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The Role of Working Time Guarantees in the Era of Growing Autonomy

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Work Beyond the Pandemic

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Abstract

A common claim to support the idea that labour law’s traditional working time regulations are irrelevant in the modern workplace is that workers enjoy broad autonomy over the measure and schedule of their working time. The question for labour law is whether and how to adopt traditional working time rules to settings where workers are no longer under the subordination of the employer as regards the temporal aspects of employment. The main goal of this chapter is to challenge the idea that autonomy shall displace working time guarantees. First, it will be highlighted that some level of autonomy and flexibility is present in the typical employment relationship too. Second, full work time autonomy limits the employer’s influence on the organisation of work in a level that would render the operation of most business impossible. It is of crucial importance that no workers shall be left out of the protection of working time measures who only formally enjoy autonomy.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The ILO’s decent work concept also contains elements concerning working time (the measure of working time and paid annual leave) (ILO, 2008).

  2. 2.

    See for instance the ILO Recommendation on the Employment Relationship 2006 (No. 198), point 13.

  3. 3.

    See also 2010/707/EU Council Decision of 21 October 2010 on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States, OJ L 308, 24.11.2010, p. 46–51, Guideline 7 (it was applicable until 2015).

  4. 4.

    Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time, OJ L 299, 18.11.2003, p. 9–19.

  5. 5.

    WTD Article 6.

  6. 6.

    There are almost infinite number of shift systems in operation, with variance among shift systems along a number of dimensions, such as: the number and length of shifts; shift starting and ending times; whether shifts rotate or not and if so, the direction of rotation; the number of days off and whether those days off are consecutive or not, etc. (Messenger, 2018).

  7. 7.

    WTD Article 2(5), Article 12 and 17 (2), (4).

  8. 8.

    WTD Articles 3–6.

  9. 9.

    WTD Articles 16, 17(3), 18–19.

  10. 10.

    Directive (EU) 2019/1152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union, OJ L 186, 11.7.2019, p. 105–121, Article 10–11.

  11. 11.

    See Article 7 in Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU, OJ L 188, 12.7.2019, p. 79–93.

  12. 12.

    Directive 2019/1158 Article 9 and 3(1) f).

  13. 13.

    Note that the right to request flexible arrangements is further conferred by various factors. Member States may limit the duration of such flexible working arrangements to a reasonable period and may make the right conditional on certain period of work qualification or a length of service qualification, which shall not exceed six months. The provision applies only to a limited circle of care-givers, including parents with children up to a specified age, which shall be at least eight years, and carers who provide personal care or support to a relative (son, daughter, mother, father, spouse or, where such partnerships are recognised by national law, partner in civil partnership), or to a person who lives in the same household as the worker, and who is in need of significant care or support for a serious medical reason, as defined by each Member State. Directive 2019/1158 Article 9 and 3(1) d) and e).

  14. 14.

    Nonetheless, declining trade union membership and yellow trade unions can question the equal power of the bargaining parties, especially in case of lower level bargaining (Jacobs, 2014).

  15. 15.

    As regards the definition of night worker and work involving special hazards or heavy physical or mental strain, the limits of weekly working time, the reference periods for the calculation of length of night work and the possible derogations to certain activities or sectors. WTD Articles 2 (4) (ii), 8 b), 6 a), 16 c), 17 (2).

  16. 16.

    Vigneau, analysing the French reform of working time laws in 2016, describes this legislative technique as “suppletive law” that applies only if there is no collective agreement to be applied (Vigneau, 2018).

  17. 17.

    CJEU, 21 October 2010, C-227/09, Antonino Accardo and Others v Comune di Torino, ECLI:EU:C:2010:624 para. 55.

  18. 18.

    CJEU, 9 September 2003, C-151/02, Landeshauptstadt Kiel v Norbert Jaeger, ECLI:EU:C:2003:437 para. 89., 94., 98.

  19. 19.

    CJEU, 14 October 2010, C-428/09, Union syndicale Solidaires Isère kontra Premier ministre and Others, ECLI:EU:C:2010:612 para. 54–60.

  20. 20.

    Collective agreements potential to adapt the legal framework to the changing needs of the parties is well illustrated by a research conducted in Southern-France from 1982 to 2002. The study analysed 2000 company-level collective agreements during these 20 years and concluded that the focus of working time rules shifted from the protection of health and safety towards market oriented issues. However, this change does not mean a turn towards precarious work, as the agreements still respected principles that are important also for the employees’ side, like stability of employment (Thoemmes, 2010).

  21. 21.

    See the national reports in: Italian Labour Law e-Journal 2020.

  22. 22.

    Empirical research shows that one basic expectation of online workers is that online platforms dramatically increase the pool of available jobs. In addition, they also increase the likelihood that workers will find suitable matches for their skills and preferences (Agrawal et al., 2013).

  23. 23.

    For more examples see: Kártyás 2022.

  24. 24.

    Interpretative Communication on Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time, C/2017/2601, [2017] OJ C 165/1., 45.

  25. 25.

    CJEU, 7 September 2006, C-484/04, Commission v United Kingdom, ECLI:EU:C:2006:526, para. 20. In her Opinion, Advocate General Kokott delivered the same conclusion but—unlike the Court—she built her reasoning not only to the directive’s wording, but also on the provision’s context and objectives (see para. 23–30).

  26. 26.

    CJEU, 17 March 2021, C-585/19, Academia de Studii Economice din Bucureşti v Organismul Intermediar pentru Programul Operaţional Capital Uman – Ministerul Educaţiei Naţionale, ECLI:EU:C:2021:210 para. 62–63.

  27. 27.

    CJEU, 26 July 2017, C-175/16, Hannele Hälvä and Others v SOS-Lapsikylä ry, ECLI:EU:C:2017:617.

  28. 28.

    C-175/16. para. 33–34.

  29. 29.

    C-175/16. para. 35–38.

  30. 30.

    C-175/16. para. 39–40., 43–44.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary

    Gábor Kártyás

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  1. Gábor Kártyás
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Correspondence to Gábor Kártyás .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics “Marco Biagi” and Marco Biagi Foundation, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    Tindara Addabbo

  2. University of Naples “Parthenope”, Naples, Italy

    Edoardo Ales

  3. Department of Economics “Marco Biagi” and Marco Biagi Foundation, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    Ylenia Curzi

  4. Department of Economics “Marco Biagi” and Marco Biagi Foundation, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    Tommaso Fabbri

  5. Marco Biagi Foundation, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    Olga Rymkevich

  6. Department of Economics “Marco Biagi” and Marco Biagi Foundation, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

    Iacopo Senatori

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Kártyás, G. (2024). The Role of Working Time Guarantees in the Era of Growing Autonomy. In: Addabbo, T., Ales, E., Curzi, Y., Fabbri, T., Rymkevich, O., Senatori, I. (eds) Work Beyond the Pandemic. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39951-0_9

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