§1 The right of night workers to health assessments

Health assessment before assignment Article 9 of the Directive entitles all ‘night workers’ under Article 2(4) (see Chapter IV above) to a health assessment before assignment. This provision is comparable to that in Article 4 of ILO Convention 171 which provides that ‘At their request, workers shall have the right to undergo a health assessment without charge and to receive advice on how to reduce or avoid health problems associated with their work: (a) before taking up an assignment as a night worker; […]’. The health assessment must take place before the worker’s assignment to night work, i.e. before the worker concerned starts performing night work. Unlike the ILO Convention, the Directive does not refer to a worker’s request but entitles all night workers to health assessments before taking up an assignment. Health assessment at regular intervals ‘Night workers’ are also entitled to health assessments ‘at regular intervals’. The intervals are left undefined and are therefore for the Member States to determine. In the adoption process for the 1993 Directive, the European Parliament (354) proposed one check-up per year until the age of 40 and two per year after that age. This was taken up by the Commission (355) but was not adopted in the final text (356). The health assessments must be free While the Directive provides that the health assessment must be free for the worker, it does not establish whether the costs should be borne by the employer or a third party, such as occupational health services, and it is therefore left for the Member States to decide. Medical confidentiality The Working Time Directive requires that the free health assessments to which workers are entitled before assignment and then at regular intervals comply with medical confidentiality. Unlike the ILO Convention, the Directive makes no explicit exception for a ‘finding of unfitness for night work’ (357). The possibility to carry out the assessments as part of the national health system The Directive states that these health assessments may take place within the national health system, but does not require this.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07