The working time - various developments of the meaning of working time at the European Union level from a Romanian labor relations' perspective

• Author: Luminita Dima
• Position: Law Faculty of Bucharest University
• Pages: 141-155

The working time – various developments of the meaning of working

time at the European Union level from a Romanian labor relations’

perspective

1

Associate Professor Luminița DIMA

2

Abstrac t

The work ing time is defined by the Euro pean Directive con cerning certa in aspects

of the organi sation of workin g time. The meani ng of ‘work ing time’ and appli cability o f the

Directive’s requ irements was further clarified by t he Co urt of Justice of t he Euro pean

Union in it s c ase law, with respect to v arious situation s su ch as: worki ng t ime of the

employee s who p erform wo rk on call, wo rking time of the foresters wh o are provided with

tied accommod ation within the range of forest within their pu rview and qua lification o f the

time sp ent by workers wh en trav elling from home to work. Over the past years suc h cases

have bee n more often met in th e emplo yment relation ships in Romania, espe cially as

regards wo rk on call and mobile emplo yees. Since there are no specific legal pro visions to

clarify the legal regime app licable to such situat ions, whether a nd in which circu mstan ces

they rep resent working time and the corre sponding rights an d obligat ions of the respecti ve

employee s, t he study aims to an alyse such situa tions from the perspec tive of the Romania n

labo ur relatio ns by co mparing the Europ ean legisla tion and ca se law with th e Romanian

nati onal leg islation in view of finding some speci fic answers useful for the interpret ation

and a pplicatio n of the Romanian legislatio n in such speci fic cases .

Keywords: workin g time, rest time, work on ca ll, mobile employ ee.

JEL Cla ssification: K31

1. Practical challenges in the organization of working time

The employment relations continuously need to adapt to the current

requirements of the society and to the needs of both employers and employees.

This necessity appears worldwide and it became lately more visible in the current

employment relations in Romania.

The social and personal challenges are important factors for employees to

accommodate the personal life, the family duties and the individual needs and

wishes with their professional activities. Such elements became essential for the

employees in choosing the employer and their workplace, in asking for individual

1

This art icle was submitt ed to 6th Int ernational Conference “Perspectives of Business Law in the

Third M illennium”, 25 -26 November 2016, t he Bucharest University of Economic Studies,

Bucharest, Romania.

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Luminița Dima - Law Faculty of Bucharest University, luminitzadima@yahoo.com