The working and rest hours of the employees in the state machine are recorded by the ministries, the independent authorities and the government departments, in order to determine whether the European Directive is applied in relation to their rest period.
The recording of working time is done in the context of the implementation of the law on the Organization of Working Time, which incorporates the European directive that sets the minimum safety and health standards regarding the organization of working time.
In particular, the Directive “requires all employees to have adequate rest periods, ie regular rest periods, sufficiently long and continuous, in order to ensure that employees do not cause injury to themselves, their co-workers or third parties and that they do not they will harm their health, in the short or long term, due to fatigue or erratic work patterns “.
Under the European directive, Member States are required to report to the European Commission every five years on the implementation of the directive. The Department of Public Administration and Personnel (TSI) issued a circular, calling on ministries, authorities and services to submit the relevant data by 13 September. Ministries, independent authorities and government departments will have to record seven points in relation to the working hours and rest of civil servants. Specifically, they should send the following information to the TSI:
– if there are cases where employees work more than 13 hours per day (including overtime), resulting in a 24-hour rest period of less than 11 consecutive hours
– whether there are cases of employees who do not have, per week, continuous minimum rest of 24 hours
– whether there are cases of workers working more than 48 hours (including overtime), on average per week. It is worth noting that the average should be calculated every four months, without taking the rest and sick leave periods.
In addition, information should be forwarded to the TSI in relation to cases of night workers working more than 8 hours per 24 hours, on average. As noted, the average is calculated for a period of one month without taking into account the continuous minimum rest of 24 hours per week.
They will also record whether as employers (ministries, authorities and departments) they ensure that night workers undergo, free of charge, at regular intervals the necessary medical examinations to determine their suitability for the job.
Data are required for workplaces with deviations
At the same time, the TSI requests information on cases where specific services fall within the permitted derogations, according to Article 16 of the Law on Organization of Working Time, and employees can not be granted the minimum daily or weekly rest, due to extended working hours or , whether they are granted an equivalent and proportionate compensatory rest time. In fact, he asks, in this case, to clarify whether the rest time is granted to employees immediately after the end of their service or within a reasonable time.
Finally, the TSI requests information on whether emergency measures have been taken to address the exceptional needs for the organization of working time, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Members of the armed forces, police and sailors are excluded from law enforcement.
Philenews
RUN and POWER Group: Enhanced Living Experience.