Citation, commencement and extent1

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005 and shall come into force on 4th April 2005.

2

These Regulations extend to Great Britain only.

Interpretation2

In these Regulations—

  • “AETR” means the European agreement concerning the work of crews of vehicles engaged in international road transport M1 of 1st July 1970;

  • “collective agreement” means a collective agreement within the meaning of section 178 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 M2, the trade union parties to which are independent trade unions within the meaning of section 5 of that Act;

  • F2“the Community Drivers’ Hours Regulation” means Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport (and amending and repealing certain Council Regulations);

  • “employer” in relation to a worker, means the person by whom the worker is (or, where the employment has ceased, was) employed;

  • “employment” in relation to a worker, means employment under his contract, and “employed” shall be construed accordingly;

  • “goods” includes goods or burden of any description;

  • “goods vehicle” means a motor vehicle constructed or adapted for use for the carriage of goods, or a trailer so constructed or adapted;

  • “inspector” means a person appointed under paragraph 1 of Schedule 2;

  • “mobile worker” means any worker forming part of the travelling staff, including trainees and apprentices, who is in the service of an undertaking which operates transport services for passengers or goods by road for hire or reward or on its own account;

  • “night time” means in respect of goods vehicles the period between midnight and 4 a.m. and in respect of passenger vehicles the period between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m;

  • “motor vehicle” means a mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on roads;

  • “night work” means any work performed during night time;

  • “passenger vehicle” means a motor vehicle which is constructed or adapted to carry more than eight seated passengers in addition to the driver;

  • “period of availability” means a period during which the mobile worker F7or self-employed driver is not required to remain at his workstation, F8but—

    1. (a)

      in the case of a mobile worker, is required to be available; or

    2. (b)

      in the case of a self-employed driver, makes himself available;

    to answer any calls to start or resume driving or to carry out other work , including periods during which the mobile worker F7or self-employed driver is accompanying a vehicle being transported by a ferry or by a train as well as periods of waiting at frontiers and those due to traffic prohibitions;

  • “reference period” means the period for calculation of the average maximum weekly working time;

  • “relevant requirements” means regulations 4(8), F94(9), 7(5), F97(6), 8(2), F98(3), 9(4), F99(5), 10, 11, F911A and 12;

  • “self-employed driver” means anyone whose main occupation is to transport passengers or goods by road for hire or reward within the meaning of F4EU legislation under cover of a Community licence or any other professional authorisation to carry out such transport, who is entitled to work for himself and who is not tied to an employer by an employment contract or by any other type of working hierarchical relationship, who is free to organise the relevant working activities, whose income depends directly on the profits made and who has the freedom, individually or through a co-operation between self-employed drivers, to have commercial relations with several customers;

  • “vehicle” means a goods vehicle or a passenger vehicle;

  • “week” means a period of seven days beginning at midnight between Sunday and Monday;

  • “worker” means an individual F10who is not a self-employed driver and who has entered into or works under (or, where employment has ceased, worked under)—

    1. a

      a contract of employment; or

    2. b

      any other contract, whether express or implied and (if it is express) whether oral or in writing, whereby the individual undertakes to do or perform personally any work or services for another party to the contract;

    and any reference to a worker's contract shall be construed accordingly;

  • “workforce agreement” means an agreement between an employer and mobile workers employed by him or their representatives in respect of which the conditions set out in Schedule 1 to these Regulations are satisfied;

  • F11“working time” means the time from the beginning to the end of work during which –

    1. a

      the mobile worker or self-employed driver is at his workstation;

    2. b

      the mobile worker is at the disposal of his employer, or (as applicable) the self employed driver is at the disposal of the client; and

    3. c

      the mobile worker or self-employed driver is exercising his functions or activities, being:

      1. i

        time devoted to all road transport activities, including, in particular—

        1. aa

          driving;

        2. bb

          loading and unloading;

        3. cc

          assisting passengers boarding and disembarking from the vehicle;

        4. dd

          cleaning and technical maintenance;

