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Euro Parliament to reconsider POAs

3rd July 2008, Page 7
3rd July 2008
Page 7
Page 7, 3rd July 2008 — Euro Parliament to reconsider POAs
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

By Patric Curmane DRIVERS' PERIODS of availability (P0As) may be reclassified as working time under proposed changes to the Working Time Directive (WTD), currently under review by the European Parliament.

At present, a POA where a truck is waiting to be loaded does not count toward a driver's 48-hour working week as long as the driver knows the duration in advance.

The driver's employer must pay for this time, but it means in practice that many drivers have not seen their hours reduced since the directive became law in 2005. The parliament's unease about 'on-call time' is partly fuelled over concerns about doctors' working hours.

The parliament may also decide to scrap the opt-out clause which, in the transport industry allows non-mobile workers to vote to exclude themselves from the 48-hour week.

Spanish socialist MEP Alejandro Cercas is rapporteur (sponsor) for the review of the directive and believes urgent action is necessary. "This directive goes in the opposite direction to what workers want," Cercas recently told the

Employment and Social Affairs Committee in Brussels.

Cercas is also pushing to ensure that the derogation from the directive for owner-drivers and the self-employed ends next year as agreed. Some MEPs fear the European Commission is growing lukewarm about the proposal, citing difficulties in defining who is self-employed.

The parliament is also considering the Temporary Agency Workers Directive, and it's likely that the UK government's position of not granting full employment rights for six weeks will be overruled.


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