Weekly rest confused

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

Hi guys,

Got a question on weekly rest periods

You have to take a 24 hour test every 1 week and 45 every 2 weeks query I have is this mon-sun or does it reset after your test period?

In below examples let’s say I need a 45 hour rest first.

Example 1
mon 00.01 to sun 23.59
Mon not driving
Tue driving
Wed not driving
Thu fri take my 45 hours
Means I can drive fri sat sun then the whole process starts again mon 00.01

Example 2
Mon driving
Tue driving
Take 45 hours wed and thu
Means the process starts again on fri and I then need to take a 24 hour rest within the next 7 days so I could then drive fri, sat, sun this week , mon, tue, wed following week and take 24 hours on the Thursday.

I’m sure it’s example 1 but just want to double check.

Cheers!

2

You have to start a rest period no later than 144 hours after you completed the last one.

3

In any 2 consecutive fixed weeks, you must have either 2 regular weekly rests or 1 regular weekly rest and 1 reduced

A fixed week is 0000 Mon - 2400 sun

A weekly rest that is in 2 fixed weeks (crosses Sunday midnight) can be counted in either, but not both

From the end of one weekly rest you have a max of 144 hours (6x24) before you need to start the next weekly rest - start 0600 Monday, you can work up till 0600 Sunday, no limit on the amount of shifts in that time

A weekly rest of at least 24 hours at any point, will reset the 144 and your 3x9 daily rest reductions, but you’ll still need to make sure you’re compliant with the minimum of 1 regular and 1 reduced in any 2 consecutive fixed weeks

A fixed week that is a reduced weekly rest will need the time you didn’t have from 45 hours paying back by attaching it to any rest period of at least 9 hours and within the following 3 fixed weeks after the fixed week the reduction is in. If there’s more than 1 reduced in a fixed week, only 1 will need to be compensated. So normally you’d just compensate the 1 that requires the least compensation.

4

Don’t forget you’ll need to compensate for your reduced weekly rest, you need to do this by the end of the third week following the week in which the reduction was made, so you can’t simply do 24 - 45 -24 -45 over and over again.

5

Weekly rests and the fixed week are not the same

There must be a weekly rest IN a fixed week but the word IN means the weekly rest must be at least 1 minute in the fixed week to be counted for that fixed week

A weekly rest that is IN two fixed weeks (includes sunday midnight) can count for either the fixed week ending or the fixed week starting

A weekly rest that spans two weeks which is say 90 hours long can be split into 2 x 45s and used for both weeks

There must be at least a 45 regular weekly rest in at least every other week and all weeks must have at least a 24 hour rest in them

Maximum time between any 2 weekly rests is 144 hours

Taking a weekly rest resets the 144 hour rule

Regs work on hours not days so NEVER use the term days

6

It is quite common for a programme not to align at all with the fixed week. You also don’t need to align to a 7 day programme either. For example, you could be on 4 on 4 off so your days off change all the time. You just need to concentrate on:

  1. Making sure you don’t work longer than six 24 hour periods without starting a weekly rest

  2. Making sure the weekly rests are appropriate in terms of the fixed weeks which do pass on your schedule. Your understanding on the weekly rests seems to be quite good. If you have a 24 one week, then it has to be a 45 the next.

  3. If a weekly rest goes over the end of one fixed week into the next, only count it in one fixed week.

There are complicating factors such as compensation, but if your 24 hour rest was actually 36 hours, then the compensation is just 9 hours to make the 45, so it is not that difficult. You can also take back-to-back weekly rests, but probably best to keep it simple.

7

Hey guys sorry for delay in replying been manic.

OK so there are actually two rest requirements.

  1. I cant work more than 144 hours (6 x 24hr days) continually without taking a weekly rest period of a min 24hrs (obv taking into account daily rests). Got that.

  2. The second requirement is how much rest that a driver has to take.

This regulation is based on a fixed week, Monday 00.00 to Sunday 00.00. And is based over 2 consecutive weeks.

In any 2 weeks (fixed weeks) a driver must have either:
2 regular weekly rest periods (2 x 45hrs)
or at-least 1 regular 45hrs and 1 reduced weekly rest period 24hrs.

Is that correct what I have said above? Over a fixed 2 week period 24hr in 1 week and 45 hrs in week 2?

For example, lets keep it simple and say i rest on a wed&thu so it does not span over 2 fixed weeks)
I could do week 1 45 hrs wed/thu, week 2 24hrs wed, week 3 45hrs wed/thu, week 4 24hrs wed and so on… Is that legal?

Where it starts to get a bit more complicated is that if it spans over the fixed week i can count in 1 week and not the other.

What im not getting is paying it back?

8

raymonddaf:
Hey guys sorry for delay in replying been manic.

OK so there are actually two rest requirements.

  1. I cant work more than 144 hours (6 x 24hr days) continually without taking a weekly rest period of a min 24hrs (obv taking into account daily rests). Got that.

  2. The second requirement is how much rest that a driver has to take.

This regulation is based on a fixed week, Monday 00.00 to Sunday 00.00. And is based over 2 consecutive weeks.

In any 2 weeks (fixed weeks) a driver must have either:
2 regular weekly rest periods (2 x 45hrs)
or at-least 1 regular 45hrs and 1 reduced weekly rest period 24hrs.

Is that correct what I have said above? Over a fixed 2 week period 24hr in 1 week and 45 hrs in week 2?

For example, lets keep it simple and say i rest on a wed&thu so it does not span over 2 fixed weeks)
I could do week 1 45 hrs wed/thu, week 2 24hrs wed, week 3 45hrs wed/thu, week 4 24hrs wed and so on… Is that legal?

Where it starts to get a bit more complicated is that if it spans over the fixed week i can count in 1 week and not the other.

What im not getting is paying it back?

Yes you’re correct, in any 2 consecutive fixed weeks you must have either at least 2 regular weekly rests or 1 regular and 1 reduced, so week 1 + 2, 2 + 3, 3 + 4, 4 + 5 etc.

You only need a weekly rest in a fixed week by 1 minute for it to be eligible to be used in that week, but it can only be used in 1 week but not both, but you can’t leave a week without a weekly rest either.

When a fixed week is a reduced weekly rest, then the shortfall from 45 hours needs to be paid back in one go by attaching to to the end of a rest period if at least 9 hours and this must be paid back by the end of the 3rd fixed week after the fixed week the reduction is in, so reduce week 1, you have till 2400 on Sunday week 4 to have completed the compensation.

Most people when they reduce will have something like 36 hours off, finish Saturday 1800 and start back on Monday at 0600, so 9 hours short from 45. Then the following week they might finish on Friday at 1800 and start back on Monday at 0600, so 60 hours off, so that’s the 45 hours regular weekly rest plus upto 15 hours to be used for paying back compensation. So in the majority of cases the compensation will easily be paid back.

9

A rest less than 45 is not regarded as being 24 hours (unless only 24 are taken off) so a reduced weekly rest can be anything from just under 45 hours down to a minimum of 24 hours