With the ruling in case C-531/23 [Loredas], the European Court of Justice determined that a national regulation which does not require employers to establish a system for measuring the duration of daily working hours is contrary to the law of European Union.
The case C-531-23
A Spanish domestic worker, after being dismissed, filed a lawsuit against her former employers, challenging the dismissal and requesting payment for unused vacation days and overtime. In the first instance, the judge partially upheld her claims, considering that the worker had not provided sufficient evidence regarding the actual working hours worked. This was because Spanish law exempted domestic employers from the obligation to register the working hours of their employees.
The Spanish court, on appeal, raised concerns about the compatibility of such an exemption with European Union law, particularly with Directive 2003/88/EC on the organization of working time.
The regulatory context for working hours registration
EU Law: Directive 2003/88
Directive 2003/88/EC sets out minimum safety and health standards for the organization of working time. It defines working time as the period during which a worker is at the employer’s disposal and regulates mandatory rest periods:
- at least 11 consecutive hours of daily rest and
- 24 hours of weekly rest, in addition to daily rest.
The Directive also limits the average weekly working time to 48 hours, including overtime (Article 6).
Member States may exempt from the maximum weekly working time, provided that workers give their consent and do not suffer negative consequences.
Spanish Law: Estatuto de los Trabajadores
The Spanish Workers’ Statute, amended by Royal Decree-Law 8/2019, requires companies to register working hours daily, indicating the exact start and end times of the workday. This registration must be organized through collective bargaining or company agreements and must be kept for four years, remaining accessible to workers, trade union representatives, and the labor inspection.
Article 35 requires the recording of working hours daily to calculate overtime.
Royal Decree 1620/2011, which regulates domestic work, establishes a maximum of 40 hours of actual weekly work, with any on-call hours agreed upon by the parties. On-call hours must not exceed an average of 20 hours per week per month unless compensated with paid rest. Domestic workers are not subject to the same working hours registration requirements as part-time workers.
The ruling of the European Court of Justice
In the case at hand, the EU Court of Justice was asked to determine whether the Spanish regulation, which exempts domestic employers from the obligation to register working hours, was incompatible with Union law.
Directive 2003/88 establishes minimum provisions for the protection of workers’ safety and health, imposing limits on working time and ensuring rest periods. Member States must ensure the effectiveness of these rules by adopting appropriate measures to monitor working time duration. The lack of a registration system makes it difficult for workers to assert their rights, exposing them to the risk of exploitation.
The Court has already stated that a regulation that does not require employers to register working hours is contrary to Union law. National judges must interpret domestic law in a way that is consistent with the directive, changing any previous jurisprudence that is incompatible with Union law.
The European Court of Justice’s decision in the Loredas case represents a reaffirmation of the obligation for employers to implement systems that accurately register working hours, extending this obligation to the domestic work sector as well. In this way, the Court seeks to ensure that all workers, regardless of the work environment, can effectively exercise their rights to rest periods and working time limits, thus promoting better working conditions and safeguarding health and safety in the workplace.