The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7418 p334
16 September 2006

This article
Reprint   Photocopy

PDF 40K, Acrobat Reader

· Asthma
· Medicine
· Community pharmacy
· Homoeopathy (3)
· Birdsgrove House
· Retention fees (2)
· The Society

Letters to the Editor

Community pharmacy

Significance of new European Court of Justice ruling

From Mr S. Wheatley, MRPharmS

An important new development relating to long working hours and the need for refreshment breaks has been reported. The European Court of Justice has ruled that the requirements of the European Working Time Directive must be applied in the UK. The effect of this ruling is that employers must ensure that staff take off at least 11 hours between working days, have a minimum of one day off per week and, most importantly, have a 20-minute rest break after every six hours of work.

In 1998 the Department of Trade and Industry drew up guidelines stating that employers merely had to advise staff that they were allowed certain rest breaks. The new ruling makes these breaks mandatory on both employers and employees. The opt-out clause has been removed; employees can no longer choose to work through rest breaks and employers can no longer attempt to coerce employees to do so.

I am certain that the significance of this ruling will not escape the notice of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Code of Ethics working group and that its impact will be reflected in the next step of the ethics consultation process.

Stan Wheatley
Blandford Forum, Dorset

Send your letter to The Editor

Previous Topic (Medicine)
Next Topic (Homoeopathy)