EU Working Time Directive
sets the EU floor for working time: a 48-hour average week (over reference periods), 11 hours’ daily rest, a weekly rest day, paid annual leave of four weeks minimum, and night-work limits. Case law added a duty to record working time objectively — policies alone no longer suffice.
Compliance in the timesheet era
The CJEU’s recording judgment obliges member states to require objective, reliable time-recording — transposed with variations (Germany’s rulings push documentation duties; Spain mandates daily registers). For employers the operational answer is boring and effective: record time for everyone, including trust-based and remote staff, with exceptions only where national law truly allows autonomy carve-outs.
Derogations exist — the UK-style individual 48-hour opt-out survives in some regimes, autonomous-worker exemptions in others — but rest rules and leave floors stand regardless. Remote work changes evidence, not obligations.
FAQ
Does the 48-hour limit apply per contract or per person?
Per person in principle — multiple employments aggregate in several member states’ readings, and employers who knowingly benefit from over-limit totals share exposure. Second-job policies and declarations are the practical control.
Are managers exempt from working time rules?
Only genuine autonomous decision-makers under narrow national carve-outs — job titles do not exempt. Misapplied ‘manager exemptions’ surface in back-pay claims for overtime and missed rest; classify against the actual autonomy, not the org chart.