        5. ee

          all other work intended to ensure the safety of the vehicle, its cargo and passengers or to fulfil the legal or regulatory obligations directly linked to the specific transport operation under way, including monitoring of loading and unloading and dealing with administrative formalities with police, customs, immigration officers and others; or

      2. ii

        time during which the mobile worker or self-employed driver cannot dispose freely of his time and is required (or, in relation to a self-employed driver, chooses) to be at his workstation, ready to take up normal work, with certain tasks associated with being on duty, in particular during periods awaiting loading or unloading where their foreseeable duration is not known in advance, that is to say either before departure or just before the actual start of the period in question, or under collective agreements or workforce agreements;

    but, in relation to self-employed drivers, general administrative work that is not directly linked to the specific transport operation under way is excluded from working time.

  • “workstation” means

    1. a

      F12in relation to a mobile worker the location of the main place of business of the undertaking for which the person performing mobile transport activities carries out duties, together with its various subsidiary places of business, regardless of whether they are located in the same place as its head office or its main place of business; F13or

    2. b

      F14in relation to a mobile worker or self-employed driver the vehicle which the person performing mobile road transport activities uses when he carries out duties; or

    3. c

      F15in relation to a mobile worker or self-employed driver any other place in which activities connected with transport are carried out.

Application3

1

These Regulations apply to mobile workers who are employed by, or who do work for, undertakings established in F50the United Kingdom, and to whom paragraph (2) or paragraph (3) applies.

F161A

These Regulations also apply to self-employed drivers who are established in, or who do work for undertakings established in, F51the United Kingdom, and to whom paragraph (2) or paragraph (3) applies.

F32

This paragraph applies to mobile workers F17or self-employed drivers who, in the course of F18their employment or working activities, drive or travel in or on vehicles—

a

which are vehicles within the meaning of Article 4(b) of the Community Drivers’ Hours Regulation,

b

which are not vehicles described in Article 3 of that Regulation, and

F19c

which are not vehicles exempted from the provisions of that Regulation under regulation 2 of the Community Drivers’ Hours and Recording Equipment Regulations 2007.

3

This paragraph applies to mobile workers F20or self-employed drivers, to whom paragraph (2) does not apply, who in the course of F21their employment or working activities drive, or travel in, vehicles

a

which fall within the meaning of a “vehicle” in Article 1 of the AETR;

b

which are not referred to in F49Article 2(2) of the AETR; and

c

which are performing F52transport operations wholly or partly outside the United Kingdom.

4

These Regulations do not apply to—

F22a

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

b

any F23mobile worker or self-employed driver who does work which is included in the calculation of working time—

i

where the reference period is shorter than 26 weeks, on fewer than 11 days in a reference period applicable to that F23mobile worker or self-employed driver, or

ii

in any other case on fewer than 16 days in a reference period applicable to that F23mobile worker or self-employed driver.

F5Duty to Review Regulation 3(1A)3A

1

The Secretary of State must from time to time—

a

carry out a review of regulation 3(1A),

b

set out the conclusions of the review in a report, and

c

publish the report.

F532

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3

The report must in particular—

a

set out the objectives intended to be achieved by the regulatory system established by regulation 3(1A),

b

assess the extent to which those objectives are achieved, and

c

assess whether those objectives remain appropriate and, if so, the extent to which they could be achieved with a system that imposes less regulation.

4

The first report under this regulation must be published before the end of the period of five years beginning with the day on which regulation 3(1A) comes into force.

5

Reports under this regulation are afterwards to be published at intervals not exceeding five years.

Working time4

C1C31

Subject to paragraph (2) below, the working time, including overtime, of a mobile worker F24or self-employed driver shall not exceed 60 hours in a week.

C2C42

In any reference period which is applicable to his case, F25the working time of a mobile worker or self-employed driver shall not exceed an average of 48 hours for each week.

