Reduced weekly rest

The firm I work for expect all drivers to work every other Sat.
The way I understand it this counts as a reduced weekly rest of less than 45 hours, so the missing rest day needs to be compensated for by the end of the following weeks rest by adding it to either a daily or weekly rest period.
They tell me I’m wrong , stating that its fine to work 6 days every other week…
Who’s right?

You must have a 45 hour weekly rest period at-least every second week and the compensation for a reduced weekly rest period must be paid back by the end of the third week following the week in which the reduced weekly rest period was counted for.

Compensation for a reduced weekly rest period should be added onto any rest period of at-least 9 hours and must be paid back in one block.

So whether of not what you’re being asked to do is legal depends on what hours you work.

So my arguement was, that I cant work a regular pattern of 6 days one week & 5 the next without an extra day off somewhere to compensate.

triple-tango:
So my arguement was, that I cant work a regular pattern of 6 days one week & 5 the next without an extra day off somewhere to compensate.

If fact you could work 6 days every week
I.E if you finish on Saturday. At 9.00 am and start at 6 am Monday

So I’m correct in that a days compensation rest has to be done after a reduced weekly rest, although I have 3 weeks to do it ?
A usual days work is aprox 12 - 15 hrs usually ending early evening.

triple-tango:
So my arguement was, that I cant work a regular pattern of 6 days one week & 5 the next without an extra day off somewhere to compensate.

It all depends on exactly how long the rests are, you haven’t given us enough information to answer definitively.

On a week when you work on a Saturday, what time do you finish on the Sat and what time do you start again on the Monday morning?

On a week when you don’t work on a Saturday, what time do you finish on the Friday and what time do you start again on the Monday morning?

Given the answer to those questions, we can give you a more accurate answer.

I’ll explain why. Lets say for the sake of argument that you finish at 18h00 on Saturday and then start again at 06h00 on Monday. You have had 36h rest, so you have used a reduced rest and you have 45-36 = 9h of compensation required by the end of the 3rd week following the reduction.

Now if the next weekend you finish at 18h00 on Friday and then start at 06h00 on the Monday you have had 60h of rest. This is the 45h you legally require plus an extra 15h, which is more than enough to have already compensated for the reduced rest the previous weekend.

So in that example you can work every other Saturday without requiring any extra days off as you are compensating for the reduced weekly rest the following weekend every time.

Paul

ok
Fri finished 19:00
Sat start 5:00 finish 17:00
Sun rest
Mon start 7:00

so I owe 7 hrs rest ?

triple-tango:
ok
Fri finished 19:00
Sat start 5:00 finish 17:00
Sun rest
Mon start 7:00

so I owe 7 hrs rest ?

If that’s the only weekly rest period in that week then yes you owe 7 hours rest which can be added onto any rest period of at-least 9 hours.

triple-tango:
so I owe 7 hrs rest ?

Correct, so as long as you have 52 hours off the following weekend then that’s your compensation sorted. Unless you finish very late Friday and start very early Monday then the chances are you will get 52 hours in. For example finish 1900 Friday to a start of 0500 Monday is 58 hours. No extra days off needed.

Paul