Tag archives: working time

What rights do workers have to rest breaks in Germany?

By Jannis Breitschwerdt on December 13, 2016 Posted in Germany

This post was also contributed by Sebastian Kutzner, Trainee, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP (Munich). Due to increasing demands for a work life balance, uncertainty as to employees’ rights to rest periods, in particular, is widespread. German law distinguishes between two types of rest periods: Rest breaks (to be granted during working time); and Resting time … Continue reading

What rights do workers have to rest breaks in the UK?

By Claire Darbourne (UK) on December 7, 2016 Posted in Europe, UK

The Working Time Regulations 1998 (the Regulations), which implement the requirements of the 1993 EC Working Time Directive, introduced restrictions on the number of hours worked by employees and workers together with a right to rest breaks, rest periods and holidays. This post is concerned with the right to rest breaks during the working day. … Continue reading

DOL to appeal injunction against new overtime regulations

By Andrew Yeh (US) and Matt Heller (US) on December 6, 2016 Posted in United States

Despite the fact that the U.S. Department of Labor’s new overtime regulations were set to go into effect on December 1st, the validity of the regulations remains unsettled. We previously reported that on November 22nd, Judge Amos Mazzant of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted a nationwide injunction precluding … Continue reading

Texas federal judge puts the brakes on the DOL’s new overtime regulations

By Mario Barrera (US), Kimberly Cheeseman (US) and Matt Heller (US) on November 25, 2016 Posted in General, United States

Employers who had been searching for a way to best implement the Department of Labor’s new overtime regulations (the “Final Rule”), which are set to go into effect on December 1, 2016, received an early holiday gift on Tuesday, and from one of President Obama’s appointed jurists, no less. On November 22nd, Judge Amos Mazzant … Continue reading

What rights and protections are there for part-time workers?

By Stefanie Radina on November 7, 2016 Posted in Contracts, Europe, Germany

This post was also contributed by Dimitri Schaff, Trainee, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP (Munich). Currently, about one quarter of all employment relationships in Germany are based on part-time models, the proportion of part-time to full-time employees having increased by about 12 per cent since 2001. Furthermore, as a result of the implementation of the EU Part-time Workers … Continue reading

Overtime overhaul – small businesses want more time to prepare

By Norlynn Price (US) on September 29, 2016 Posted in United States

With just about 90 days to go before the U.S. Department of Labor’s final rule dramatically updating overtime regulations is scheduled to go into effect, small business owners have petitioned the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division seeking more time to prepare for and implement changes to the way they operate their businesses so that they … Continue reading

What rights and protections are there for workers on zero hours contracts in Germany?

By Jannis Breitschwerdt on September 23, 2016 Posted in Contracts, Europe, Germany

Unlike in the U.K. and other EU member states, zero hours contracts are not (yet) common practice in Germany. To date, other arrangements aimed at achieving “flexible working” such as fixed-term or part-time contracts, secondment of personnel and – more recently – contracts to provide services have been more widespread. However, as German case law … Continue reading

Fair pay, safe workplaces, and federal contractors telling it like it is

By Norlynn Price (US) on August 29, 2016 Posted in Discrimination and harassment, United States

On August 24, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Counsel issued a final rule to implement President Obama’s Executive Order 13673, entitled “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces,” first announced by the President over two years ago on July 31, 2014. According to the Federal Acquisition Institute, the purpose of E.O. … Continue reading

(Night-)Time is Money

By Jannis Breitschwerdt on January 19, 2016 Posted in Europe, Germany

Even though, unarguably, few employees would give up a good night’s sleep in order to work night shifts, operational necessity often dictates otherwise. Certain businesses can only remain competitive and survive in the market if they require their employees to work during night-time. Parcel services, bakeries and hospitals are just a few examples of businesses … Continue reading

Travelling time for mobile workers can constitute working time.

