Study measuring the economic, financial and organisational implications for public health care services from possible changes to the Working Time Directive 2003/88/EC : final report

The Working Time Directive (WTD), Directive 2003/88/EC aims at providing minimum standards common to all Member States for protecting workers from health and safety risks associated with excessive or inappropriate working hours, and with inadequate time for rest and recovery from work. The last decades have seen major changes in economy, economic structures and sectors, work patterns and work requirements. The Commission therefore considers that it is relevant to consider the appropriateness of the current rules in the light of the trends of the 21st century, and the possible scope to make them easier to understand and apply by workers and employers. Indeed, the main elements that are considered in the impact assessment are: the changes in work patterns that necessitate a reflection whether the legal framework still corresponds to the underlying economic and social reality; the question whether the current legal framework provides sufficient legal certainty and clarity; whether it sufficiently accommodates the need to 24/7 services; whether it provides sufficient protection of workers' health and safety; and whether the Directive's provisions can be clarified and simplified in order to reduce regulatory burden. Against this background, this study has analysed the financial and organisational implications of possible changes to the Working Time Directive in the public healthcare sector, more specifically public hospitals. The study applies a EU28 perspective and provides examples from eight case study countries. Identification of Member States for the case studies was based on a clustering by three dimensions: use of the opt-out, health care expenditures and means of regulating working time issues.The selected Member States were Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Hungary and UK. The study maps the current implementation status with particular attention to the areas where possible changes are analysed. The selection of countries featured a full range of scenarios enabling a comprehensive assessment of the possible changes considered