R161 - Recommandation (no 161) sur la durée du travail et les périodes de repos (transports routiers), 1979

I. Scope

1. 1. This Recommendation applies to wage earners working, whether for undertakings engaged in transport for third parties or for undertakings transporting goods or passengers for own account, on motor vehicles engaged professionally in the internal or international transport by road of goods or passengers, namely as--
   • (a) drivers; or
   • (b) drivers' mates, attendants, conductors and other persons who travel with a road transport vehicle in a capacity connected with the vehicle, its passengers or its load.
2. 2. Parts II and VII to IX of this Recommendation, as well as the provisions of Parts X to XII relevant thereto, further apply to owners of motor vehicles engaged professionally in road transport and non-wage-earning members of their families, when they are working in a capacity referred to in clause (a) or (b) of Paragraph 1 of this Recommendation.
3. 3.
   • (1) The competent authority or body in each country may exclude from the application of the provisions of this Recommendation, or of certain of them, persons covered by Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Recommendation who work in--
     • (a) urban transport or certain types of urban transport, by reference to the particular technical operating conditions involved and to local conditions;
     • (b) transport by agricultural or forestry undertakings in so far as such transport is carried out by means of tractors or other vehicles assigned to local agricultural or forestry activities and is used exclusively for the work of such undertakings;
     • (c) transport of sick and injured persons, transport for rescue or salvage work and transport for fire-fighting services;
     • (d) transport for the purpose of national defence and police services and, in so far as it is not in competition with that effected by undertakings engaged in transport for third parties, transport for the purpose of other public authority essential services;
     • (e) transport by taxi; and
     • (f) transport which, by reason of the type of vehicle used, the passenger or goods capacity of the vehicles, their limited routes or their maximum authorised speed, can be considered as not requiring special regulations concerning hours of work and rest periods.
   • (2) The competent authority or body in each country should lay down suitable standards concerning hours of work and rest periods of persons excluded from the application of the provisions of this Recommendation, or of certain of them, pursuant to the provisions of subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph.

II. Consultation of Employers and Workers

1. 4. The representative organisations of employers and workers concerned should be consulted by the competent authority or body in each country before decisions are taken on any matters covered by the provisions of this Recommendation.

III. Definition of Hours of Work

1. 5. For the purpose of this Recommendation the term hours of work means the time spent by the persons covered by Paragraph 1 of the Recommendation on--
   • (a) driving and other work during the running time of the vehicle; and
   • (b) subsidiary work in connection with the vehicle, its passengers or its load.
2. 6. Periods of mere attendance or stand-by, either on the vehicle or at the workplace and during which the workers are not free to dispose of their time as they please, as well as time spent by them on training and advanced training when agreed upon between the organisations of employers and workers concerned, may be regarded as hours of work to an extent to be prescribed in each country by the competent authority or body, by collective agreements or by any other means consistent with national practice.

IV. Normal Hours of Work

A. Normal Weekly Hours of Work

1. 7. Normal hours of work, namely those in respect of which national provisions concerning overtime do not apply, should not exceed 40 per week.
2. 8. The normal weekly hours of work referred to in Paragraph 7 of this Recommendation may be introduced gradually and by stages.
3. 9.
   • (1) In the case of long-distance transport and in other transport activities where the standard covered by Paragraph 7 of this Recommendation would be impracticable if applied to one week, this standard may be applied as an average over a maximum period of four weeks.
   • (2) The competent authority or body in each country should determine the maximum number of hours of work in a single week when, pursuant to subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph, the standard covered by Paragraph 7 is applied as an average.

B. Normal Daily Hours of Work

1. 10. Normal hours of work, as defined in Paragraph 7 of this Recommendation, should not exceed eight per day as an average.
2. 11.
   • (1) When normal weekly hours of work are unevenly distributed over the various days of the week, the normal hours of work should not exceed ten per day.
   • (2) When the normal daily hours of work include substantial periods of mere attendance or stand-by or interruptions of work or when it is necessary to enable the crew of the vehicle to reach a suitable place of rest, the maximum limit referred to in subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph may be more than ten hours but not more than 12 hours per day.

V. Maximum Period of Continuous Work

1. 12.
   • (1) Every wage-earning worker should be entitled to a break after a continuous period of five hours of work as defined in Paragraph 5 of this Recommendation.
   • (2) The length of the break referred to in subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph and, as appropriate, the way in which the break may be split should be determined by the competent authority or body in each country.

VI. Daily Spreadover

1. 13.
   • (1) The competent authority or body in each country should prescribe for the various branches of the road transport industry the maximum number of hours which may separate two successive daily rest periods.
   • (2) The spreadover should not be so long as to reduce the period of daily rest to which the workers are entitled.

