With the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 coming into force on 4 April 2005, Ronald Drake, head of employment at Cobbetts in Leeds explores the far-reaching effects the legislation will have on the industry.

Ron comments: “The long awaited Working Time Regulations for commercial drivers and crew required by the EU Commission Road Transport Directive to be enacted in domestic law were at long last passed as a Statutory Instrument on Thursday 17 March and came into effect on 4 April 2005.”

The purpose of the Regulations is to impose limits on the working time of commercial drivers and crew as an important health and safety measure.

The Regulations apply to ‘mobile workers’ engaged in road transport activities of all kinds where they work in accordance with the Articles of the EU Drivers Hours Regulation 3820/85, often colloquially called the Tachograph Regulation. This therefore means drivers and crew of most goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes and coaches/public transport subject to one or two important exceptions and other exemptions.

The new domestic Regulations set out a fresh set of restrictions on working time, which co-exist with and supplement the restrictions on driving time set out in the Tachograph Regulation. The new and additional limits are as follows:

• A maximum of 60 hours work can be performed in a single week so long as the average 48-hour limit is not exceeded.
• Weekly working time is limited to an average of 48 hours calculated over minimum fixed periods of 17 weeks or periods of up to 26 weeks where Workforce Agreements exist.
• Night workers are restricted to 10 hours working time in any 24-hour period, though this limit can also be extended by Workforce Agreement.
• Breaks must be allowed after six hours of working time and must be of certain minimum periods depending on time worked.

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