17 May 2019

The European Court of Justice has ruled that employers must keep a record of the hours their workers actually take on in order to stay in line with the Working Time Directive.

These regulations cap working time to 48 hours per week, although workers can opt out. But the Spanish union Federación de Servicios de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) argued that if overtime hours aren't recorded then employers could be breaching the law.

The Court agreed, confirming that "Member States are required to ensure that workers actually benefit from the rights that are conferred on them".

Professor Alan Bogg, part of the Institute of Employment Rights' Manifesto for Labour Law team, explained the impact of the decision to Left Foot Forward.

"Without having an accurate measure of working time, it's very difficult to enforce working time limits," he said, but he warned that employers may use the ruling to "justify more intensive forms of surveillance".