Regulations, 2024

L.N. 326 of 2024

EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT

(CAP. 452)

Organisation of Working Time in Inland Waterway Transport

Regulations, 2024

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by article 48(2) of the

Employment and Industrial Relations Act, the Minister responsible for

employment and industrial relations, has made the following

regulations:-

The title of these regulations is the Organisation of

Working Time in Inland Waterway Transport Regulations, 2024.

(1) These regulations transpose Council Directive 2014/

112/EU of 19 December 2014 implementing the European Agreement

concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time in

inland waterway transport, concluded by the European Barge Union

(EBU), the European Skippers Organisation (ESO) and the European

Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF).

(2) These regulations shall be construed as a national standard

order and lay down the minimum requirements for the organisation of

working time in the inland waterway transport sector.

(3) These regulations shall apply to workers employed as

travelling personnel, whether as crew members or in any other

function, on board a craft which operates, or ordinarily operates

transport services for passengers or goods by inland waterway, in the

territory of one or more Member States.

(4) Inland waterway transport operators shall not be considered

as workers falling within the scope of these regulations, even if they

have the status of workers in their own undertaking.

(5) The Organisation of Working Time Regulations shall not

apply to workers employed on board a craft operated in the inland

waterway transport sector where any particular matter is regulated by

these regulations.

(6) These regulations shall be applicable without prejudice to

other legislation which grants a higher level of protection to workers in

inland waterway transport and to the introduction and implementation

of provisions in collective agreements or any other agreement entered

into between employers and the employees, which are more favourable

to the protection of the safety and health of workers.

(1)

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise Interpretation.

"Act" means the Employment and Industrial Relations Act; Cap. 452.

"boatmaster" means a deck crew member who has overall

responsibility to sail a craft on the inland waterways and who is

responsible for the crew and for the passengers;

"craft" means a vessel or unit of floating equipment;

"designated officer" means an inspector appointed by the

Director;

''Director'' shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in

the Act;

"employer" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in

the Act;

"inland waterway transport operator" means any person

operating vessels for commercial purposes in the inland

waterway transport sector on his own account;

"Member State" means a member State of the European

Union;

"night time" means the period between 22:00 of any one

day and 06:00 of the next day;

"night worker" means a worker who

(a) works at least three (3) hours of his daily

working time during night time as part of his normal course

of work; or

(b) works more than fifty percent (50%) of his

annual working time during night time, or such lower

proportion as may be specified in appropriate provisions of

a relevant collective agreement

Provided that for the purposes of paragraph (a)

of this definition, the term ''normal course'' means those

instances where the worker works such hours on the

majority of his working days;

"passenger vessel" means a day trip or cabin vessel

constructed and equipped to carry more than twelve (12)

passengers;

"rest day" means an uninterrupted rest period of twenty-

four (24) hours which the worker spends in a place of his own

choosing;

"rest time" means the time outside working time, including

rest periods on a moving craft, on a stationary craft and on land,

but does not include short breaks of up to fifteen (15) minutes;

"season" means a period of not more than nine (9)

consecutive months out of twelve (12) months, in which the

activities are tied to certain periods of the year as a result of

external circumstances, such as weather conditions or tourist

demand, and "seasonal work" shall be construed accordingly;

"shift worker" means any worker whose work schedule is

part of shift work;

"work schedule" means the planned working days and rest

days communicated to the worker in advance by the employer;

''working time'' means any period during which the worker

is available for service, to the employer and is carrying out his

activity or duties (on-call time) on and for the craft on the

instructions of the employer or the employer’s representative and

includes any relevant training, and ''work'' shall be construed

accordingly.

(2) Subject to the provisions of sub-regulation (1), terms and

expressions used in these regulations shall, unless the context

otherwise requires, have the meaning assigned to them in the Act.

(1) Without prejudice to regulation 6, standard working

hours shall be based on an eight (8) hour day.

(2) Working time may be extended in accordance with

regulation 6 provided that an average of forty-eight (48) hours per

week is not exceeded within twelve (12) months. The maximum

working time in the reference period is two thousand three hundred

and four (2,304) hours (calculation basis: fifty-two (52) weeks minus a

minimum four (4) weeks’ leave x forty-eight (48) hours). Periods of

annual leave and sick leave shall not be included in the calculation of

the average or shall be neutral. Rest time entitlements resulting from

statutory public holidays shall also be deducted.

(3) For employment relationships with a duration of less than

twelve (12) months, the maximum permissible working time shall be

calculated on a pro-rata basis.

A worker shall not be required to work for a period of more Breaks.

than six (6) hours without being allowed a break of at least thirty (30)

minutes.

