Working time as a supporting element of the safety and health of workers

Abstract

At present, the legal regime of what is considered working time is an uncertainty depending on the contingency in question. In the documents prepared by the ILO or the EU, some aspects that characterize working time are highlighted, such as lack of coordination between States, gaps in legal regulation, the lack of uniform criteria in collective bargaining, etc. These elements, added to the scarce adaptation mechanisms to regulate the new realities that are taking place, mean that most conflict situations have to be resolved by the courts, sometimes even with different criteria and, in the meantime, the legal insecurity that is generated hinders the day-to-day life of workers who see their private sphere invaded by work.

Therefore, this work aims to identify, from the point of view of safety and health, some elements that make up the concept of working time and analyze how this concept is being influenced by other factors, such as, for example, control administrative work hours, new forms of work (jobs with digital platforms and teleworking), new technologies or the current situation of health crisis.