A recent European Court of Justice (‘ECJ’) decision has held that an employer must keep records of all hours worked to fulfil its obligations under the Working Time Directive (‘WTD’).
Under current UK law, Regulation 9 of the Working Time Regulations (WTR’) requires employers to keep ‘adequate records’ to show compliance with the 48 hour working week and specific protections for night workers (whose normal hours must not exceed an average of 8 hours in any 24 hour period).
However, the WTR do not, at present, require all employers to record daily or weekly rest breaks or to record all hours of work, and under current government guidance employers can rely on existing records maintained for other purposes, such as pay, to meet their obligations.
The fear is that the decision of the ECJ will now result in the government amending the WTR to require recording of all hours of work and daily or weekly rest breaks.
In expectation of the government introducing new legislation, it may be worth employers reviewing their existing systems and upgrading these with a facility to record all working hours and rest breaks.
If you require any further advice relating to the matters mentioned in this article or generally relating to employment issues please do not hesitate to contact Glyn Evans on 01934 623501 or email at evans@powellslaw.com.