(1)

Working time shall not exceed

Daily and

weekly working

time.

(a) fourteen (14) hours in any twenty-four (24) hour

period; and

(b)

eighty-four (84) hours in any seven (7) day period.

(2) When the work schedule provides for more working days

than rest days, an average weekly working time of seventy-two (72)

hours shall not be exceeded over a four (4) month period.

(1) Workers shall have regular rest periods which are Rest periods.

sufficiently long and continuous and the duration of which is

expressed in units of time in order to ensure that, as a result of fatigue

or irregular working patterns, workers do not cause injury to

themselves, to fellow workers or to others and that they do not damage

their health, either in the short term or in the longer term.

(2)

Rest periods shall not be less than

(a) ten (10) hours in any twenty-four (24) hour period, of

which at least six (6) hours are uninterrupted; and

(b)

eighty-four (84) hours in any seven (7) day period.

(1) Subject to sub-regulation (2) and regulation 9, a Working days

worker shall, in each period of seven (7) days, be granted a rest period and rest days.

of at least twenty-four (24) consecutive hours which shall be

immediately preceded by a daily rest period as established in

regulation 7(2)(a).

(2) An employer may, instead of granting to a worker in any

period of seven (7) days the first-mentioned rest period in paragraph

(1), grant to him, in the next following period of seven (7) days, two

(2) rest periods, each of which shall be a period of at least twenty-four

(24) consecutive hours and

(a) if the rest periods so granted are consecutive, the time

at which the first of those periods commences shall be such that

such period is immediately preceded by a daily rest period

established out in regulation 7(2)(a); and

(b) if the rest periods so granted are not consecutive, the

time at which each of those periods commences shall be such

that each of them is immediately preceded by a daily rest period

as established in regulation 7(2)(a).

(1) Notwithstanding the requirements established under

regulations 6, 7 and 8 for seasonal work, working time for a worker

employed on board a passenger vessel during the season shall not

exceed

(a) twelve (12) hours in any twenty-four (24) hour

period; and

(b)

seventy-two (72) hours in any seven (7) day period,

and such a worker shall be granted at least two (2) rest days

during every period of thirty-one (31) days, with any remaining

rest days to be granted by agreement. A worker shall be credited

with zero point two (0.2) rest days per working day.

(2) The provisions of regulation 4(2) and (3) shall be adhered

to when making provision for seasonal work.

A worker shall not work more than seven (7) hours during

the night time and not more than forty-two (42) hours per seven (7)

day period.

A worker shall be entitled to paid annual leave of at least

four (4) weeks, or to a corresponding proportion thereof if the period

of employment is less than one (1) year. The minimum period of paid

annual leave may not be replaced by an allowance in lieu, except when

the employment relationship is terminated.

(1) Without prejudice to the requirements of the

Protection of Young Persons at Work Places Regulations, a person

under the age of eighteen (18) shall not be employed for work on board

a craft unless such person has reached the age of sixteen (16) and is no

longer subject to compulsory full-time schooling.

(2) Subject to sub-regulation (3), a person under the age of

eighteen (18) shall not be required to perform night work on board a

craft.

(3) A person under the age of eighteen (18) may be permitted

to perform night work when there are objective grounds justifying the

requirement provided the effective training of the person under an

established training programme would be prejudiced if he did not

perform night work, and such work shall not have a detrimental impact

on the person’s health or well-being.

(4) A worker who is required to perform night work under sub-

regulation (3) shall receive appropriate compensatory rest.

(1) The employer shall maintain a record of the daily Maintaining

hours of work and rest for every worker on board the craft in order to records.

verify compliance with the provisions of these regulations.

(2) Each record maintained in a backdated manner in

accordance with sub-regulation (1) shall be completed monthly and

shall include at a minimum

(a)

the name of the craft;

(b)

the name of the worker;

(c)

the name of the competent boatmaster;

(d)

the date;

(e)

working day or rest day; and

(f)

the beginning and end of the daily working and rest

periods.

(3) Every record maintained in accordance with sub-regulation

(1) shall be endorsed by the boatmaster or a person authorised by the

boatmaster, and by the relevant worker not later than seven (7) days

after the last day of the month to which the record relates and the

worker shall be given a copy of the record as endorsed.

(4) Each record maintained in accordance with sub-regulation

(1), as endorsed in accordance with paragraph (3), shall be retained on

board for at least twelve (12) months.

