How To Record Days Off
Even though your Drivers (hopefully) aren't doing any work on their holidays, their days off still contribute to their weekly working average, under UK's Working Time Directive.
This is because the WTD considers working time over a rolling average of 17–23 weeks. Counting holidays as work protects drivers from an artificially lowered weekly average. If holidays didn't contribute to working time, it would greatly increase the number of hours available either side of the holiday, putting Drivers at risk of working exploitative, unsafe, and unhealthy hours.
This means that, for holidays, WTD calculations have to be made separately from tachograph entries because Drivers still have a duty to accurately record all their time off as 'Rest' - but more on that later.
Annual Leave
When calculating WTD average weekly hours for Drivers taking their annual leave, each day off should be considered as 8 hours of work.
However, if 5 consecutive days are taken off, the whole week must be considered as 48 hours of work, provided the driver does not engage in any work whatsoever during that week.
Bank Holidays
Bank holidays do not count towards the WTD's weekly averages, so these days can be considered as 0 hours of work - unless, of course, the Driver performs any work, in which case it should be treated as a regular day.
Non-contractual days off
Any extra holidays beyond the Driver's contractual leave - paid or unpaid - also do not contribute towards the WTD's weekly averages.
Sick Days
Sick days should be considered the same way as annual leave: 8 hours of rest per day, or 48 hours of rest for weeks when 5 days have been taken off consecutively.
How should holidays be recorded on the tachograph?
All of the above about 8 hours of work, etc. only applies to your Working Time Directive calculations, not Drivers' tachograph entries.
Do not tell your drivers to make 8-hour 'Other Work' manual entries on their tachographs!
When the driver gets back to work, they should mark all of their time off as 'Rest'.
Making 'Other Work' tachograph entries for periods of holiday or sick leave is inaccurate, since they weren't actually working, and this could be considered falsifying records, should you come under scrutiny. Time off, for any reason, must be recorded on the tachograph as 'Rest'.
Instead, Transport Managers must be aware of any days off their Drivers have had, and take them into consideration during their tachograph analysis.
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Further Reading
If you've found this guide on how to record days off helpful, you might also find these pages useful too:
- Our guide to the different tachograph settings
- What are the tachograph rules for ferry crossings?
- How often must vehicle units be downloaded?
About The Author
Simon Theaker
Simon has over 20 years of dealing with tachograph analysis, and the technologies involved.
His in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience have made him a key behind-the-scenes member of the TachoMagic team.
Through his blogs, Simon hopes to make the lives of Fleet Managers easier, as he shares the answers to some of the most common questions he has received.
