WTD - night work (again!) and some various other stuff

ASK THE EXPERTS SAFETY, LAW AND WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE FORUM (INTE
1

Hi

Couple of legal Q’s. I’ve got a copy of VOSA’s regs regarding driver’s hours and the appendices they attach re the working time directive. I’ve still a couple of points I wasn’t sure about maybe you could help?

  1. I understand the limitation to 10 hours work applies if you work between the specified period. I had a scenario the other day. I started at 10am. I was planning a 15 hour spread over. Does this mean I couldn’t continue past midnight as beyond midnight the shift would be limited to 10 hours which of course it wouldn’t, it would be 14 hours long the minute it passed midnight. I know this work length is minus breaks, poa etc but these often don’t cover 5 hours in my work that would allow you to add the, to 10 hours work to create a 15 hour spreadover.

  2. I’ve read that a WTD break must be 15 mins long, a single break if working up to 6 hours, then 30 mins if working 6-9 hours and a 45min if working over 9 hours. Is this the total of the lengths of the breaks throughout the day? For example if you do a 7 hour shift you (driving hours notwithstanding) only need a 30 min break in total in the day as opposed to a 15 to cover the first six then a 30 to cover the bit over six hours and a 45 for the bit over 9?

The second bit of my legal questions is regards to POA and breaks:-

  1. where I work we have to wait before we start to be given a duty or a run. You’re sitting in a canteen. You don’t know how long you’ll be waiting, it could be 30 mins, it could be hours. Is this POA or other work? I always thought POA was like standby But Maybe I have this wrong.

  2. I’ve read a couple of threads about tacho mode on break. When tipping on a bay is it wrong to have it on break if you’re listening to the radio/ watching iPad tv in the cab?

Thanks!

2

Freight Dog:
Hi

Couple of legal Q’s. I’ve got a copy of VOSA’s regs regarding driver’s hours and the appendices they attach re the working time directive. I’ve still a couple of points I wasn’t sure about maybe you could help?

  1. I understand the limitation to 10 hours work applies if you work between the specified period. I had a scenario the other day. I started at 10am. I was planning a 15 hour spread over. Does this mean I couldn’t continue past midnight as beyond midnight the shift would be limited to 10 hours which of course it wouldn’t, it would be 14 hours long the minute it passed midnight. I know this work length is minus breaks, poa etc but these often don’t cover 5 hours in my work that would allow you to add the, to 10 hours work to create a 15 hour spreadover.
    Unless there’s an opt out agreement in place you would not legally have been allowed to work past midnight, for drivers of goods vehicles any work done between midnight and 04:00 means you’re classed as a night worker and restricts your working time to 10 hours in the period of 24 hours.

Note that for the RT(WT)R the period of 24 hours is not reset when you’ve had a daily rest period, so you are restricted to 10 hours working time in any period of 24 hours duration.
For instance if you started work at 22:00 on Monday and 19:00 on Tuesday you would be restricted to 10 hours working time from 22:00 Monday to 22:00 Tuesday which would take in part of the second shift.

  1. I’ve read that a WTD break must be 15 mins long, a single break if working up to 6 hours, then 30 mins if working 6-9 hours and a 45min if working over 9 hours. Is this the total of the lengths of the breaks throughout the day? For example if you do a 7 hour shift you (driving hours notwithstanding) only need a 30 min break in total in the day as opposed to a 15 to cover the first six then a 30 to cover the bit over six hours and a 45 for the bit over 9?
    If your total working time is not over 6 hours you do not legally need to have a break, however at no point in the shift should your accumulated working time go over 6 hours without a break of 15 minutes.
    In other words you should have a break of 15 minutes whenever your working time since your last break reaches 6 hours.

If your working time totals between 6 and 9 hours you should have a total of 30 minute break/breaks, if your total working time is over 9 hours you should have a total of 45 minute break/breaks.

These breaks can be split into separate breaks of no less than 15 minutes each.

You’re correct that if you did a shift of 7 hours working time you would only need a total break of 30 minutes, but 15 minutes of that 30 minute break must be taken before exceeding 6 hours working time.

The second bit of my legal questions is regards to POA and breaks:-

  1. where I work we have to wait before we start to be given a duty or a run. You’re sitting in a canteen. You don’t know how long you’ll be waiting, it could be 30 mins, it could be hours. Is this POA or other work? I always thought POA was like standby But Maybe I have this wrong.
    Legally if you don’t know how long you’ll be waiting you cannot book POA, however as your sat in a canteen doing nothing you could book break.
    Be aware though that a break at the immediate start or end of the shift does not count for the RT(WT)R.

  2. I’ve read a couple of threads about tacho mode on break. When tipping on a bay is it wrong to have it on break if you’re listening to the radio/ watching iPad tv in the cab?
    As long as you can use the time exclusively for recuperation you can legally book break whilst sat on a bay.

So no what you say is not wrong, you can legally have the tachograph on break while on a bay if you’re sat in the cab listening to the radio or whatever.

Thanks!
You’re welcome :wink:

3

Its good to be concerned about complying to the laws but with the RTD not really being bothered about by the authorities (some companies are pedantic about it) then do not spend too much time worrying

4

ROG:
Its good to be concerned about complying to the laws but with the RTD not really being bothered about by the authorities (some companies are pedantic about it) then do not spend too much time worrying

Its still a legal requirement though Rog and as such its best practiced to conform to the regulation.

5

Thanks for the replies that’s made it clearer for me.