ECJ rules on working hour limits

The European Court of Justice has ruled that employers must take steps to make sure their staff are not exceeding the 48-hour maximum working week and are taking adequate rest breaks, reports Personnel Today. In Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) v Deutsche Bank SAE, the ECJ made it clear that all workers had a right to limit their working hours and to take adequate rest, saying that the only way to ensure these rights were met was for employers to accurately record hours worked and when, including overtime. It overturned the previous judgment of the Spanish Supreme Court. According to the ECJ judgment, employers need an accurate system to measure the time worked by workers each day to give workers ‘proof’ that their rights were being breached and to assist ‘competent authorities’ and national courts to enforce those rights.

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