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on September 15, 2015 Posted in Europe, UK

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that, for workers with no fixed or habitual place of work, time spent travelling between their homes and the premises of the first and last customers designated by their employer constitutes “working time” within the meaning of the EU Working Time Directive. The case was a reference … Continue reading

Fatter paychecks for employees, tough decisions for employers

By Norlynn Price (US) on June 30, 2015 Posted in United States

On June 30, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that will significantly increase the number of employees entitled to receive overtime pay for work in excess of 40 hours during a regular workweek. Once implemented, the new rule is estimated to affect at least 5 million full-time employees … Continue reading

Working time – Are there any restrictions on an employee’s working week?

By Judicaël Fouquet on May 29, 2015 Posted in Europe, France

Employees’ working time is a hot topic in France, the 35 hour week being the centre piece of working time regulations in France. Although the 35 hour week has been repeatedly criticized over the years, it has remained mostly unchanged. French law also includes more specific and complex provisions for various categories of employees. Normal … Continue reading

Working time – are there any restrictions on an employee’s working week in Germany?

By Bettina Goletz on May 28, 2015 Posted in Europe, Germany

Under the German Act on Working Time (Arbeitszeitgesetz), an employee’s working time is limited to a maximum of eight hours per working day and 48-hours per week. This 48 hours threshold applies to all employees working a five or six day week. However, most employees in Germany work five days and 40 hours per week … Continue reading

Working time in the UK – are there any restrictions on an employee’s working week?

By Claire Darbourne (UK) on May 26, 2015 Posted in Europe, UK

The Working Time Regulations 1998 (the Regulations) implemented the requirements of the 1993 EC Working Time Directive. Before the Regulations came into force, the hours of work undertaken by employees were largely unregulated in the UK. For the first time, the Regulations introduced restrictions on the number of hours worked by employees and workers together … Continue reading

Conciliation travail-famille – endeavour to achieve a work life balance in Quebec

By Pierre-Etienne Morand on October 8, 2014 Posted in Canada, General, Québec

In Quebec, time devoted to paid work has considerably increased over the years. Moreover, the number of single-parent families and households where both spouses work is growing. Consequently, we are left with an increasing imbalance between work and family obligations. Quebec is no exception to this rule. Indeed, the Bureau de Normalisation du Québec (BNQ) … Continue reading

The use of “forfait jours” under the Syntec sector is now secured

By Judicaël Fouquet on September 30, 2014 Posted in Europe, France

As previously commented in one of our articles, French case law has subjected to increasingly strict scrutiny employers using “forfait jours”, i.e. a specific method of working time for autonomous executives (whose working time is calculated as a number of days worked over the year rather than a number of hours per week). In 2011, … Continue reading

Beware of your “Forfait-jours” in case of transfer of the employment contract

By Judicaël Fouquet on August 19, 2014 Posted in Europe, France

The legal context The “forfait-jours” is a particular method of organization of working time which allows the employer to calculate the employee’s working time as a number of days worked over the year rather than a number of hours over the week. This system is advantageous for employers, particularly due to the fact that regulations … Continue reading

What holiday rights do employees have in the UK?

By Claire Darbourne (UK) on July 16, 2014 Posted in Europe, UK

Before 1998, employees in the UK had no statutory right to holiday leave from work, paid or unpaid. Their rights to holiday were entirely dependent on the terms of their contract of employment. However, when the Working Time Regulations (WTR) came into force in October 1998, all that changed. Irrespective of what it said in … Continue reading

Holidays and sickness absence

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on August 29, 2013 Posted in Contracts, Europe, UK

One of the difficult questions for UK employers is the right of employees to carry over holiday where they have been absent from work on long term sickness absence. Recent cases have clarified that where a person is on long term sickness absence they are entitled to accrue holiday and to carry over holiday into … Continue reading

French Supreme Court rules flexible working time for companies subject to the “SYNTEC” CBA invalid

By Elodie Grangier on May 21, 2013 Posted in France

Over the past few years, French case law has subjected to increasingly strict scrutiny employers using “forfait jours”, which is a specific method of working time for autonomous executives (whose working time is calculated as a number of days over the year rather than a number of hours per week). In 2011, the French Supreme … Continue reading