Overtime in the European Union (EU) is not subject to a US-style division between ‘exempt’ and ‘nonexempt’ employees, although those at very senior levels in an organization are not constrained by EU rules.
Typically, full-time manual employees work a 5-day 40 hour week, with white collar hours frequently set at 37.5 hours or 35 hours. The basic working week in Belgium, however, is 38 hours and in France is 35 hours. In some countries, such as the Netherlands, part-time work is particularly popular and in many EU countries there is the frequent use of “standby” or “on call” arrangements.
The working of hours beyond contractual minimum is determined at four levels of determination.
- The EU Working Time Directive governing all aspects except pay.
- Individual country working time laws
- Sectoral or regional collective agreements
- Company level agreements or HR policy
Under the EU Directive maximum weekly hours may extend to 48 per week, averaged over a 4-month period. Employees must also have a minimum daily rest break of 11 hours, a minimum weekly rest break of 24 hours and minimum annual leave of four weeks. The daily and weekly rest breaks may not overlap – so that there must be at least a continuous break of 35 hours each week. During the working day and employee is entitled to a rest break after working for at least six hours. Night workers are also limited to a maximum working time of 8 hours in any 24-hour period. Night work is defined as any period that includes midnight to 5 am. Those who are classified as a ‘managing executives or other persons with autonomous decision-taking powers’ are excused from complying with the limitations on daily rest, weeky working time, night work and time reference periods.
Individual country laws must comply with at least the minimum standards set by the Directive. In practice, they provide for tighter and more specific standards. For instance, they frequently set longer annual leave entitlements by the addition of “public holidays” and set a specific duration to daily rest breaks (generally 30 minutes to one hour). The weekly rest break can also vary from 24 hours to 48 hours (excluding the 11 hours daily break). It is at a country level that basic weekly and daily hours are set and often the pay premiums applicable to overtime (for instance 50%), shift work (for instance 20-30%), weekend work (for instance 100%) and working on public holidays (for instance 200%).
In many countries sectoral or regional collective agreements set even tighter standards and pay premiums. These basically apply to the companies that were party to the agreement and to those who are members of an employer’s association that is a signatory. However, several countries such as France and Spain have governments that enforce these agreements across all companies within the specific sector or region, if if not a party or signatory to them. This process is called “extension” and it is essential that all companies in the sector are aware of the existence of the agreement and apply its terms. In countries such as Italy collective agreements also apply to those in managerial positions up to “dirigenti”.
At a company level an organization will often have an HR policy which enhances statutory, or collective, rights in specific ways and also covers all employees up to Board level. Although job evaluation based schemes are present at a sectoral collective agreement level in countries such as France, they are most commonly present setting differentials at a company level. A (usually large) company may also have its own collective agreement which sets pay rates higher than the sectoral average in order to stay competitive against its sectoral rivals.
At each level of the structure employers may not offer terms and conditions that are below the previous tier. Beyond the very highest level there is also an extra point at which a select group employees are offered even more enhanced rates and provisions. These generally apply to individuals with exceptionally high skill levels or managers with substantial accountability.
In many companies (where external constraints allow) managers and professionals – and even white collar workers in general – are not paid overtime premia, or even for overtime at all, as it is understood that their pay includes a provision for time flexibility. However, only at the very highest levels of managerial seniority will the EU Directive standards concerning actual working hours not apply.
All Member States of the European Union are obliged to accept rulings made by the European Court of Justice from the date that they were published. On 14th May 2019 a key decision was reached in the Spanish case Federacion de Cervicios de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) v. Deutsche Bank SAE. This made it obligatory for individual employers to record the detailed working time of employees on a daily basis.
For further details of working time laws and practices at a national and sectoral basis FedEE Member organisations may consult our comprehensive knowledgebase.