Is it Time to get your ‘Time Recording’ House in Order?

• In the case of Federación de Servicios de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) v Deutsche Bank SAE, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has held that member states must require organisations to set up an objective, reliable and accessible system that records the full duration of time worked and not just overtime hours.   

Aspire Comment

The CCOO are a Spanish trade union who brought an action against Deutsche Bank.  This was then referred to the ECJ with the CCOO arguing that the Working Time Directive (which outlines European Law on working time) placed an obligation on Deutsche Bank to introduce a system that recorded the actual number of hours worked each day by full-time employees.   

The ECJ found that only if the entire working time is systematically recorded then overtime can be quantified and is the only way in which employees can also assert their rights and that without such a system, there could be no guarantee that all the limits laid down by the Directive would actually be observed.

The purpose of this ruling relates to EU workers' rights for the protection of health, as every employee has a fundamental right to a defined number of maximum working hours and to daily and weekly rest periods.

Although this is a European ruling, organisations should remember that, as it has taken place prior to Brexit, it remains binding on UK law.

In the UK, the Working Time Regulations 1998 currently requires organisations to keep and maintain ‘adequate’ records that demonstrate compliance with the 48-hour average working week and night work.

There is currently no legal requirement to keep records in relation to rest breaks and rest periods.

At Aspire, we can help you get your HR house in order or if you want to discuss this news item, then do get in touch.