In an unresolved case before the Court of Justice of the European Union, the court’s Advocate General has given an opinion that companies have an obligation to introduce systems for recording the number of hours their employees work each day.
The Advocate General stated that “any practice or omission by an employer that may deter a worker from exercising rights as to working hours must be regarded as incompatible with the Directive.”
The CJEU typically follows the Advocate General’s opinion. A ruling by the court is expected in the next few months.
Under the EU working time directive, employers are required to set up a system for recording actual daily working time for workers who have not expressly agreed to opt out of the maximum 48 hours of work per 7 days. One interpretation has been that the law only requires overtime hours to be recorded.
