ECJ on the minimum rest period

Apr 7, 2021 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that the minimum daily rest period applies to all of a worker's employment contracts with the same employer taken together and not to each contract separately.

In the case at hand, experts were employed at a Romanian scientific institution within the framework of a project funded by the Romanian Ministry of Education. They had each concluded several employment contracts with the institution at the same time. The Ministry declared certain salary costs ineligible because the maximum number of daily working hours (13 hours) stipulated in the project was exceeded. On certain days, the experts had in fact cumulated the hours worked within the framework of the standard working hours (8 hours per day) with the hours worked within the framework of the project, on the basis of several employment contracts.

The Bucharest Regional Court referred the case to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling. It concerns the interpretation of Art 3 of the Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC).

According to Art 3 of the Directive, each worker is entitled to a minimum rest period of eleven consecutive hours per 24-hour period. According to the ECJ, this minimum rest period requirement could not be met if these rest periods were assessed separately for each contract between the worker and his employer. This is because the hours considered as rest periods under one contract could constitute working time under another contract.

However, one and the same period cannot be classified as working time and rest period at the same time because both terms are mutually exclusive and - as the ECJ has already ruled in previous decisions - there is no room for an intermediate area. Therefore, all employment contracts concluded by the employee with his employer must be examined together.

ECJ C-585/19 (17.03.2021)