3

The reference periods which apply F26... shall be—

F27a

in the case of a mobile worker—

i

where a collective agreement or a workforce agreement provides for the application of this regulation in relation to successive periods of 17 weeks, each such period, or

ii

in a case where there is no such provision, and the employer gives written notice to the mobile worker in writing that he intends to apply this subparagraph, any period of 17 weeks in the course of the worker’s employment,

F28b

in the case of a self-employed driver who elects to apply this subparagraph in relation to any period of 17 weeks or to successive periods of 17 weeks, each such period,

c

in any other case F29for a mobile worker or self-employed driver, the period ending at midnight between Sunday 31st July 2005 and Monday 1st August 2005 and thereafter, in each year, the successive periods beginning at midnight at the beginning of the Monday which falls on, or is the first Monday after, a date in column 1 below and ending at midnight at the beginning of the Monday which falls on, or is the first Monday after, the date on the same line in column 2 below.

Column 1 (beginning)

Column 2 (end)

1st December

1st April

1st April

1st August

1st August

1st December

4

The reference period may be extended in relation to particular mobile workers or groups of mobile workers for objective or technical reasons or reasons concerning the organisation of work, by a collective agreement or a workforce agreement, by the substitution for 17 weeks of a period not exceeding 26 weeks in the application of paragraphs (2) and (3)(a) above.

F304A

The reference period may be extended in relation to self-employed drivers for objective or technical reasons or reasons concerning the organisation of work, by the substitution for 17 weeks of a period not exceeding 26 weeks in the application of paragraphs (2) and (3)(b) above.

5

F31The average weekly working time during a reference period shall be determined according to the formula—

F32(A+B)÷C for mobile workers, or

A÷C for self-employed drivers

where—

A is the aggregate number of hours comprised in F33... working time during the course of the reference period;

B is the number of excluded hours during the reference period; and

C is the number of weeks in the reference period.

6

In paragraph (5), “excluded hours” means hours comprised in—

a

any period of annual leave taken by the mobile worker in exercise of entitlement under regulation 13 F54or 15B of the Working Time Regulations 1998 M3;

b

any period of sick leave taken by the mobile worker;

c

any period of maternity, paternity, adoption or parental leave taken by the mobile worker;

7

For the purposes of paragraph (5), the number of hours in a whole day shall be eight and the number of hours in a whole week shall be forty-eight.

8

An employer shall take all reasonable steps, in keeping with the need to protect the health and safety of the mobile worker, to ensure that the limits specified above are complied with in the case of each mobile worker employed by him.

F349

A self-employed driver must take all reasonable steps, in keeping with the need to protect his health and safety, to comply with the limits specified above.

5

The times of breaks, rests and periods of availability shall not be included in the calculation of working time.

Periods of availability6

1

A period shall not be treated as a period of availability unless the mobile worker F35or self-employed driver knows before the start of the relevant period about that period of availability and its reasonably foreseeable duration.

2

The time spent by a mobile worker F36or self-employed driver, who is working as part of a team, travelling in, but not driving, a moving vehicle as part of that team shall be a period of availability for that mobile worker F36or self-employed driver.

3

Subject to paragraph (4) a period of availability shall not include a period of rest or a break.

4

A period of availability may include a break taken by a mobile worker F37or self-employed driver during waiting time or time which is not devoted to driving by the mobile worker F37or self-employed driver and is spent in a moving vehicle, a ferry or a train.

Breaks7

1

No mobile worker F38or self-employed driver shall work for more than six hours without a break.

F392

Where the working time of a mobile worker or self-employed driver exceeds six hours but does not exceed nine hours, the mobile worker or self-employed driver must take a break lasting at least 30 minutes and interrupting that period.

F403

Where the working time of a mobile worker or self-employed driver exceeds nine hours, the mobile worker or self-employed driver must take a break lasting at least 45 minutes and interrupting that period.

4

Each break may be made up of separate periods of not less than 15 minutes each.

5

An employer shall take all reasonable steps, in keeping with the need to protect the health and safety of the mobile worker, to ensure that the limits specified above are complied with in the case of each mobile worker employed by him.

