sou · GJB362 · 1996-01-01 00:00:00 — Jämförelsen måste dock analyseras närmare. Som vi konstaterat likställs enligt det svenska regelsystemet alla ledigheter arbetstagaren har rätt till med arbetstid, dvs. arbetstagaren anses ha arbetat om han eller hon t.ex. varit studieledig. Vidare gäller att om ett lägre mått för ordi- narie arbetstid än /vecka följer av avtal, skall med övertid förstås sådan tid som överstiger detta mått. Om ordinarie arbetstid är lägre än lagens /vecka blir följdaktligen det totala antalet tillåtna timmar också lägre. Arbetstiden beräknas enligt arbetstidslagen på kalenderperioder, vilket medför att perioderna är förutbestämda. Direktivets beräkningsperioder kan vara rullande. Av betydelse är även att semesterlagen ger rätt till längre ledig- het än vad som följer av EG-direktivets bestämmelse om semester. Vidare kan märkas att sjukdom under semester medför enligt se- mesterlagen rätt för arbetstagaren att skjuta på semesterledigheten. Vi menar att en samlad bedömning av det svenska regelverket (främst arbetstidslagen, ledighetslagstiftning, semesterlagen och arbetsmiljölagen) medför att detta måste tillmätas ett för arbets- tagarna högre skyddsvärde. Ändringar i det svenska regelsystemet föreslås därför inte. Alla arbetstagare skall enligt EG-direktivet erhålla en årlig betald semester . Närmare föreskrifter om rätten till och beviljandet av sådan semester får bestämmas nationellt. Den svenska semesterlagen stadgar att alla arbetstagare har rätt till 25 dagars semester . Lagen anger bestämmelser angående in- tjänandet av rätten till semester och semesterlön. EG-direktivet föranleder oss inte att föreslå några förändringar i det svenska regelsystemet. EG-direktivet innehåller två regler angående begränsning av natt- arbete. Den första regeln stadgar att nattarbetet inte får överstiga i genomsnitt . Den andra regeln säger att för arbeten som innebär säskilda risker eller stor fysisk eller mental ansträngning får nattarbetet inte överstiga då nattarbetet utförs. Det är i detta fall alltså inte tillåtet att genomsnittsberäkna arbetstiden. Medlemsstaterna får enligt direktivet fastställa en beräknings- period för beräkning av den genomsnittliga arbetstiden enligt den första regeln. Beräkningsperioden får inte inkludera veckovilan , vilket innebär att de i genomsnitt kan beräknas /vecka (x ). Vidare får medlemsstaterna i vissa fall avvika från tillämpningen av båda reglerna, dvs. både vad avser längden på arbetspassen och vad avser förbudet mot genomsnittsberäkning. Arbetstidslagen utgår från ett nattarbetsförbud och i nattvilan skall ingå tiden mellan och . nattarbetsförbudet får ske i vissa fall. Nattarbete med stöd i arbets- tidslagen står under myndighets tillsyn och kontroll. Vid en samlad bedömning får anses att det svenska regelsyste- mets bestämmelser (främst arbetstidslagens nattarbetsförbud, ar- betsmiljölagen, bestämmelserna om tillsyn och kontroll samt le- dighetslagstiftningen) har ett väl så högt skyddsvärde som direkti- vets båda regler om begränsning av nattarbete. Vi föreslår därför inga förändringar i det svenska regelsystemet. Hälsoundersökning och omplacering av nattarbetande till dagarbete Nattarbetande skall enligt EG-direktivet ha rätt till fri hälsounder- sökning innan de påbörjar sin anställning och därefter till regel- bundna sådana undersökningar. Om den nattarbetande har hälsop- roblem som kan anses bero på nattarbetet skall denne om möjligt omplaceras till dagarbete. Arbetsmiljölagen innehåller bestämmelser (kap. 4) om bemyn- diganden. En sådan bestämmelse behandlar regeringens eller myn- dighets möjlighet att utfärda föreskrifter om skyldighet att vid vissa riskfyllda arbeten föranstalta om läkarundersökning. Vi anser att regeringen med stöd av denna bestämmelse bör uppdra åt Ar- betarskyddsstyrelsen att utfärda föreskrift angående hälsoundersök- ningar vid nattarbete. Beträffande rätten till omplacering konstaterar vi att i arbets- miljölagens tredje kapitel stadgas att arbetsgivaren bl.a. skall vidta alla nödvändiga åtgärder för att undvika ohälsa på arbetsplatsen. Detta innebär ytterst en omplaceringsskyldighet. Till detta kommer det skydd som ges genom regeln i lagen om anställningskydd om att en uppsägning inte är sakligt grundad om arbetsgivaren skäligen kan erbjuda annat arbete hos sig. Dessa stadganden sammantagna torde innebära att en rätt motsvarande den som stadgas i EG- direktivet redan finns i svensk rätt. Vi föreslår alltså inga för- ändringar i det svenska regelsystemet med anledning av direktivets regel om omplacering. EG-direktivet anger att medlemsstaterna får meddela särskilda regler till skydd för vissa kategorier arbetstagare. Detta föranleder oss inte att föreslå någon förändring av det svenska regelsystemet. Anmälan om regelbunden