WHAT ARE THE RULES?

The rules are:

• A maximum average 48 hour working week - this is normally calculated over a fixed 17 week (occasionally) 18 week reference period which the government defines.
• A maximum cap of 60 hours working in any fixed week - the fixed week starts at 00.00 on each Monday and finishes at 24.00 the following Sunday.
• A maximum limit of 10 hours in ANY 24 hour period for night workers - for goods vehicle operations, a night worker is someone who works for any time between 00.00 and 04.00 (passenger vehicle operations is 01.00 - 05.00).
• Breaks from work - you may not work for more than 6 hours without a break. A 30 minute break is needed if your total working time is over 6 but not over 9 hours, or 45 minutes is needed if your total working time is over 9 hours. Breaks MUST interrupt working time - in other words, they may not be taken at the beginning or end of a shift. They may be sub-divided into periods of at least 15 minutes and spread over the working day. Breaks taken as ‘breaks from driving’ under tachograph rules can be counted as breaks from working time and vice versa. When looking at both working time and tachograph rules together, it’s important to remember that breaks must be taken after 6 hours ‘work’ or after 4.5 hours ‘driving’ whichever happens the soonest.
• Daily and weekly rest as specified in the tachograph rules.
• Working Time Hours = Total hours - breaks - periods of availability.