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The Working Time Directive can be seen as giving concrete expression to this right in that it sets out a maximum average weekly working time in Article 6: ‘Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that, in keeping with the need to protect the safety and health of workers: (a) the period of weekly working time is limited by means of laws, regulations or administrative provisions or by collective agreements or agreements between the two sides of industry; (b) the average working time for each seven-day period, including overtime, does not exceed 48 hours.’ This right is framed by a reference period established in Article 16: ‘Member States may lay down: […] (b) for the application of Article 6 (maximum weekly working time), a reference period not exceeding four months. The periods of paid annual leave, granted in accordance with Article 7, and the periods of sick leave shall not be included or shall be neutral in the calculation of the average; […]’. Finally, while the limitation of weekly working time itself is only subject to derogations in the case of ‘autonomous workers’ and for workers having agreed to the ‘opt-out’, derogations to the reference period permitted in Article 16 are possible in other cases described below but circumscribed by Article 19 as presented in Chapter IX below.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.