sysselsättning av nattarbetande En arbetsgivare som regelbundet använder nattarbetande skall an- mäla detta till behöriga myndigheter om dessa begär det. Bestäm- melsen motsvaras i det svenska regelsystemet av arbetstidslagen bestämmelse om arbetsgivares upplysningsplikt. Vi föreslår således inga förändringar i det svenska regelsystemet. Skydd av hälsa och säkerhet Arbetstagare som arbetar natt och skift skall enligt EG-direktivet erhålla ett skydd som motsvarar arten av deras arbete. Skyddsa- nordningar skall finnas tillgängliga alla tider då arbete bedrivs. Dessa bestämmelser motsvaras i av andra och tredje kapitlen i arbetsmiljölagen och föranleder oss inte att föreslå förändringar i det svenska regelsystemet. Arbetsgivare skall enligt EG-direktivet iaktta principen att arbetet anpassas till arbetstagaren. Denna bestämmelse motsvaras av ar- betsmiljölagens allmänna skyddsbestämmelser i andra och tredje kapitlen. Bestämmelsen föranleder således inga förändringsförslag avseende det svenska regelsystemet. Vi har konstaterat att EG-direktivet i princip inte föranleder några förändringsförslag vad avser den lagreglerade arbetstiden. Arbets- tidslagen är dock dispositiv till förmån för kollektivavtal. Arbets- tidslagens disposivitet innebär att lagstiftaren inte sätter andra gränser än vad som följer av arbetsmiljölagens allmänna skydds- bestämmelser för vad arbetsmarknadens parter kan avtala i kollek- tivavtal. EG-direktivet medför emellertid att vissa gränser i fort- sättningen måste iakttas. Detta måste framgå av arbetstidslagen och en hänvisning bör därför göras i lagen till EG-direktivet. Arbetsmarknadens parter skall således ha möjlighet att även fortsättningsvis fritt avtala om arbetstidsfrågor, men de skall göra detta inom EG-direktivets ramar. Parterna har därvid att bedöma om de regler som avtalas har ett skyddsvärde som minst motsvarar EG-direktivets regler. Om inte kollektivavtal kan slutas om avvikelser från arbetstidslagen kan Arbetarskyddsstyrelsen i vissa fall bevilja dispens. Genom dispens kan beviljas avvikelse från en rad av lagens bestämmelser beträffande arbetstidens omfattning och viloperioder. Arbetar- skyddsstyrelsen har fortsättningsvis vid beviljandet av dispenser att hålla sig inom direktivets ramar. Om ett kollektivavtal har ersatt arbetstidslagens regler om ar- betstid faller myndighetstillsynen (av lagens efterlevnad) bort. Vad gäller den del av arbetstiden som inte är reglerad i kollektivavtal skall tillsynen i fortsättningen även avse EG-direktivets regler i den mening att direktivets lägsta godtagbara skyddsnivåer inte underskrids. Om ett kollektivavtal tecknas om arbetstidsfrågor bortfaller alltså myndighetstillsynen på detta område. Detta medför även att lagens sanktioner bortfaller. Då vi föreslår att arbetstidslagen tillförs en bestämmelse som säger att kollektivavtal måste hållas inom EG- direktivets ramar, bör för att säkerställa efterlevnaden sådan före- skrift sanktioneras. Vi föreslår dels en regel som markerar att avtal eller del därav, i den mån det innebär att regler med ett lägre skyddsvärde skall tillämpas för arbetstagarna än vad som följer av EG-direktivet är ogiltiga. Vanligare torde dock bli att det är tillämpningen av visst kollektivavtal i det enskilda fallet som förklaras ogiltigt. Vidare bör brott mot EG-direktivets minsta godtagbara skyddsnivåer kunna medföra att skadestånd utdöms. Konsekvenser av våra förslag Vi anser att konsekvenserna av våra förslag är mycket begränsade. Själva avsikten med vårt arbete i denna del har ju varit att hålla förändringsförslaget till ett nödvändigt minimum. Av detta följer att våra förslag inte torde betyda något vad gäller jämställdheten mellan kvinnor och män, regionalpolitiskt eller för statens utgifter. Vi skall i vårt fortsatta arbete återkomma till konsekvenserna av olika arbetstidsförslag på produktivitet, sysselsättning, jämställdhet, osv. One of the prerequisites for solving 's economic problems is significantly higher, sustainable development. An growth policy must be pursued. The 1995 Working Hours Commission was set up in this perspective. The Commission's terms of reference cover three principal tasks: analysis of the long-term consequences of alternative forms of shorter working time, investigation of ways in which flexible provisions for working time can be introduced in Swedish legislation, and investigation of the consequences of the EC Working Time Directive on the Swedish regulatory system in the working time sphere. This interim report considers the consequences of the EC Directive. Since the Commission has been under considerable time pressure, it was decided at an early stage that any proposals for amendments to the Swedish regulations should be restricted to an essential, minimum level. As a result, our