Slovak Financial Law News 2004

Act on the Working Hours and Rest Period in the Transportation Sector

Act No. 121/2004 Coll. on the Working Hours and Rest Period in the Transportation Sector and amending and supplementing certain other acts

The Act on the Working Hours and Rest Period in the Transportation Sector regulates the working hours and the rest period of employees in the transportation sector, duration of driving, safety break and rest period of the drivers of motor vehicles, related rights and obligations and liability for the breach of obligations stipulated by this Act.

Some provisions of this Act also apply to a driver of a motor vehicle kept in a foreign register who carries out the international road transport on roads and highways in the territory of the Slovak Republic.

The Act also precisely stipulates the categories of drivers (depending on motor vehicles) to which the provisions of this Act shall not apply.

Terms such as a driver of the motor vehicle, employee in the transportation sector, disposition employee in the transportation sector, place of work, week, rest period, recording device, and recording sheet are also defined for the purposes of this Act.

The driver of the motor vehicle shall mean a natural person who drives the motor vehicle also for a short period of time, or who is transported in the motor vehicle in order to drive the motor vehicle in case of a necessity, including trainees and pupils of secondary schools, if they belong to the crew of the motor vehicle.

The daily period of driving the motor vehicle shall mean the period of driving the motor vehicle between two continuous daily rests or between continuous daily rest and continuous rest in the week. The maximum daily period of driving the motor vehicle shall be nine hours, while this period can be usually prolonged to ten hours twice a week. The daily period of driving the motor vehicle can be prolonged to a necessary extent only due to termination of the drive to the nearest appropriate place in order to assure the safe getting out of persons or unloading of the goods. The total period of driving the motor vehicle may not exceed 90 hours in the period of two consecutive weeks. The breaks of less than 15 minutes are also included in the period of driving the motor vehicle.

The driver of the motor vehicle must take a safety break of 45 minutes at the minimum after 4.5 hours of driving the motor vehicle. Such break can be also divided into several parts, each of which must not be less than 15 minutes.

Within a period of 24 hours, the driver of the motor vehicle must take a rest of 11 consecutive hours at the minimum. This rest may be shortened only in exceptional situations as provided in this Act.

The driver of the motor vehicle must be provided with the minimum continuous rest of 45 hours in the week after six daily periods of driving the motor vehicle. Again, this rest may be shortened, or postponed, in exceptional cases only as provided in the Act on the Working Hours.

Furthemore, this Act regulates the obligations of the employer who performs business activities in road transport, or who carries out the road transport in connection with any other business as well as the driver of the motor vehicle who performs self-employed gainful activity, who performs business activities in road transport, or who carries out the road transport in connection with any other business.

At the same time, this Act regulates the exercise of checks at places of work and roads and highways, as well as penalties for breach of this Act and cases of a ban on the use of motor vehicle.

In its third part, this Act regulates the working hours of an employee in the transportation sector, while the duration and distribution of the working hours of an employee in the public city transport and a suburban (regional) bus driver are regulated separately. The working hours and rest period of (i) employee at the railways, (ii) member of the aeroplane crew, (iii) dispatcher of air operation, and (iv) airport staff, (v) member of the ship crew, (vi) harbour employee, and (vii) employee in the transportation sector working at night, as well as work emergency of the employee working in the transportation sector.

The general provisions of the Labour Code shall apply to labour legal relationships, unless this Act stipulates otherwise.

This Act is also amending and supplementing the Act on Traffic on Roads and Highways, as amended.

This Act came into force on 1 April 2004, save for certain provisions which became effective as of the effective date of the Treaty of Accession of the Slovak Republic to the European Union.

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