1. THE IMPACT OF WORKING TIME
ON QUALITY OF LIFE
Anton Rozman, General Secretary STUPIS
2-4 June 2016, Vilnius, Lithuania

2. THE IMPACT OF WORKING TIME ON QUALITY OF LIFE
The impact of working time on quality of life, yes or no?
No doubt: YES
Working time has completely changed the way of life for many workers
Working people need to adopt to changing working time
The quality of life depends on distribution or redistribution and organization of working time
Vilnius,

3. THE IMPACT OF WORKING TIME ON QUALITY OF LIFE
Working time: yesterday - from 7 am to 15 pm, from Monday to Friday, it was nice
Working time: today - from 7 am to… who knows, almost from Monday to Monday
Working time : tomorrow? 25-hours per day?
We have became 24-hour society.
Vilnius,

4. THE IMPACT OF WORKING TIME ON QUALITY OF LIFE
Working time is regulated by a number of regulations:
ILO conventions
EU directives
Standards
The Labour Law
Collective agreements
Codes
Vilnius,

5. THE IMPACT OF WORKING TIME ON QUALITY OF LIFE
Who is responsible for checking all this regulations?
First employers and employees → management and Unions in company
Inspectors
Trade Unions
Works council
- Etical and moral standards
Vilnius,

6. THE IMPACT OF WORKING TIME ON QUALITY OF LIFE
Working time is regulated by the existing Employment Relationship Act (ZDR-1) which was passed in 2013:
Definition of working time
Working time shall mean the effective working hours and breaks according to Article 154 of this Act and the time of justified absences from work in accordance with an Act and a collective agreement and/or a general act.
Effective working hours shall be the hours during which a worker carries out his work, which means that he is at the employer’s disposal and fulfils his working obligations arising from the employment contract.
Effective working hours shall represent the basis for calculation of work productivity.
Vilnius,

7. THE IMPACT OF WORKING TIME ON QUALITY OF LIFE
Full working time
Full working time shall not exceed 40 hours a week.
In an Act and/or a collective agreement, full working time may also be stipulated as working time which is shorter than 40 hours a week; however, full working time shall not be shorter than 36 hours a week.
An Act or other regulation complying with an Act or a collective agreement may define full working time lasting less than 36 hours per week for jobs where there is a greater risk of injury or health impairment.
If full working time is not stipulated by an Act or a collective agreement, working time amounting to 40 hours per week shall be considered as full working time.
Vilnius,

8. THE IMPACT OF WORKING TIME ON QUALITY OF LIFE
Overtime work
Upon the employer’s request, the worker shall be obliged to perform work exceeding full working time – overtime work: 
in cases of an exceptionally increased amount of work,
if the working or production process requires continuation in order to prevent material damage or threat to the life and health of people,
if this is necessary to avert damage to means of work that would otherwise cause interruption of work,
if this is necessary in order to ensure the safety of people and property or traffic safety,
in other exceptional, urgent and unforeseen cases stipulated in an Act or by a branch collective agreement.
Vilnius,

9. THE IMPACT OF WORKING TIME ON QUALITY OF LIFE
Overtime work
Overtime work may not exceed eight hours a week, 20 hours a month or 170 hours a year. A working day may not exceed ten hours. The daily, weekly and monthly time limitations may be regarded as an average limitation over the period stipulated by an Act or collective agreement and may not exceed six months.
With the worker’s consent, overtime work may exceed the annual time limitation referred to in the preceding paragraph, but may not exceed 230 hours a year. In each case of required overtime work exceeding 170 hours a year, the employer must obtain written consent from the worker.
Vilnius,

10. THE IMPACT OF WORKING TIME ON QUALITY OF LIFE
Distribution of working time
The distribution and the conditions for temporary redistribution of working time shall be defined in the employment contract in accordance with an Act and the collective agreement.
Before the beginning of a calendar or business year, the employer shall provide the yearly distribution of working time and notify the workers thereof in a manner customary to the employer (for example on a notice board at the employer’s business premises or by using information technology) and also notify the trade unions at the employer.
If a worker proposes a different distribution of working time during his employment relationship for the purposes of reconciliation of professional and family life, the employer must justify his decision in writing, taking into consideration the needs of the working process. The written justification may also be sent by to the address of the worker provided and whose use is required by the employer.
Vilnius,

11. THE IMPACT OF WORKING TIME ON QUALITY OF LIFE
Collective agreements in STUPIS
The Act is upgraded by collective agreements. In the case of the Slovene textile and leather processing industry, a collective agreement was passed in Let me mention some specific issues that deal with working time.
Full working time consists of a minimum 36 and maximum 40 hours per week. Apart from the elements of working time that are determined by the Employment Relationships Act, activities such as preparations for work and the time required to finish work count as working time as well, according to the KP.
Vilnius,

12. THE IMPACT OF WORKING TIME ON QUALITY OF LIFE
Collective agreements in STUPIS
We have designated working time patterns in the collective agreement, which are:
Fixed working time
Flexible working time
Partly flexible working time
Split shifts
Rotational shift work
Vilnius,

13. THE IMPACT OF WORKING TIME ON QUALITY OF LIFE
Collective agreements in STUPIS
The employer is obliged to inform employees before the start of every calendar or business year about the work pattern and organisation, as well as working time distribution. Working time can be distributed regularly or irregularly.
In the case of redistribution, the hours worked must balance out in a time period of 12 months.
In the majority of cases, working time redistribution causes the worker to work significantly more hours than necessary – because the employer has plenty of work, the worker cannot use their overtime hours as time off –in such cases, an agreement can be reached for these hours to be paid.
Vilnius,

14. THE IMPACT OF WORKING TIME ON QUALITY OF LIFE
Collective agreements in STUPIS
When it comes to overtime there are regulations in place, stated in the Employment Relationships Act (ZDR-1). The specific issue of the KP is that no overtime or night work can be assigned to a worker who cares for a child younger than seven years of age. The worker can also be excused from work if they provide a medical certificate. The KP obviously includes numerous other provisions; I have only highlighted the most interesting ones.
Vilnius,

15. THE IMPACT OF WORKING TIME ON QUALITY OF LIFE
Thank you for your attention.
Vilnius,