proposals have been confined to amendments which are considered to be absolutely necessary from a legal point of view for incorporation of the EC Directive into the Swedish regulatory system. This approach offers the greatest possible scope for our future consideration of these questions. Taking the EC Directive as our starting point, we have made comparisons with the Swedish statutory provisions and have assessed the protective value of these provisions. We note that there are certain significant differences. Thus, under Swedish legislation, all leave to which an employee may be entitled is regarded as equivalent to working time. Apart from periods of annual leave and sick leave could be mentioned parental leave, leave for purposes of study and leave for trade union duties. Under the EC Directive the only periods equivalent to working time are periods of annual paid leave and sick leave. Another major difference is that Swedish legislation assumes the prohibition of night work, while there is no such prohibition in the EC Directive which, instead, prescribes that the duration of night shifts is to be limited. In our opinion, every provision in the EC Directive corresponds to Swedish statutory provisions which, on the whole, give employees a high degree of protection. Therefore, in principle, we do not propose any amendments in statutory working time. On the other hand, we note that the optional features of the Working Hours Act must be limited as a result of the EC Directive. If provisions of a lower protective value are applied under a certain collective agreement, such application should therefore be deemed invalid. It will probably be less common that the agreement in whole (or features thereof) is ruled invalid. In addition, it should be possible to award damages for breaches of the minimum acceptable protection levels under the EC Directive. In the future, dispensations granted by will also have to be restricted to the framework of the Directive, and supervision as regards statutory working hours must ensure compliance with the minimum acceptable levels of protection under the EC Directive. EC Working Time Directive The legal basis for the Working Time Directive is Article 118a in the . The Directive aims to ensure the safety and health of employees in connection with the organization of working time. The Directive states minimum rules for rest periods and other provisions regarding the organization of working time (including restrictions on working hours per week), night work, shift work and patterns of work). The Directive defines the key concepts, for example working time and rest periods. In addition, there a number of general provisions, including methods of calculating average working time and rest periods, and also cases in which exceptions may be made from the principal rules contained in the Directive, and also the prerequisites for such exceptions. The Directive must be incorporated into the regulatory systems of members states not later than . Swedish provisions concerning working time are primarily covered by the Working Hours Act, which stipulates restrictions on the extent of working time, rules for rest periods (e.g. night and weekly rest periods, break periods, meal breaks and pauses), certain provisions of an administrative nature, and provisions for dispensations, supervision, penalties, overtime fees and appeals. The rules contained in the Work Environment Act, the Annual Leave Act, legislation affecting leave of absence from work (e.g. rules for parental leave and leave for purposes of study) and the Act on Security of Employment are also of importance in this connection. Collective agreements also involve extensive regulation of working time issues. In view of the assumption on which we have based our work, we confine our proposals to the bare essentials, that is to say arriving at a legal assessment of the protective value of the provisions contained in the EC Directive and in the Swedish regulatory system, respectively. This involves fully noting and taking into account the provisions contained in the Directive. We have endeavoured to identify the future frameworks which the EC Directive will establish as regards the regulation of working time in . When we have completed this aspect of our assignment, we will be able to proceed to our other tasks, that is to say to study the prerequisites for and the consequences of various flexible rules for working time and alternative forms of shorter working time. In this context, we will be returning to virtually all the aspects covered in the EC Directive. , a commitment at this stage to rules which are not the result of a strict legal assessment of the need for EC harmonization would hinder our future work. The amendments which we propose