Working Time Directive

Welcome to the Working Time/Road Transport Directive pages. These pages are based in the main on the government guidance published in March 2005.

The Road Transport Directive (2002/15/EC), which went live on 4 April 2005, affects drivers and crew of vehicles subject to EU Drivers' Hours Rules and, briefly, introduced the following requirements:

• Weekly work: 48 hour average over 17 weeks (or up to 26 weeks subject to a collective or workforce agreement) with no opt out
•   Weekly work: 60 hour maximum, subject to the average remaining 48 hours or less
• Night work: max 10 hours in 24 hours (although night workers will be able to work longer, provided that a collective or workforce agreement is in place). NB Night drivers will be subject to the general limits of the directive.
• Periods of Availability (PoAs) do not count towards working time
• Breaks totalling 30 minutes for 6-9 hours work or totalling 45 minutes for over 9 hours
• Records of working time must be kept by employers for at least 2 years after the end of the period in question
• Self-employed drivers exempt until March 2009

The headlines of this legislation are pretty straightforward, but you need to get to grips with the details and their implications. The Department for Transport's section on this legislation www.dft.gov.uk/freight/rtd will take you to the guidance published in March 2005.

The work limits apply to all work (not just driving time), and cover all work carried out for road transport employers (not just the driver's main employer). However, the advice from VOSA is now that employment outside the transport sector, such as bar work, does not count towards working time, but it does not count as rest for drivers' hours regulations purposes.