(1) The boatmaster of a craft or his representative may Emergency

suspend the scheduled hours of rest of a worker and require him to situations.

perform any hours of work necessary for the immediate safety of the

craft, the persons on board, the cargo or for the purpose of giving

assistance to other craft or persons in distress, until such time as the

normal situation has been restored.

(2) When a scheduled rest period is suspended in accordance

with sub-regulation (1), the boatmaster shall ensure that the worker

receives an adequate period of rest as soon as practicable after the

normal situation has been restored.

(1) A worker shall be provided with an annual health

assessment free of charge, by a registered medical practitioner. During

such assessment, particular attention shall be paid to identifying

symptoms or conditions which could be a result of work on board with

minimum daily rest periods and, or minimum rest days in accordance

with regulations 8 and 9.

(2) On the completion of the assessment, the person who

performs the assessment shall inform the employer and the worker

concerned

(a) of their opinion as to whether the worker is fit or

otherwise to perform the work concerned; and

(b) if such opinion is that the worker is unfit to perform

that work by reason only of the particular conditions under

which that work is performed, he may suggest changes in those

conditions that could be made so that the worker could be

considered fit to perform that work.

(3) The free health assessment shall comply with medical

confidentiality.

(4)

When a night worker

(a) becomes ill or otherwise exhibits symptoms of ill-

health; and

(b) such illness is, or those symptoms are recognised as

being connected with the fact that the night worker performs

night work, the employer whenever possible, shall assign duties

to the worker that do not involve performing any night work and

to which the worker is suited.

(1) With prejudice to the provisions of the Occupational

Health and Safety Authority Act and any regulations made thereunder,

in relation to night workers and shift workers, the employer shall carry

out a risk assessment, taking account of risks to the safety and health

that attach to such work, so as to determine whether that work involves

particular hazards or a heavy physical or mental strain.

(2) Taking account of the risk assessment referred to in sub-

regulation (1), the employer shall take such steps as are appropriate for

the protection of the safety and health of the worker, having regard to

the nature of the work concerned.

(1) Without prejudice to the powers of the Director under

the Act, for the purposes of ensuring compliance with these

regulations, the Director may request the assistance of a designated

officer who, when so requested by the Director, may do any of the

following

(a)

board any craft at all reasonable times;

(b) search and inspect the craft and any documents or

records found on board;

(c) require any person on board the craft to produce to

the designated officer any report, document or record, including

in the case of information in non-legible form, a copy of the

information, or of extracts from it, in permanent legible form, as

the designated officer may reasonably require;

(d) inspect, examine and take copies or extracts from, or

collect, if necessary, for the purposes of inspection or

examination, any report, document or record, including in the

case of information in non-legible form, a copy of the

information, or of extracts from it, in permanent legible form,

that the designated officer finds in the course of his inspection

and require the person by whom such document or record is kept,

or who produced the document or record, to certify the copy as a

true copy.

(2) A person to whom an order by a designated officer is given

in accordance with sub-regulation (1) shall immediately comply with

such order.

(1) A worker who is dismissed shall be regarded for the Protection from

purposes of these regulations as having been unfairly dismissed if the dismissal,

adverse

reason for the dismissal of the worker is that the worker refused or consequences

and the burden

proposed to refuse to comply with a requirement which the employer of proof.

imposed or proposed to impose in contravention of these regulations,

or refused or proposed to refuse to forgo a right conferred on him by

these regulations or, in any other manner, exercised his rights provided

for in these regulations.

(2) A worker who considers that he has been dismissed, or has

been subjected to measures with equivalent effect, on the grounds that

he has exercised the rights provided for in these regulations, may

request the employer to provide duly substantiated grounds for the

dismissal or the equivalent measures. The employer shall provide such

grounds in writing.

(3) When a worker establishes before the Tribunal facts from

which it may be presumed that there has been such an unfair dismissal

or an equivalent measure, it shall be for the employer to provide

evidence that the dismissal was based on grounds other than those

referred to in sub-regulation (1).

(4) Without prejudice to articles 45 to 47A of the Act, a worker

who has been paid wages less than the rate applicable according to the

National Minimum Wage Standard Order and Wage Regulation Orders

in force, shall have the right to submit a complaint to the Director who

shall investigate the matter and order the employer to pay the worker

wages in conformity with the National Minimum Wage Standard

Order and Wage Regulation Orders which are in force.

(5) In cases referred to in sub-regulations (1) and (2), a worker

may submit a complaint to the Tribunal set up in terms of article 73 of

the Act.

Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with the

provisions of any of these regulations shall be guilty of an offence

against the Act, and shall be liable to a minimum fine (multa) of four

hundred and sixty-five euro and eighty-seven cents (465.87).

€0.81