedings against the French prime mister and the minister of social affairs, who, in turn, were supported by the Union des federations et syndicats nationaux d'employeurs sans but lucrative du secteur sanitaire, social and medico-social. The Council of State had referred the case to the European Court of Justice for interpretation of the 1993 Directive on the adjustment of working hours, which fixes the weekly number of hours worked at European level at a maximum of 48 hours. Hours of presence at the workplace must be fully paid as hours worked when it is possible to verify compliance with all the minimum requirements laid down by the directive in order to protect effectively the safety and health of workers, the Court communiqué reads. The French decree, however, only partially takes into account hours of presence at the workplace. Thus, the overall time worked can reach if not exceed 60 hours per week. It goes on to conclude that the French regulation exceeds the maximum weekly number of hours worked as fixed by the directive.