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Brussels, 13.04.2005 Directive
on working time :
'Working time' is understood to mean the time during which an employee is bound by the instructions of his or her employer. It applies equally whether they are (actively) working or (passively) waiting. Furthermore, as long as an employee is at his or her place of work, it would need an unjustifiable administrative effort to determine whether, in the terms of the Commission's proposal, the employee was (actively) working or (passively) waiting. This suggestion is therefore rejected by EUCDW. It rather requests that the new definition of "on-call time" (in particular "passive on-call time") presented by the EU Commission not be adopted. As a matter of principle, EUCDW warns against mixing the discussion on "working hours" and on "on-call duty" which is served outside of the operation. Being "on-call" must not limit the employee's freedom of movement, it must be justified, take place on a voluntary basis and be based on an agreement between social partners.
Current regulations stipulate that in the members there can be determined that - based on a reference period of up to 4 months - the weekly working time may not exceed an average working time of 48 hours (periods of longer working times have to followed by periods of shorter working times). The Commission's proposal permits member states to extend the reference period to 12 months, tied only to consultation with, but not the agreement of, the unions. EUCDW does not see any need for action to increase the potential maximum weekly working hours within the scope of flexibility of working hours above the current level. At the same time, it is proposed to create an opt-out, via which companies can agree with each individual employee a weekly working time of principally more than 48 hours. The proposal of this opt-out in particular has to be rejected as an infringement of the constitutionally guaranteed protection of health and safety in the workplace and of the protection of the individual through collective bargaining. An individual worker cannot be abandoned to the arbitrary whim of major, global businesses.
The
European Union of Christian Democratic Workers (EUCDW) consists of 23
workers' organisations from 15 countries and is an association of the
European People's Party (EPP).
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