F416

A self-employed driver must take all reasonable steps, in keeping with the need to protect his health and safety, to comply with the limits specified above.

Rest periods8

1

In the application of these Regulations, the provisions of the Community Drivers' Hours Regulation relating to daily and weekly rest shall apply to all mobile workers F42and self-employed drivers to whom they do not apply under that Regulation as they apply to other mobile workers under that Regulation.

2

An employer shall take all reasonable steps, in keeping with the need to protect the health and safety of the mobile worker, to ensure that those provisions are complied with in the case of each mobile worker employed by him, to whom they are applied by paragraph (1).

F433

A self-employed driver must take all reasonable steps, in keeping with the need to protect his health and safety, to ensure that he complies with the provisions applied by paragraph (1).

Night work9

1

The working time of a mobile worker F44or self-employed driver, who performs night work in any period of 24 hours, shall not exceed 10 hours during that period.

2

The period of 10 hours may be extended in relation to particular mobile workers or groups of mobile workers for objective or technical reasons or reasons concerning the organisation of work, by a collective agreement or a workforce agreement.

F452A

A self-employed driver may elect to extend the period of 10 hours for objective or technical reasons or reasons concerning the organisation of work.

3

Compensation for night work shall not be given to a mobile worker F46or to a self-employed driver in any manner which is liable to endanger road safety.

4

An employer shall take all reasonable steps in keeping with the need to protect the health and safety of mobile workers to ensure that the limit specified in paragraph (1), or extended in accordance with paragraph (2), is complied with in the case of each mobile worker employed by him.

F475

A self-employed driver must take all reasonable steps, in keeping with the need to protect his health and safety, to ensure that the limit specified in paragraph (1), or extended in accordance with paragraph (2A), is complied with.

Information and records10

An employer of mobile workers shall notify each worker of the provisions of these Regulations and the provisions of any collective or workforce agreement which is capable of application to that worker

11

An employer of a mobile worker shall

a

request from each mobile worker details of any time worked by that worker for another employer;

b

include time worked for another employer in the calculation of the mobile worker's working time;

c

keep records which are adequate to show whether the requirements of these Regulations are being complied with in the case of each mobile worker employed by him to whom they apply;

d

retain such records for at least two years after the end of the period covered by those records;

e

provide, at the request of a mobile worker, a copy of the record of hours worked by that worker;

f

provide to an enforcement officer copies of such records relating to mobile workers as the officer may require;

g

provide to a mobile worker or enforcement officer copies of such documentary evidence in the employer's possession as may be requested by the worker or officer in relation to records provided to him in accordance with paragraph (e) or (f) above.

F611A

A self-employed driver must—

a

keep records which are adequate to show whether he is complying with the requirements of these Regulations;

b

retain such records for at least two years after the end of the period covered by those records;

c

provide to an enforcement officer copies of such records as the officer may require.

12

A mobile worker shall, at the request of his employer under regulation 11(a), notify his employer in writing of time worked by the worker for another employer for inclusion in the calculation of the mobile worker's working time.

13

1

The Secretary of State shall arrange for the publication, in such form and manner as he considers appropriate, of information and advice concerning the operation of these Regulations.

2

The information and advice shall be such as appear to him best calculated to enable F48employers, workers and self-employed drivers affected by these Regulations to understand their respective rights and obligations.

Agency workers not otherwise mobile workers14

1

This regulation applies in any case where an individual (“the agency worker”)—

a

is supplied by a person (“the agent”) to do the work of a mobile worker for another (“the principal”) under a contract or other arrangements made between the agent and the principal; but

b

is not, as respects that work, a worker, because of the absence of a worker's contract between the individual and the agent or the principal; and

c

is not a party to a contract under which he undertakes to do the work for another party to the contract whose status is, by virtue of the contract, that of a client or customer or any profession or business undertaking carried on by the individual.

