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The Working
Time Directive
Because
the hospitality industry is a work-intensive business, employees are expected
to work fairly long hours - often well above the average working week of 40
hours. Nevertheless,
we have to acknowledge that for health and safety reasons employees cannot be
asked to work inhuman hours, without rest periods or days off work.
In line with Article 137 of the Treaty establishing the European
Community, the Council of the European Union enacted a Directive in 1993 aimed
at standardising working time in countries of the European Union.
The Directive (93/104) is known as the Council Directive concerning
certain aspects of the organisation of Working Time.
The
aim of the Directive is to protect employees against the adverse effects on
their health and safety caused by working excessively long hours without
adequate rest. It provides for:
Let's
face it: this Directive does not go down well with the hotel and catering
industry. When enacted,
businesses complained that their costs would increase sharply and that
implementing the measures would take up additional management time. (The British government at the time challenged the
Directive's validity but was turned down by the European Court of Justice) If
applied rigorously, the Directive rules out split shifts altogether, as well
as late evening shifts followed by morning shifts - as 11 hours would need to
lapse before an employee can be recalled back to work. Similarly an employee could not be required to work for more
than 48 hours a week. Having
said this, the Directive allows a certain degree of flexibility.
An employee may not be forced to work a week of more than 48 hours, but
if the employee accepts to work extra hours he may choose to do so.
The directive allows for flexibility in seasonal employment: an
employee may work longer hours during a particular month or two but then work
shorter hours during the following weeks - as long he averages 48 hours
throughout the reference period of 4 months.
In
Malta, Legal Notice 43 of 1990 provides the minimum working conditions for
employees in hotels and restaurants. The
Legal Notice sets minimum wages for employees in industry, but here we are
concerned with how the conditions compare to the Working Time Directive. Legal
Notice 43 provides as follows:
The Legal Notice makes no mention of minimum daily rests, nor does it provide for minimum conditions for night work (although in some cases these have been established in collective agreements).
If Malta were to become a member of the European Union it would be required to enact legislation in line with this Directive. Malta already applies a 40 hour week, but does not have a maximum number of working hours. Rest periods are mostly in line with this Directive. In a Summary of Malta's position on Chapter 13 (Social Policy and Employment), Malta has asked the Union to grant it a period of four years from accession to come in line with the Directive. Legal
Notice 43 of 1990 is available on the Ministry for Social Policy website - To read the
full text of Directive 93/104 check out the European Union website - |
Introduction