It is important to know how to calculate working time, as, although your company tachograph analysis will give you the totals per driver, this is only accurate if you have included holiday, sickness and other factors that are applicable for the calculations to be accurate.
One of the important factors in calculation this time is to ensure you have included everything within your calculations. The following is a breakdown of what the WTD is, including breaks and rest.
What is Working Time?
WT is the total number of hours driving, working and all other hours worked.
WT must not exceed an average of 48 hours per week, which is calculated over the reference period. In most cases, the reference period is a rolling 17-week and occasional 18-week period, which can be extended up to 26-weeks under a collective or workforce agreement.
Maximum working time can be 60 hours in one week, provided the average working time of 48 hours a week is not exceeded over the reference period in question.
Maximum WTof 10 hours if night work is performed. This can also be extended under a collective or workforce agreement.
Night work is any worker who works between midnight and 04:00 hours. For passenger vehicle drivers it is between 01:00 hours and 05:00 hours.
Working Time Breaks
It is important to note that EU driver’s hours break requirements take precedence over these breaks when driving, so be sure you are taking the correct break periods when combing driving with other work.
After working for 6 hours, a mobile worker must take a break of 15 minutes. However, if working between 6 hours and up to 9 hours in a shift, a mobile worker must take a break totalling a minimum of 30 minutes; this can be made up of two breaks of 15 minutes.
If a shift contains more than 9 hours of working time a break period totalling 45 minutes is required.
Working Time Rest
The working time directive rest requirements are the same as the EU drivers hours rest rules.
Calculating the average working time
To calculate the average working time over the reference period in question is to add up all hours worked at the workers workstation, which includes:
One of the anomalies of the WTD concerns holidays, sickness and other days taken as recognised leave, such as paternity or maternity leave.
However illogical this may seem, absence hours must be compensated within the calculation over the reference period in question. The time in question, which must be added into the calculation for absences are as follows:
Statutory Holiday – of which only 4 weeks per year needs to be compensation. A full week will be 48 hrs. For all other days worked, ie 4 x days per week its 8 hrs per day.
Sick leave, maternity, paternity, parental or adoption leave are calculated in the same way.
