There is a range of obligations relating to the hours of work of employees and the rest breaks between periods of working time. The main regulations were contained in the Working Time Regulations introduced in October 1998. There are provisions in the current legislation for the following areas:
The principal regulations are:
- A limit on the maximum hours that can be worked (48) subject to an entitlement to opt out of this requirement
- Limit on night working hours (eight)
- The right for night workers to receive a health assessment
- A right to 11 hours rest each day between periods of work
- The right to one day off work in each week
- The right to an unpaid rest break where an adult worker works for more than six hours a day
- The right to 5.6 week’s paid holiday each year
There are also additional risk assessment requirements under health and safety legislation for young workers.
Appart from those for young persons, the regulations apart from those for young persons do not apply to employees who work in particular sectors of industry. Many of the excluded sectors were removed in 2003.There is a formula to work out whether the maximum number of hours permitted each week is being exceeded.
Employers should keep proper records to ensure that they can demonstrate compliance with the regulations. The exact manner of these records is the choice of the employer but they should accurately reflect the hours being worked together with records of any risk assessments undertaken.
Enforcement of the regulations is administered either through the Employment Tribunal system, HMRC or the health and safety enforcing authorities such as the Health & Safety Executive or the Local Authorities Environmental Health Officers.
The new amendment regulations came into effect on the 1st October 2007. This increased the holiday entitlement from 4 weeks to 4.8 weeks from that date, with a further increase to 5.6 weeks holiday with effect from 1st April 2009.