Unions hail ECJ ruling on rest breaks

Official guidance on workers' rights to rest breaks will need to be changed, representatives of UK employers and unions said 7 September 2006, after the European Court of Justice ruled the government had failed to meet its obligations under the EU Working Time Directive. The judgment said 'The guidelines are liable to render the right of workers to daily and weekly rest periods
meaningless because they do not oblige employers to ensure that workers actually take the
minimum rest periods'.

European Court of Justice: Press Release, No.67, 2006 http://curia.europa.eu/en/actu/communiques/cp06/aff/cp060067en.pdf

BBC News, 7.9.06: UK breaking work law says court http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5323488.stm

Trades Union Congress: Press Release, 7.9.06: Government forced to tighten rules on work breaks http://www.tuc.org.uk/law/tuc-12352-f0.cfm

United Kingdom: Department of Trade and Industry: Employment Matters: Employment Policy & Legislation: Working Time Regulations http://www.dti.gov.uk/employment/employment-legislation/working-time-regs/index.html

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