European countries must require employers to measure how many hours their staff work each day, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) ruled on Monday.
The ruling comes after a Spanish trade union requested a ruling from the court on whether Deutsche Bank is obliged to set up a system recording the time worked every day by its staff members.
This would allow union representatives to verify whether the hours worked are in compliance with national law.
Deutsche Bank had argued that it needed to measure overtime only.
Data provided by a Spanish court showed that more than half of overtime hours in the country are not recorded.
The trade union argued that accurate measurement of hours is not solely required by national law, but also by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and the EU’s Working Time Directive.
The EU’s top court said it was important that there is a maximum number of working hours each day, that daily and weekly rest periods are respected, and that workers actually benefit from their legal rights.
Therefore, EU countries must require employers to set up an objective, reliable and accessible system to track the data.
