The Working Time Regulations protect the health and safety of employees, putting a limit on the number of hours that workers can work each week.
The Regulations provide employees with rights to paid annual leave, rest breaks, and state that a worker should not work for more than 48 hours per week. However, an employee can choose to opt out of the 48 hour working week and work longer hours.
Compliance with the Regulations is not always straightforward, and issues often arise in respect of holiday pay, on-call time, travel time and section 21 defences where certain requirements are dis-applied, on the basis that compensatory rest is provided at another time.
If an employer does not allow workers their individual rights under the Working Time Regulations the worker can bring a claim in the employment tribunal for a breach of the regulations. If a worker is dismissed for reasons relating to the Working Time Regulations their dismissal could be automatically unfair, and they can bring a claim in the employment tribunal for unfair dismissal.
Our working time regulations advice for employers
To ensure we meet the needs of each employer and their unique situation we provide bespoke advice on how to deal with working time regulations in the workplace. Our advice on working time regulations includes:
- Employers’ duties
- Rest periods
- Calculating holiday pay
- Travel time
- Special cases where regulations are dis-applied
- Defending claims and strategy
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