Working Out “Working Time” Regulations

Employers need to be aware of their obligations regarding employee hours and annual leave entitlements following the introduction of the EC “Working Time Regulations”.

Paid Annual Leave

All workers, whether temporary or permanent, are entitled to 4 weeks paid annual leave. Leave may be taken at any time, subject to providing reasonable notice to their employer. Annual leave days are accrued as of the first day of employment, or from the first day of working through a recruitment agency in the case of temporary workers.

As part of our service, Acorn Recruitment has already included the holiday pay allowance as part of the temporary workers’ hourly rate which is charged to employers.

48 Hour Limit on Working Week

Generally, workers are not permitted to work for more than 48 hours per week. An exception may be made where employees agree in writing to work additional hours, or where the number of hours worked across 17 weeks averages 48 hours.

For example, if in a two week booking an employee opts to work 50 hours in the first week, and 46 hours in the second week, employment arrangements still fall within the permissible boundaries of the regulations. However, if the employee works 50 hours per week for the two weeks, and the assignment is terminated, this contravenes the 48 hour per week limit. Quite simply, if the employee has not agreed in writing to work these hours, this is a clear breach of the regulations.

Should any temporary employees agree to work over the 48 hour week, the employee must send a written confirmation to Acorn Recruitment that he/she has given their consent to work additional hours.

Rest Breaks

All employees are entitled to rest breaks away from their work station during their working day. If employees are aged between 15 to 18 years of age, they are entitled to 30 minutes break during a 6 hour working day. For older employees, rest breaks should be for at least 20 minutes during a 6 hour day. These rest breaks do not need to be paid.

In addition to daily breaks, employees are required to have at least 11 hours rest in a 24 hour period, or 12 hours if they are between the ages of 15 – 18.

Within the working week, employees are required to have at least 1 complete day of rest, and 2 days rest per fortnight, or 2 days per week for younger employees.

Night Work

Night work is understood to be any work performed for at least 3 hours between 11pm and 6am. Employees engaged for night duties should not work for more than 8 hours during a 24 hour period. Workers may opt to do additional hours if the average hours worked across a 17 week period is 8 hours. The exception to this rule is where there is heavy, mental or physical strain involved – under such circumstances employees are limited to working 8 hours in a 24 hour period.