In any two consecutive weeks a driver shall take at least:
– two regular weekly rest periods, or
– one regular weekly rest period and one reduced weekly
rest period of at least 24 hours. However, the reduction
shall be compensated by an equivalent period of rest
taken en bloc before the end of the third week following
the week in question.
In your scenario week 1 has a regular weekly rest period, weeks 2 and 3 both have reduced weekly rest periods, then week 4 has a regular weekly rest period.
Weeks 2 and 3 are consecutive weeks so one of them must have a regular 45 hour weekly rest period.
Sorry I don’t have time to go into more detail but the gardens calling
Yes, but there is one tiny word in there causing all this confusion and that word is:
‘ANY’
Take the word (ANY) out of that sentence and you are right !!
In any two consecutive weeks a driver shall take at least:
– two regular weekly rest periods, or
– one regular weekly rest period and one reduced weekly
rest period of at least 24 hours. However, the reduction
shall be compensated by an equivalent period of rest
taken en bloc before the end of the third week following
the week in question.
In your scenario week 1 has a regular weekly rest period, weeks 2 and 3 both have reduced weekly rest periods, then week 4 has a regular weekly rest period.
Weeks 2 and 3 are consecutive weeks so one of them must have a regular 45 hour weekly rest period.
Sorry I don’t have time to go into more detail but the gardens calling
Yes, but there is one tiny word in there causing all this confusion and that word is:
‘ANY’
Take the word (ANY) out of that sentence and you are right !!
Actually there are 2 important words “any” and “consecutive”, the phrase is “any two consecutive weeks”, so in your example it’s weeks 1 and 2, weeks 2 and 3, weeks 3 and 4.
It says ERF not RAF:
You can actually reduce your regular weekly rest (less than 45 hrs) on 2 consecutive weeks. This is possible if you had 45 hrs + the week before you reduce and 45 hrs + the week after the 2nd reduced weekly rest.
e.g
Week 1 : 45 hours (or more) ‘regular weekly rest’.
Week 2 : 24 - 44.59 hours ‘reduced weekly rest’.
Week 3 : 24 - 44.59 hours ‘reduced weekly rest’.
Week 4 : 45 hours (or more) ‘regular weekly rest’.
I’ve done it like this and tachomasters has never questioned it.
I wouldn’t doubt that you’ve done that once between holidays, in which case it’s likely to be legal if you started work after the holiday on Monday or later.
We’ve posted several examples of how it can be legally done, but as a regular work pattern it’s not going to be legal.
I’m just going to squeeze back in here and say thanks tachograph , your example and explanation has confirmed what I thought and based on my hours (early starts and late finishes) it wouldn’t be compatible with my work pattern.
Looks like I’ve gone and opened a can of worms here!
Javiatrix:
I’ve seen a lot of drivers mention working/driving for 6 days a week.
Can somebody give me an example of how this is possible if it’s continuous, i.e. week in week out? I’ve been toying with the idea of working some Saturday’s but with early starts Monday, it seems impossible because the Mon-Fri work is routine so I’d never get the chance to make up a reduced weekly rest within 3 weeks.
Or is it simply not possible for a standard Mon-Fri job to work the Saturdays too, under EU drivers hours?
I’ve read up on it and it’s pretty clear, I’m posting this to ask if I’m missing anything obvious?! Cheers guys.
You can only work six days every week if you can get a rest period of at-least 45 consecutive hours every second week.
Some people would be able to work six shifts every week because of their work times, take someone who works say 10:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday then works a short shift on Saturday until 13:00, from 13:00 Saturday to 10:00 Monday is 45 hours so it could be done every week.
That’s just one very simple example but shows how it can be done if your normal working hours allow it, which for most drivers they don’t.
It really all boils down to your usual working hours and the hours you want to work on Saturday
The above example is wrong.
Weekly rest is calculated over a ‘fixed week’ (0000 Monday - 2400 Sunday) so is calculated (in this example) to 2400 hrs on Sunday.
