The European Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomed the ruling of the European Court of Justice on recording working hours which should end the widespread practice of unpaid overtime.
Esther Lynch, ETUC Confederal Secretary, commented “Workers can’t afford to give their time to employers for free. Member States will need to work with employers and unions to review national laws and practices and ensure that all working time is paid and workers are properly compensated when they put in over time.”
“Although this case was in the banking sector, unpaid overtime is an unwelcome development in nearly all sectors and jobs. It takes many forms, with unwritten rules about what work is not counted, it’s workers feeling pressured to stay late, come in early, work through lunch, take work home and be on email out of hours.
“The best way for employers to respond to this ruling is to meet with trade unions and agree fair and transparent systems, not to scaremonger and complain about paying workers for extra hours worked.”
ETUC congratulates the Spanish workers and union for taking the case.
For more on the case https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2019-05/cp190061en.pdf
