Brussels, 08/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is delighted with the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling that the United Kingdom working time guidelines (see EUROPE 9260) infringe EU rules. This ruling confirms the Commission's view that 'daily rest for workers is a right and cannot be renounced. Employers must ensure that workers have rest periods - it is a matter of health and safety and is not something that can be traded off,' explains a Commission press release. The Commission notes that the 'ECJ ruling does not affect the individual opt-out rules which exist in the UK and allow workers to work more than 48 hours per week on average.'
Under the Working Time Directive (presently 2003/88/EC, at the time of the start of the infringement 93/104/EC), Member States are required to take the measures necessary to ensure that every worker is entitled to a minimum daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours per 24-hour period. However, the working time directive contains flexibility provisions allowing Member States to waive these rules for particular types of workers, for example people working in activities involving the need for continuity of service, such as hospitals, prisons, airports, press and other media, postal and telecom services, gas, water, electricity, R&D, agriculture and urban transport services, who may not necessarily benefit from daily or weekly rest periods as established under the directive. The same applies to people working in other industries, like the railways, cleaning, security services and shift work, who should also enjoy compensatory rest.