Mobile Workers

Mobile Workers
Which Regulations Apply?
Does ‘mobile worker’
definition apply?
(note 1 below)
YES
NO
Is the vehicle you drive or travel in
covered by EU Drivers' Hours Rules?
(note 2 below)
Working Time Regulations
apply in full
NO
YES
NO
Is worker classed as
'occasional mobile worker'?
(note 3 below)
Drivers must comply with the
GB Drivers' Hours Rules
(note 4 below)
YES
AND
Crew and drivers excluded
from parts of the Working
Time Regulations
(note 5 below)
Road Transport Working
Time Regulations apply to
crew and drivers
(note 6 below)
Drivers must
comply with the
EU Drivers'
Hours Rules
(note 7 below)
A
N
D
Crew and drivers excluded
from parts of the Working
Time Regulations
(note 8 below)
Crew and drivers must
receive adequate rest
(note 9 below)
Drivers must comply with
the EU Drivers' Hours Rules
(note 7 below)
If worker is a Young Worker (aged under 18) the relevant parts of the
Working Time Regulations will apply.
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NOTE 1
Any worker forming part of the travelling staff (including trainees and apprentices) in the
service of an undertaking providing transport services for passengers or goods by road, for
hire or reward or on its own account is a mobile worker. Non-driving crew who are carried
on the vehicle, such as porters, attendants, drivers' mates etc are also considered to be
mobile workers.
Workers who are carried on a vehicle purely as passengers being ferried to or from a work
site are not mobile workers.
NOTE 2
EU Rules may apply if the vehicle the worker is driving/ travelling in is covered by the
following:
 Vehicles used for the carriage of goods where the maximum permissible weight of the
vehicle, including any trailer or semi-trailer, exceeds 3.5 tonnes.
 Vehicles used for the carriage of passengers which, by virtue of their construction and
equipment, are suitable for carrying nine or more persons, including the driver, and are
intended for that purpose.
There are vehicles within these categories that are exempt from EU rules as listed
below:
 Vehicles used for the carriage of passengers on regular services where the route
covered by the service in question does not exceed 50 kilometres;
 Vehicles with a maximum authorized speed not exceeding 40 kilometres per hour.
 Vehicles used by or under the control of the armed services, civil defence, fire services,
and forces responsible for maintaining public order.
 Vehicles used in emergencies or rescue operations.
 Specialised breakdown vehicles operating within 100km of base.
 Vehicles undergoing road tests for technical development, repair or maintenance
purposes, and new or rebuilt vehicles which have not yet been put into service.
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 Vehicles or combinations of vehicles with a maximum permissible mass not exceeding
7.5 tonnes used for the non-commercial carriage of goods.
 Vehicles used in connection with the sewerage, flood protection, water, gas and
electricity services, highway maintenance and control, refuse collection and disposal,
and the carriage of postal articles.
 Any vehicle used for the carriage of passengers which, by virtue of its construction and
equipment, is suitable for carrying 10 to 17 persons including the driver and is intended
only for that purpose.
 Vehicles used or hired without a driver for agricultural, horticultural or forestry
undertakings to carry goods within a 100 kilometre radius of the place where the vehicle
is normally based, including local administrative areas the centres of which are situated
within that radius.
 Specially fitted mobile project vehicles, the primary purpose of which is use as an
educational facility when stationary.
 Vehicles or combination of vehicles which has a maximum permissible weight not
exceeding 7.5 tonnes and is carrying material or equipment for the driver’s use in the
course of his work within a 50 kilometre radius of the place where the vehicle is
normally based. (Exemption does not apply if driving the vehicle constitutes the driver’s
main activity.)
 Vehicles used for the carriage of goods which has a permissible maximum weight not
exceeding 7.5 tonnes, including the mass of a trailer or semi-trailer, and is propelled by
means of natural or liquefied or by means of electricity.
 Use for driving instruction with a view to obtaining a driving licence, providing they are
not being used for the commercial carriage of goods or passengers.
 Any tractor which is used exclusively for agricultural and forestry work, within a 100km
radius from the base of the undertaking that owns, hires or leases the tractor.
 Any vehicle being used by a public authority to provide the following public services that
do not compete with private transport undertakings:
Use by a harbour authority within the limits of a harbour for the improvement,
maintenance or management of which the authority is responsible.
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Use by a local authority to provide services for old people or for mentally or physically
handicapped people.
NOTE 3
If an individual works within parameters stated in Notes 1 and 2 above for less than 11
days over a reference period of less than 26 weeks, or less than 16 days over a reference
period of 26 weeks or more, then they are an ‘occasional mobile worker’.
NOTE 4
The GB Drivers Hours Rules.
Include daily driving limits and daily duty limits.
NOTE 5
Mobile workers excluded from parts of the Working Time Regulations (The weekly working
limit of 48 hours on average over a 52 week period, the adult night workers weekly working
limit of 8 hours on average over a 52 week reference period, the 8 hour limit for adults
doing night work which is regarded as involving special hazards or heavy physical/mental
strain, the provision of rest breaks where the pattern of work may put the health and safety
of a worker at risk, the adult daily rest break, the adult weekly rest break, the adult in-work
rest break), other parts of the Working Time Regulations still apply.
Mobile Workers who are also Young Workers (aged under 18) must still receive daily,
weekly and in-work rest break provisions, and night work limits still apply.
NOTE 6
Road Transport Working Time Regulations
The main provisions of the 2005 Regulations include: Weekly working time limits, night
work limits, in-work rest periods, daily rest periods and weekly rest periods.
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NOTE 7
The EU Drivers Hours Rules
Include limits on daily, weekly and fortnightly driving time, in-work rest periods, daily rest
periods and weekly rest periods.
NOTE 8
Mobile workers excluded from parts of the Working Time Regulations (An adult night
workers weekly working limit of 8 hours on average over a 52 week reference period, the 8
hour limit for adults doing night work which is regarded as involving special hazards or
heavy physical/mental strain, the adult daily rest break, the adult weekly rest break, the
adult in-work rest break), other parts of the Working Time Regulations still apply.
Mobile Workers who are also Young Workers (aged under 18) must still receive daily,
weekly and in-work rest break provisions, and night work limits still apply.
NOTE 9
Adequate Rest is defined as ‘regular rest periods, the duration of which are expressed in
units of time and which are sufficiently long and continuous to ensure that, as a result of
fatigue or other irregular working patterns, he does not cause injury to himself, to fellow
workers or to others and that he does not damage his health, either in the short term or in
the longer term.’
Adequate rest may be missed at times when a worker’s activities are affected by:
 Occurrences due to unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond the control of
the Council.
 Exceptional events, the consequences of which could not have been avoided despite
the exercise of all due care by the Council.
 An accident or imminent risk of an accident.
This should only happen very rarely.
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