New Road Transport Working Time Regulations

The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) (in the UK) and the Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency (DVTA) (In Northern Ireland) will enforce the new regulations, primarily in response to complaints they receive.

In brief, the new Regulations provide:

 a maximum 48 hour working week on average
 an absolute limit of 60 hours in any one working week
 no opt out
 a maximum 10 hours night work in any 24
 11 consecutive hours rest in every 24
 45 consecutive hours rest per week
 45 minutes break after 4 1/2 hours driving
 30 minutes rest after 6 hours working (but not driving)
 45 minutes break after 9 hours working (but not driving)

New limits details

 Maximum 48 hour working week, calculated on average over a reference period of 17 weeks (which can be extended to 26 weeks by collective agreement)
 Absolute limit of 60 hours working in any week. Coach drivers on an international (non-regular) unscheduled journey can work longer than 60 hours in a week, but the average 48 hour working week, along with the daily and weekly rest requirements under the EU drivers’ hours rules, still applies
 The working week commences at 00.00 on Monday morning
 There is no opt out from the 48 or 60 hour limits
 Maximum 10 hours night work in any 24 hour period (this can be extended by collective agreement). Night time is defined as a period between 00.00-04.00 for drivers and crew of HGVs and 01.00-05.00 for drivers and crew of PSVs. If a worker does any work during this period they will be subject to the night work limits. Workers entitled to free health checks before commencing night work and at regular intervals thereafter (under the Working Time Regulations)
 Statutory annual leave entitlement (4 weeks under the Working Time Regulations), sick leave, maternity and paternity leave cannot be used to bring down the average weekly working time. When calculating totals, employers must count each day as 8 hours and each week as 48 hours

What is working time?

 All time on road transport activities, from the beginning of work, during which the worker is at the workstation (typically this means the driver’s cab), at the disposal of the employer and exercising his functions or activities. This includes driving, loading/unloading, training, assisting passengers, cleaning and maintenance, work intended to ensure safety of vehicle and its cargo and passengers, administrative formalities or work linked to legal or regulatory obligations directly linked to the specific transport operations under way
 Time during which the mobile worker cannot freely dispose of his/her time and is required to be at the workstation, ready to take up normal work, with certain tasks associated with being on duty
 Waiting periods where the foreseeable duration isn’t known in advance by the mobile worker, either before departure or just before the start of the waiting period in question

What’s not working time?

 Routine travel between home and the normal place of work
 Rest and breaks when no work is done
 Periods of Availability (PoA), defined as waiting time whose duration is known about in advance by the worker. For a PoA the worker should not be required to remain at his/her workstation, but must be available to answer calls to start work or resume driving on request; and the period and the foreseeable duration should be known in advance, by the worker, either before departure or just before the start of the period in question. PoAs should still count as paid time
 Evening classes or day-release courses
 Voluntary work or time spent as a Retained Fire Fighter, a Special Constable, or member of the Reserve Forces.

Rest and break entitlements

Minimum daily and weekly rest provisions are generally applied to drivers by EU drivers’ hours rules. The new Regulations also apply daily and weekly rest requirements to other mobile workers, trainees and apprentices when travelling under the EU rules. Additional break requirements under these regulations also apply. Break requirements under EU drivers’ hours rules take precedent when driving. All workers are subject to rest provisions under EU drivers’ hours rules when travelling. These are:
 11 consecutive hours rest in every 24 (starting from when work commences). This can be reduced to 9 hours up to 3 times a week, but any reduction in the 11 hours entitlement must be compensated for by the end of the next week. Alterntively 12 hours rest can be taken in 2 or 3 periods, the last of which must be at least 8 hours
 45 consecutive hours rest per week. This can be reduced to a minimum of 36 consecutive hours if taken either where the vehicle is normally based or where the driver is based. If it is taken elsewhere it can be reduced to a minimum of 24 consecutive hours. Each reduction must be made up by an equal period of rest attached to a weekly or daily rest period and taken in one continuous period before the end of the third week following the week in question. Rest requirements, are additional to any paid annual leave entitlement under other working time legislation.
 A break of 45 minutes after 41/2 hours cumulative or continuous driving (or 2 or 3 breaks of at least 15 minutes which together total 45 minutes during or immediately after the driving period)
 Breaks totalling at least 30 minutes if working (but not driving) between 6 and 9 hours per day, or 45 minutes if working (but not driving) over 9 hours
 Breaks may be taken at the workstation but must not include anything considered as work
 Breaks do not count as working time, whether paid or not