VII. Driving Time

1. 14.
   • (1) No driver should be allowed to drive continuously for more than four hours without a break.
   • (2) The competent authority or body in each country, taking into account particular national conditions, may authorise the period referred to in subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph to be exceeded by not more than one hour.
   • (3) The length of the break referred to in this Paragraph and, as appropriate, the way in which the break may be split should be determined by the competent authority or body in each country.
   • (4) The competent authority or body in each country may specify cases in which the provisions of this Paragraph are inapplicable because drivers have sufficient breaks as a result of stops provided for in the time-table or as a result of the intermittent nature of the work.
2. 15. The maximum total driving time, including overtime, should exceed neither nine hours per day nor 48 hours per week.
3. 16. The total driving times referred to in Paragraph 15 of this Recommendation may be calculated as an average over a maximum period of four weeks.
4. 17. The total driving times referred to in Paragraph 15 of this Recommendation may be reduced in the case of transport activities carried out in particularly difficult conditions. The competent authority or body in each country may define these activities and determine the total driving times to be applied in respect of the drivers concerned.

VIII. Daily Rest

1. 18. The daily rest of persons covered by Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Recommendation should be at least 11 consecutive hours during any 24-hour period starting from the beginning of the working day.
2. 19. The daily rest may be calculated as an average over periods to be determined by the competent authority or body in each country: Provided that the daily rest should in no case be less than eight hours.
3. 20. The competent authority or body in each country may provide for daily rest periods of different duration according to whether passenger or goods transport is involved and to whether the rest is taken at home or elsewhere, on condition that the provisions of Paragraphs 18 and 19 of this Recommendation concerning the minimum number of hours are observed.
4. 21. The competent authority or body in each country may provide for exceptions to the provisions of Paragraphs 18 and 19 of this Recommendation as regards the duration of the daily rest periods and the manner of taking such rest periods in the cases of vehicles having a crew of two drivers and of vehicles using a ferry-boat or a train.
5. 22. During the daily rest the crew should not be required to remain in or near the vehicle if they have taken the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of the vehicle and its load.

IX. Weekly Rest

1. 23. The minimum duration of the weekly rest should be 24 consecutive hours, preceded or followed by the daily rest.
2. 24. The weekly rest should, as far as possible, coincide with a Sunday or with traditional and customary days of rest, and it should during a given period be possible for this rest to be spent at home a certain number of times, to be determined by the competent authority or body in each country.
3. 25. In long-distance transport, it should be possible to cumulate weekly rest over two consecutive weeks. In appropriate cases, the competent authority or body in each country may approve the cumulation of this rest over a longer time.

X. Exceptions and Overtime

1. 26.
   • (1) The competent authority or body in each country may permit as temporary exceptions, but only in so far as may be necessary for the performance of indispensable work, extensions of the hours of work, extensions of the driving time and reductions in the duration of the rest periods provided for in the preceding Paragraphs of this Recommendation--
     • (a) in case of accident, breakdown, unforeseen delay, dislocation of service or interruption of traffic;
     • (b) in case of force majeure; or
     • (c) in case of urgent and exceptional necessity for ensuring the work of services of public utility.
   • (2) The competent authority or body in each country may also permit extensions of the hours of work, extensions of the driving time and reductions in the duration of the rest periods provided for in the preceding Paragraphs of this Recommendation where these are necessary to enable the crew to reach a suitable stopping place or the end of their journey, as the case may be, provided that road safety is not thereby jeopardised.
2. 27. The competent authority or body in each country may grant authorisations for an extension of the normal hours of work, as a temporary exception, in case of abnormal pressure of work.
3. 28. All hours worked in excess of normal hours should be considered as overtime and, as such, remunerated at a higher rate or, as prescribed by national laws or regulations, collective agreements or in any other manner consistent with national practice, otherwise compensated.

XI. Supervisory Measures

1. 29. The competent authority or body in each country should--
   • (a) provide for an individual control book and prescribe the conditions of its issue, its contents and the manner in which it shall be kept by the drivers;
   • (b) lay down a procedure for notification of the hours worked in accordance with Paragraph 26 of this Recommendation and the circumstances justifying them; and
   • (c) lay down a procedure for authorising the hours that may be worked in accordance with Paragraph 27 of this Recommendation as well as the number of hours for which the authorisation may be granted, according to the nature of the transport operations and the method of calculating the hours of work.
2. 30. Each employer should--
   • (a) keep a record, in a form approved by the competent authority or body in each country, indicating the hours of work and of rest of every person covered by this Recommendation and employed by him; and
   • (b) place this record at the disposal of the supervisory authorities in a manner to be determined by the competent authority or body in each country.
3. 31. The traditional means of supervision referred to in Paragraphs 29 and 30 of this Recommendation should, if this proves to be necessary for certain categories of transport, be replaced or supplemented as far as possible by recourse to modern methods, as for instance tachographs, according to rules to be established by the competent authority or body in each country.
4. 32. The competent authority or body in each country should make provision for--
   • (a) an adequate inspection system, with verification carried out in the undertaking and on the roads; and
   • (b) appropriate penalties in the event of breaches of the provisions giving effect to this Recommendation.

XII. Means and Methods of Application

1. 33.
   • (1) The provisions of this Recommendation may be applied by laws or regulations, collective agreements, arbitration awards or a combination of these methods, or in any other manner consistent with national practice which may be appropriate, account being taken of national conditions and the needs of each category of transport.
   • (2) The provisions of this Recommendation which have a direct bearing on road safety, namely those relating to the maximum period of continuous work, driving time, daily rest and supervisory measures, should preferably be applied by laws or regulations.