2

In a case where this regulation applies, the other provisions of these Regulations shall have effect as if there were a contract for the doing of the work by the agency worker made between the agency worker and —

a

whichever of the agent and the principal is responsible for paying the agency worker in respect of the work; or

b

if neither the agent nor the principal is so responsible, whichever of them pays the agency worker in respect of the work,

c

and as if that person were the agency worker's employer.

F1Individual carrying on own trade or business15

1

This regulation applies to an individual who—

a

for the purpose of a trade or business carried on by him, drives a vehicle described in paragraph (2) or (3) of regulation 3, and

b

is neither—

i

a self-employed driver, nor

ii

an agency worker within the meaning of regulation 14.

2

Where this regulation applies, these Regulations shall have effect as if—

a

the individual were both a mobile worker and the employer of that mobile worker, and

b

regulations 10, 11(a) and (e) and 12 were omitted.

Enforcement16

1

It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to enforce the requirements of these Regulations.

2

Schedule 2 shall apply in relation to the enforcement of the relevant requirements.

17

1

Any person who fails to comply with any of the relevant requirements shall be guilty of an offence.

2

The provisions of paragraph (3) shall apply where an inspector is exercising or has exercised any power conferred by Schedule 2.

3

It is an offence for a person —

a

to contravene any requirement imposed by an inspector under paragraph 2 of Schedule 2;

b

to prevent or attempt to prevent any other person from appearing before an inspector or from answering any question to which an inspector may by virtue of paragraph 2(2)(e) of Schedule 2 require an answer;

c

to contravene any requirement or prohibition imposed by an improvement notice or a prohibition notice referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 of Schedule 2 (including any such notice as is modified on appeal);

d

intentionally to obstruct an inspector in the exercise or performance of his powers;

e

to use or disclose any information in contravention of paragraph 7 of Schedule 2;

f

to make a statement which he knows to be false or recklessly to make a statement which is false where the statement is made in purported compliance with a requirement to furnish any information imposed by or under these Regulations.

4

Any person guilty of an offence under paragraph (1) shall be liable—

a

on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;

b

on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

5

A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (3)(b) or (d) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

6

A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (3)(c) shall be liable—

a

on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;

b

on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or a fine or both.

7

A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (3)(a),(e) or (f) shall be liable—

a

on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;

b

on conviction on indictment—

i

if the offence is under paragraph (3)(e), to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine or both,

ii

if the offence is under paragraph (3)(a) or (f), to a fine.

8

The provisions set out in regulations 18 to 22 shall apply in relation to the offences provided for in paragraphs (1) and (3).

Offences due to fault of other person18

Where the commission by any person of an offence is due to the act or default of some other person, that other person shall be guilty of the offence, and a person may be charged with the conviction of the offence by virtue of this regulation whether or not proceedings are taken against the first-mentioned person.

Offences by bodies corporate19

1

Where an offence committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to have been attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

2

Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, the preceding paragraph shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.

Restriction on institution of proceedings in England and Wales20

Proceedings for an offence shall not be instituted in England or Wales except by an inspector or by, or with the consent of, the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Prosecution by inspectors21

1

If authorised in that behalf by the Secretary of State an inspector may prosecute proceedings for an offence before a magistrates court even though the inspector is not of counsel or a solicitor.

2

This regulation shall not apply in Scotland.

Power of court to order cause of offence to be remedied22

1

This regulation applies where a person is convicted of an offence in respect of any matter which appears to the court to be a matter which it is in his power to remedy.

2

In addition to or instead of imposing any punishment, the court may order the person in question to take such steps as may be specified in the order for remedying the said matters within such time as may be fixed by the order.

3

The time fixed by an order under paragraph (2) may be extended or further extended by order of the court on an application made before the end of that time as originally fixed or as extended under this paragraph, as the case may be.

4

Where a person is ordered under paragraph (2) to remedy any matters, that person shall not be liable under these Regulations in respect of that matter in so far as it continues during the time fixed by the order or any further time allowed under paragraph (3).

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Transport

David JamiesonParliamentary Under Secretary of State