Working hours and breaks 




The Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR) enforce the European Union (EU) Working Time Directive in the UK and limit the length of the working day and the working week. The future of the Directive post-Brexit is currently uncertain. In parliamentary debate in December 2017, prime minister Theresa May refused to promise that the working time regulations would remain intact after 2019, agreeing only to “maintain and enhance workers’ rights” in general terms. The 48-hour working week is thought to be particularly vulnerable. 



The purpose of the Working Time Directive is to protect workers’ health, safety and welfare. This purpose “cannot be subordinated to purely economic considerations” (Federacion de Servicios Privados del Sindicato Comisiones Obreras v Tyco Integrated Security s.l. [2015] EUEJC C-266/14). 




The WTR cover workers, not just employees (see Chapter 2: Categories of worker). The regulations state that in general, a worker should work no more than 48 hours in a week, averaged over a reference period. This is normally 17 weeks, but is 26 weeks in the special cases listed in regulation 21. These include, for example, those working in security and surveillance, care services and at docks and airports. The reference period is 52 weeks in the offshore oil and gas sector, and can be extended to 52 weeks by collective or workforce agreement in other sectors. Employers cannot force workers to work more than these hours (Barber v RJB Mining [1999] IRLR 308). 




The WTR do not apply to senior managers and others whose working time is not predetermined and who can exercise control over it. Junior doctors were initially excluded but are now covered, as are transport workers unless covered by a more specific set of regulations, such as the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005.




“Working time” is defined by regulation 2(1), WTR as:


• any period during which a worker is working, at their employer’s disposal and carrying out their activities or duties;



• any period when they are receiving relevant training; and



• any additional period treated as working time under a relevant agreement.



This is an important definition.
Under the Working Time Directive, time is either “working time” or a “rest period”. These two states are mutually exclusive. Either someone is “working”, or they are “not working” and are at rest (Federacion de Servicios Privados del Sindicato Comisiones Obreras v Tyco Integrated Security s.l. [2015] EUEJC C-266/14).
Here are some useful examples, taken from recent cases:


• In Edwards & Another v Encirc Ltd [2015] UKEAT/0367/14/DM, the EAT confirmed that where a union is recognised, time spent in union meetings at work with the employer’s consent, engaged in union duties, such as health and safety duties or considering a pay offer, is working time. A recognition agreement can be a relevant agreement on working time (see Chapter 5).




• In Uber v Aslam & Others [2017] UKEAT/0056/17/DA, Uber drivers were working not only when carrying a passenger, but also while the Uber App was switched on, the driver was in the territory where he was licensed to use the App and was ready and willing to accept trips. (This conclusion was based largely on the tribunal’s finding that Uber drivers were obliged to accept at least 80% of journeys or else would be shut out of the App). This was all working time;



• In Truslove v Scottish Ambulance Service [2014] UKEATS/0053/JW,
relief ambulance drivers on call overnight away from their home base station were working throughout the shift. They had to remain within a three-mile radius of the ambulance station at all times and able to respond to a call out within three minutes. This was all working time; and


• In Ville de Nivelles v Matzak [2018] EC-519/15, the ECJ ruled that a firefighter on standby at home and required to respond to calls from his employer and to reach his place of work within eight minutes was working while on standby (see also page 115: Time “on call”). 



Collective or workplace agreements can be entered into to modify the rules on daily and weekly rest breaks, maximum weekly working hours and night work. The rules are stricter for young workers (see Chapter 2).