Article 31 - Fair and just working conditions
Key facts of the case:
Reference for a preliminary ruling – Social policy – Protection of the safety and health of workers – Organisation of working time – Article 31(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Directive 2003/88/EC – Articles 3 and 5 – Daily rest and weekly rest – National legislation providing for a minimum weekly rest period of 42 hours – Obligation to grant daily rest – Rules for granting
Outcome of the case:
On those grounds, the Court (Second Chamber) hereby rules:
1. Article 5 of Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time, read in the light of Article 31(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,
must be interpreted as meaning that the daily rest period provided for in Article 3 of that directive does not form part of the weekly rest period referred to in Article 5 of that directive, but is additional to it.
2. Articles 3 and 5 of Directive 2003/88, read in the light of Article 31(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,
must be interpreted as meaning that where national legislation provides for a weekly rest period exceeding 35 consecutive hours, the worker must be granted, in addition to that period, the daily rest as guaranteed by Article 3 of that directive.
3. Article 3 of Directive 2003/88, read in the light of Article 31(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,
must be interpreted as meaning that where a worker is granted a weekly rest period, he or she is also entitled to a daily rest period preceding that weekly rest period.
1 This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Articles 3 and 5 of Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time (OJ 2003 L 299, p. 9), read in the light of Article 31(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’).
2 The request has been made in proceedings between IH and his employer, MÁV-START Vasúti Személyszállító Zrt. (‘MÁV-START’), concerning the granting of daily rest periods when weekly rest periods are granted.
28 In those circumstances the Miskolci Törvényszék (Miskolc Regional Court, Hungary) decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling:
‘(1) Must Article 5 of Directive [2003/88], read in conjunction with Article 31(2) of the Charter, be interpreted as meaning that the daily rest period provided for in Article 3 of [that] directive forms part of the weekly rest period?
(2) … must Article 5 of Directive [2003/88], read in conjunction with Article 31(2) of the Charter, be interpreted as meaning that, in accordance with the objective pursued by [that] directive, the aforementioned article lays down only the minimum duration of the weekly rest period, which is to say that the weekly rest period must be at least 35 consecutive hours’ long, provided that there are no objective, technical or work organisation conditions which preclude this?
(3) Must Article 5 of Directive [2003/88], read in conjunction with Article 31(2) of the Charter, be interpreted as meaning that, where the law of the Member State and the applicable collective agreement provide for the grant of a continuous weekly rest period of at least 42 hours, it is compulsory, following work which has been performed on the working day prior to the weekly rest period, also to grant the 12-hour daily rest period guaranteed along with it under the relevant legislation of that Member State and the applicable collective agreement, provided that there are no objective, technical or work organisation conditions which preclude this?
(4) Must Article 3 of Directive [2003/88], read in conjunction with Article 31(2) of the Charter, be interpreted as meaning that a worker is entitled to a minimum rest period which must be granted within the course of 24 hours even if, for any reason, he or she does not have to work in the following 24 hours?
(5) If the [fourth question] is answered in the affirmative, must Articles 3 and 5 of Directive [2003/88], read in conjunction with Article 31(2) of the Charter, be interpreted as meaning that the daily rest period must be granted prior to the weekly rest period?’
...
29 By its first and second questions, which it is appropriate to consider together, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 5 of Directive 2003/88, read in the light of Article 31(2) of the Charter, must be interpreted as meaning that the daily rest period provided for in Article 3 of that directive forms part of the weekly rest period referred to in Article 5 or whether Article 5 lays down only the minimum duration of that weekly rest period.
30 As a preliminary point, it must be recalled that, by establishing the right of every worker to daily and weekly rest periods, Directive 2003/88 gives specific form to the fundamental right expressly enshrined in Article 31(2) of the Charter and must, therefore, be interpreted in the light of that Article 31(2). It follows in particular that the provisions of Directive 2003/88 may not be interpreted restrictively to the detriment of the rights that workers derive from it (see, to that effect, judgment of 9 March 2021, Radiotelevizija Slovenija (Period of stand-by time in a remote location), C‑344/19, EU:C:2021:182, paragraph 27 and the case-law cited).
35 Thus, having regard to the essential objective pursued by Directive 2003/88, which is to ensure the effective protection of the living and working conditions of workers and better protection of their safety and health, Member States are required to ensure that the effectiveness of those rights is guaranteed in full, by ensuring that workers actually benefit from the minimum daily and weekly rest periods laid down in that directive. It follows that the arrangements made by the Member States to implement the requirements of Directive 2003/88 must not be liable to render the rights enshrined in Article 31(2) of the Charter and Articles 3 and 5 of that directive meaningless (see, to that effect, judgment of 14 May 2019, CCOO, C‑55/18, EU:C:2019:402, paragraphs 42 and 43).
40 In the second place, it should be recalled, as is apparent from the case-law of the Court cited in paragraph 35 above, that the arrangements made by the Member States to implement the requirements of Directive 2003/88 must not be liable to render meaningless the rights enshrined in Article 31(2) of the Charter and in Articles 3 and 5 of that directive. In that regard, it must be found that an interpretation according to which the daily rest period formed part of the weekly rest period would render meaningless the right to daily rest referred to in Article 3 of that directive, by depriving the worker of the actual enjoyment of the daily rest period provided for in that provision, where he or she is entitled to a weekly rest period.
44 It follows from all the foregoing considerations that Article 5 of Directive 2003/88, read in the light of Article 31(2) of the Charter, must be interpreted as meaning that the daily rest period provided for in Article 3 of that directive does not form part of the weekly rest period referred to in Article 5 of that directive, but is additional to it.
45 By its third question, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Articles 3 and 5 of Directive 2003/88, read in the light of Article 31(2) of the Charter, must be interpreted as meaning that, where national legislation provides for a weekly rest period exceeding 35 consecutive hours, the worker must be granted, in addition to that period, the daily rest period as guaranteed by Article 3 of that directive.
52 Therefore, in order to guarantee workers the actual enjoyment of the right to daily rest enshrined in Article 31(2) of the Charter and Article 3 of Directive 2003/88, that right must be granted irrespective of the length of the weekly rest period provided for by the applicable national legislation.
53 In the light of the foregoing, the answer to the third question is that Articles 3 and 5 of Directive 2003/88, read in the light of Article 31(2) of the Charter, must be interpreted as meaning that, where national legislation provides for a weekly rest period exceeding 35 consecutive hours, the worker must be granted, in addition to that period, the daily rest as guaranteed by Article 3 of that directive.
54 By its fourth and fifth questions, which it is appropriate to examine together, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 3 of Directive 2003/88, read in the light of Article 31(2) of the Charter, must be interpreted as meaning that, where a worker is granted a weekly rest period, he or she is also entitled to a daily rest period preceding that weekly rest period.
58 In those circumstances, the answer to the fourth and fifth questions is that Article 3 of Directive 2003/88, read in the light of Article 31(2) of the Charter, must be interpreted as meaning that, where a worker is granted a weekly rest period, he or she is also entitled to a daily rest period preceding that weekly rest period.