should be regarded as provisional. The definition of the concept of working time is of crucial importance in most of the provisions of the EC Directive. One important difference between the Directive and the Swedish regulatory system is the method of calculating working time (i.e. what is to be counted as working time and what is to be considered as equivalent to working time). The Directive states that working time constitute all periods in which the employee is working, at the employer's disposal and carrying out his activity or duties. Under the Directive, when computing average working time per week, periods of annual leave or sickness leave for which the employee receives pay may either be counted as work time or excluded from the period on which calculation is based (thus reducing the period). The concept of working time is not defined in the Working Hours Act, but in practice working time means that the employee is at the employer's disposal at the place of work, carrying out tasks or prepared to work if so required. Under the Swedish system, compensatory leave which the employee receives as compensation for overtime work is equated with working time, and this also applies to all leave to which the employee is entitled under statutes other than the Working Hours Act, Apart from holidays and sickness leave, this also includes parental leave, leave for purposes of study, leave for trade union duties, leave for immigrants to study the Swedish language, etc. In addition, the Working Hours Act also contains provisions regarding emergency and stand-by duty, which are taken into account separately and affect the provisions of the Act as regards rest periods. Moreover, there are restrictions regarding the number of hours allowed for emergency duty. The EC Directive contains no provisions relating to emergency and stand-by duty and, according to the Directive, such phenomena should not be regarded as working time. In the light of the basic assumption we have made we therefore propose that there should be no amendments to the Swedish concept of working time. Work in connection with air, rail, road and waterborne transport, fishing and other work at sea, and work carried out by doctors undergoing training are excluded from the area of application covered by the EC Directive. This also applies to employees who work in their employer's home. Member states may themselves decide the extent to which the Directive's provisions are to apply in certain types of public sector activities such as the , defence and certain civil defence services. In principle, work in the home and work at a distance are covered by the Directive, but member states are allowed to make exceptions to the rules regarding periods of rest and restrictions on weekly hours and the duration of night work for certain categories of employees (i.e. employees whose working time is not measured, is not determined in advance or is decided by employees themselves). The Working Hours Act has identical areas of application for the most part, but it does not permit all the exemptions covered by the EC Directive. There is also other relevant legislation which covers virtually all employees, for example the Work Environment Act and the Annual Leave Act. The Working Hours Act, however, excludes employees who carry out work which cannot be monitored (e.g. employees who work in their own homes), employees in executive or comparable positions and employees who determine their working time themselves. As already mentioned, all these employee categories are covered by the EC Directive, but member states are allowed to make exceptions regarding many of the Directive's main provisions. Work in the home and at a location remote from the workplace is on the increase. We want to study this area more closely before presenting proposals as regards working hours. This question is also being discussed and studied at the international level, for example in the EU. In view of the assumptions we have made regarding our task, we consider that the exception in the Working Hours Act, also for this reason, can be left intact, in view of the rules regarding derogations in the EC Directive. The prerequisites for an exception of this kind – that the employees concerned must be covered by general protective provisions – are fulfilled since they are covered by the Work Environment Act, which contains provisions of this nature. In addition, the Directive's provisions regarding holidays for such employees are covered by the Annual Leave Act. The provisions regarding night work (apart from the duration of night work), shift work and patterns of work largely correspond to provisions in the Work Environment Act which also covers such employees. We propose that reference be made in the Working