I’ll answer the easy bit first. With or without any agreement, the average is 48 (Working Hours) per week.
As regards the 26 week reference period.
Who decides what reference period should be used?
It is for the employer and employee to agree, in advance, what reference period should be used. But if no agreement is reached, then the regulations will require that the first option is used (see page 13) used.
The Options:
Whatever agreement is in place, the employer and worker must know in advance how working time is being monitored and when the reference period starts and when it ends.
There are several methods you can use to calculate and monitor compliance with the weekly average. The first is the default method, the second and third can be used with a relevant agreement and the fourth can used for individuals where (for technical or operational reason) other methods are not suitable.
- Fixed calendar option (default option for a group of workers):
Companies looking for an off-the-shelf approach to complying with the regulations may like to use this option. It will in any case be the required approach where it is not possible to reach agreement over which method to use.
Apart from the first reference period (which for technical reasons starts on 28 March 2005), the default reference period will begin at 00:00 hours on the nearest Monday morning on or after 1 April, 1 August and 1 December each year. So, for 2005/06 the start and finishing dates for the reference period are as follows.
28 March 2005 31July 2005 (18 week period)
1 August 2005 4 Dec 2005 (18 week period)
5 December 2005 2 April 2006 (17 week period)
3 April 2006 6 Aug 2006 (18 week period)
7 August 2006 3 Dec 2006 (17 week period)
At least one of the reference periods each year will contain 18 weeks. When this occurs, the average 48-hour week should by divided by 18 weeks, rather than 17 weeks. In addition, the first reference period in 2005 starts a week early to accommodate the last whole week in March.
Therefore in the absence of any agreement being in place, Option 1 is the default. Fixed periods, fixed dates. No variations allowed.
As regards your question about 10 hour nights. Firstly note that this is 10 working hours. Breaks and POA’s do not count towards the ten hours, or indeed, the 60 hours maximum working per week.
To exceed the ten hours limit, there must be in place either a “Collective Agreement” - something that the employees union(s) have agreed to, or a “Workplace Agreement”, which may be negotiated with drivers or Driver’s Representatives. Agreements must be in writing, and are only valid for 5 years.