The example above would give you 35 hrs reduced weekly rest. (1300 Saturday to 2400 Sunday = 35 hrs) so could not be done every week.
It says ERF not RAF:
The above example is wrong.
Weekly rest is calculated over a ‘fixed week’ (0000 Monday - 2400 Sunday) so is calculated (in this example) to 2400 hrs on Sunday.
The example above would give you 35 hrs reduced weekly rest. (1300 Saturday to 2400 Sunday = 35 hrs) so could not be done every week.
Or am I wrong again !!
Not quite right, although a weekly rest has to be taken (counted) for each fixed week the rest period does not have to be completed within the fixed week.
A weekly rest period that crosses over 2 weeks can be counted for either but not both weeks.
■■■■■■00:
I do 12.5 Mon 12.5 sat 12.5 Sun 7am till 8.30pm excluding breaks of non drive work. Equal 37.5 hours. Tue 9 hours drive. .wed and thus and Friday days off. Could i fit in another drive day on the wed thus or Friday and still have enough rest.
As you have 3 days off a week you could easily work one of those days, if you worked Wednesday or Friday it would still leave two consecutive days rest each week.
It goes without saying that you would have to watch your weekly/fortnightly driving times, and if your company comply with the RT(WT)R you would need to watch the 48 hour average.
Andrejs:
if you had week 1 full 45 hours ,so in week 2 you can taked 24+ only.but in this situation week after drivers must have full 45 again.
You can actually reduce your regular weekly rest (less than 45 hrs) on 2 consecutive weeks. This is possible if you had 45 hrs + the week before you reduce and 45 hrs + the week after the 2nd reduced weekly rest.
e.g
Week 1 : 45 hours (or more) ‘regular weekly rest’.
Week 2 : 24 - 44.59 hours ‘reduced weekly rest’.
Week 3 : 24 - 44.59 hours ‘reduced weekly rest’.
Week 4 : 45 hours (or more) ‘regular weekly rest’.
This is possible as :
week 1 - week 2 include a ‘regular weekly rest’ period and
week 3 - week 4 include a ‘regular weekly rest’ period.
Just remember to pay back reduced weekly rest before the end of the 3rd week.
Sorry but that’s not correct.
In certain circumstances it is possible to legally have reduced weekly rest periods on 2 consecutive weeks, but the scenario you’ve quoted is not necessarily legal and if you was to repeat that work pattern in weeks 5 to 8 it would definitely be illegal.
I know that you can not have reduced weekly rest on 2 consecutive weeks (this would be if you had a rolling fortnight). If you do reduce weekly rest and have Week 1 and Week 2 as a fixed block and Week 3 and Week 4 as a seperate fixed block you have not reduced your weekly rest on 2 consecutive weeks.
Thats how I’ve interpreted the rule anyway !
Would like clarification though ?
i count much more simply.was working about 1 years in rolling off day.so when i start after weekly rest i record exactly time start and all shift and i know who next my weekly rest must started not later for 144 hours.and 45+,24+,45+
Since I started driving for a living (20 years ago) I had always calculated my hours as ‘Andrejs’, ‘Tachograph’ and ‘Rog’ have done in this thread. Over the years there have been minor changes to these rules eg 24 hrs away from base/at home being changed. Last year I lost my job and now am self employed. As a result of being self employed and working for different companies I constantly get contradictory advice from driver trainers etc.
A small amount of the work I do is through an Agency and as a result I have had to go on driver assessments and inductions at various companies. It is these inductions with driver trainers which have made me question the regs. Just before Christmas on one of these inductions I was using the same argument as ‘Andrejs’, ‘Tachograph’ and ‘Rog’ and was informed I was wrong ! Well, who am I to argue with a driver trainer from a major blue chip logistics company.
This is the problem with the regs, they are open to different interpretations depending on how you read them.
Think I’ll just revert to the way I used to calculate my hours as my charts and digi card were always analized and always legal.
, your example and explanation has confirmed what I thought and based on my hours (early starts and late finishes) it wouldn’t be compatible with my work pattern.