Hours Act to the Work Environment Act in order to clarify the relationship between working time issues and the general protective provisions embodied in the Work Environment Act. The EC Directive states that all employees must have 11 consecutive hours of free time per 24 hour period. However, there is no indication of at what point this free time is to be arranged. In the case of a period covering two calendar days, for example, if the daily rest period occurred in the first 11 hours of the first day and in the final 11 hours of the second day, the employee would work for 26 hours without a rest period. Member states are allowed to make derogations from the daily rest period rule for several types of employees and situations. There is no express provision regarding daily rest in the Working Hours Act. Instead, the Act prescribes that all employees must have free time for rest at night in the period 24.00 – 05.00 hours. In practice and in accordance with the preamble to the Act, these five hours should not be considered to constitute sufficient daily rest, even on a temporary basis. Employees are to have the period of rest they require. Under the Work Environment Act, assessment of the rest period needed must be based on the prerequisites of the individual employee. The Swedish working time concept differs from that embodied in the EC Directive and, under Swedish law, statutory provisions regarding working time, emergency duty and stand-by duty are relevant factors when assessing employee leave and free time. We consider that an overall assessment of the protective value of the EC Directive's rules about daily rest periods and the relevant Swedish statutory provisions indicates that the Swedish rules have a rather high protective value. the incorporation of the Directive's provisions for daily rest periods would not give the Working Hours Act greater protective value. In the light of the basic assumptions we have made, we therefore propose that there should be no amendment of the Swedish regulatory system. Under the EC Directive, all employees must be entitled to breaks if the working day is in excess of six hours. Derogations from this rule may be made in certain cases. The Working Hours Act stipulates that employees must have a break after not more than five hours work. The duration, number and timing of breaks must be satisfactory, taking into account the work situation. In certain cases, work breaks may be replaced by meal breaks. The Act also contains a provision concerning pauses. Comparison between the Directive and the Act indicates that the provisions of the Working Hours Act have a higher protective Therefore, we propose that there should be no amendment of the Swedish regulatory system. Maximum Weekly Rest Period The EC Directive stipulates that all employees must have at least 24 hours of consecutive free time per seven-day period, in addition to 11 hours of daily rest. In certain cases, this free-time period may be reduced to 24 hours. Weekly rest periods may be averaged out over a period of 14 days. Derogations from the provisions for daily rest may be made in certain cases. The Working Hours Act states that employees must have at least 36 hours of consecutive free time in each seven day period. Exceptions may be made on a temporary basis in certain cases. We consider that the Swedish regulatory system (the Working Hours Act, the general protective provisions of the Work Environment Act and legislation regulating rest periods and free time) have a higher protective value than the protective element in the Directive. , no amendment of the Swedish regulatory system is proposed as regards provision for weekly rest periods. Under the EC Directive, weekly working time for employees should not exceed an average of 48 hours. The period on which such an average calculation is based may be four months. In certain cases, member states are allowed to employ a period of six months for purposes of calculation. In collective agreements, employer and employee organizations may agree on a period of 12 months. The average calculation periods are not defined as calendar periods. Under certain conditions, member states may choose not to apply the rule concerning restrictions on the working week, providing that each individual employee is entitled to refuse to work more than 48 hours per week per four month period. The Working Hours Act stipulates that normal working time must not exceed 40 hours per calendar week. In certain cases, these 40 hours may be calculated as an average over a four week period. If there is a special need for an extension of working time, overtime work amounting to 48 hours per four week period is permitted, or 50 hours per calendar month, but not more than 200 hours per calendar year.