Press and Information Division
PRESS RELEASE No 68/03
9 September 2003
Judgment of the Court of Justice on the reference for a preliminary ruling
in Case C-151/02
Landeshauptstadt Kiel v Norbert Jaeger
ON-CALL DUTY PERFORMED IN A PLACE DETERMINED BY THE EMPLOYER CONSTITUTES IN ITS
TOTALITY WORKING TIME EVEN WHERE THE DOCTOR IS PERMITTED TO REST AT HIS
PLACE OF WORK WHEN HIS SERVICES ARE NOT REQUIRED
A Community directive precludes national legislation which categorises on-call duty as rest time
save for periods of actual activity
German law distinguishes between readiness for work (Arbeitsbereitschaft), on-call service (Bereitschaftsdienst) and stand-by
(Rufbereitschaft). Only readiness for work is deemed to constitute full working time. Conversely,
on-call service and stand-by are categorised as rest time, save for the part
of the service during which professional tasks are actually performed.
The Community directive concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time seeks
to secure the safety and health of workers by ensuring that they are
entitled to minimum rest periods and adequate breaks.1 That directive defines the characteristic
features of the concept of working time as any period during which the
worker is working, at the employer's disposal and carrying out his activity or
duties ....
The Landesarbeitsgericht Schleswig-Holstein seeks a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of
the European Communities on whether the German law is in conformity with the
Community Directive.
Referring to its case-law,2 the Court considers that the decisive factor in considering
that the characteristic features of the concept of working time within the meaning
of Directive 93/104 are present in the case of time spent on call
by doctors in the hospital itself is that they are required to be
present at the place determined by the employer and to be available to
the employer in order to be able to provide their services immediately in
case of need. According to the Court, those obligations, which make it impossible
for the doctors concerned to choose the place where they stay during waiting
periods, must be regarded as coming within the ambit of the performance of
their duties.
That interpretation is not altered by the fact that the employer makes available
to the doctor a rest room in which he can stay for as
long as his professional services are not required.
The Court adds that a doctor who is required to keep himself available
to his employer at the place determined by him for the whole duration
of periods of on-call duty is subject to appreciably greater constraints than a
doctor on stand-by since he has to remain apart from his family and
social environment and has less freedom to manage the time during which his
professional services are not required. Under those conditions, a doctor required to be
available at the place determined by his employer cannot be regarded as being
at rest during the periods of his on-call duty when he is not
actually carrying on any professional activity.
The Court therefore concludes that national legislation such as German law, which treats
as periods of rest periods of on-call duty, save for the period during
which the person concerned has actually performed his professional tasks and which provides
for compensatory arrangements only in respect of periods of actual activity is contrary
to the Community Directive.
Available in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. For the full text of the Judgment, please consult our internet page www.curia.eu.int at approximately midday today. For additional information please contact Christopher Fretwell Phone: (00 352) 4303 3355; Fax: (00 352) 4303 2731. Pictures of the hearing are available on "Europe by Satellite" European Commission, Press and Information Service, L-2920 Luxembourg Tel: (00 352) 4301 35177; Fax: (00 352) 4301 35249, or B-1049 Brussels, Tel: (00 32) 2 2964106, Fax: (00 32) 2 2965956, or (00 32) 2 301280 |