In the UK, fatigue management policies are crucial for employers to mitigate the associated risks which can significantly impact safety and productivity.
Key Provisions of the Working Time Regulations:
- Maximum Weekly Working Hours: The average working week is limited to 48 hours, calculated over a 17-week reference period (this can be extended to 52 weeks in certain cases, like with a trade union agreement).
- Opting Out: Workers can choose to work more than 48 hours per week by signing an opt-out agreement.
- Rest Breaks: Workers are entitled to a 20-minute rest break if they work more than 6 hours in a day, and 11 hours of rest between working days, according to Acas.
- Night Work: Specific rules apply to night workers, including a maximum average of 8 hours in a 24-hour period.
- Annual Leave: Workers are entitled to paid annual leave, typically 5.6 weeks per year.
- Records: Employers must keep accurate records to demonstrate compliance with the regulations.
The AXLR8 Staffing System can manage these rules automatically. The standard rules are to flag any bookings that break the rules:
1. Tier 4 Student visa – The system will flag any bookings made for staff with these visas to let you know if the booking will push them over the 20-hour, term time, limit.
2. Maximum of 48 Hours working in a week – This will flag all staff who you are booking on a shift that will mean that they will be working more than the desired 48 hours in a week.
3. Consecutive days – The government recommend that a staff member should not work more than 7 consecutive days.
4. Rest Breaks – Ensure that staff have a minimum of 11 hours break between shifts.
All of the rules above will raise a flag and allow the bookings team to override them if needed and this will alert your compliance team of these exceptions