Working Time Directive FAQs

Question: Is there a section in EWTD that covers staff who work on-call over the weekend period?

On-call issues have been clarified by case law in relation to doctors in training and residential care workers, for example the European Court of Justice Rulings in the SiMAP, Jaeger and Dellas cases.

A worker who is required to be in the workplace ‘on-call’ is counted as working even if they are asleep.

Question: Is it possible for trusts to ask junior doctors to sign the opt-out from EWTD?

Opting out of the working hours requirement is entirely voluntary, so no member of staff can be forced to sign up to it. If a person chooses to opt out and changes their mind, they need to give between one week and three months notice (depending on period agreed with the employer when signing the opt out). This can make it difficult to plan services with confidence.

If a doctor in training decides to opt out they cannot exceed an average of 56 hours of active work, or 72 hours including resident on-call time per week, as specified in their New Deal contracts.

Question: What are the maximum hours that a substantive nurse can work if she is doing extra bank / agency shifts in her own hospital (or ward)?

The maximum average weekly working hours for a nurse are 48 (as with other workers), unless they have voluntarily agreed with their employer to sign an opt-out from the working hours ceiling. If a nurse worked on a Trust rota and did extra bank work then the combined time counts towards EWTD working hours.

Question: I read in a surgical bulletin that the European Union had agreed to phase out the opt-out, is this correct?

Conciliation negotiations are continuing between the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament about possible changes to the EWTD, including the SiMAP/Jaeger issues and the opt-out. The UK Government and several other member states have made it clear that they will not agree to the opt-out being phased out.

EWTD conference
15th May 2009

NHS London in conjunction with Workforce Projects Team and supported by the BMA will be highlighting practical solutions to EWTD compliance at a conference in London on Friday 15th May.

Miss Wendy Reid, Clinical Advisor to NHS London and the Department of Health on the European Working Time Directive, will be the keynote speaker. Shreelata Datta, vice president of the Junior Doctors Committee of the BMA, Keith Brent, BMA Consultants Committee and a host of experts on EWTD including a European perspective from Bram Jacobs, president, Dutch Junior Doctors Society will also present on the day.

You can find further details and register your interest shortly on the healthcare workforce portal www.healthcareworkforce.nhs.uk/workingtimedirective