(AGENPARL) – gio 02 marzo 2023 Dear All,
Please find attached press release in respect of Case C-477/21 | MÁV-START:
Daily rest is additional to weekly rest even when it directly precedes the latter
This is also the case when national legislation grants workers a period of weekly rest greater than that required by EU law
Kind regards,
Natassa Mouzouki
Press and Information Unit, Ireland / Malta
Communication Department
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Testo Allegato:
Communications Directorate

Press and Information Unit

curia.europa.eu

PRESS RELEASE No
39
/23

Luxembourg, 2 March 2023

Judgment of the Court in Case C
–
477/21 | MÁV
–
START

Daily rest is addition
al

to weekly rest even when it
directly
precedes the
latter

This is also the case when national legislation grants workers a period

of weekly rest greater than that required
by EU law

A train driver employed by MÁV
–
START, the Hungarian national railway company, challenges before the Miskolc
Regional Court the decision of his employer
not to

grant him a daily rest period of at lea
st
11

consecutive hours
(
which the worker must be
granted during each 24
–
hour period under the Working Time Directive
) when that period
precedes or follows

a weekly rest period or a period of leave. MÁV
–
START claims
before the court
that

since

the
collective ag
reement applicable to the case

grants

a minimum
weekly rest period
(
of
at least 42 hours)

that is well in
excess
of

that required by the Directive
(24 hours)
, its employee is not in any way

disadvantage
d

by its decision.

The Miskolc Regional Court asks th
e Court of Justice

in particular

granted
concurrently with

a weekly rest period

forms part of that weekly rest period
.

By todayâ??s judgment, the Court notes that daily and weekly rest periods constitute two
autonomous
rights, which

pursue different objectives.
Daily rest

allows a worker to remove himself or herself
from his or her working
environment for a specific number of
hours
, which

must not only be consecutive but must also
directly follow a
period of w
ork
.

Weekly rest

allows a

worker to rest during each
seven
–
day

period.

Consequently,
workers must
be guaranteed the actual enjoyment of each of those rights
.

Thus, a situation where daily rest formed part of weekly rest would
render meaningless

the right t
o daily rest,
by
depriving the worker of its actual enjoyment
where he or she benefits from his or her right to weekly rest.

In that
regard, the Court finds that the Directive does not merely lay down, as a whole, a minimum period for the right to
weekly r
est, but is careful to expressly state that
that period is

addition
al

to
the

period
relating to

the right to daily
rest
. It follows that
the daily rest period does not form part of t
he weekly rest period but is
addition
al

to it
,
even if the daily res
t peri
od

directly precedes the latter
.

The Court also note
s

that the more favourable provis
ions laid down in Hungarian law,
in comparison with

the
Directive,
in respect of

the minimum
weekly

rest period cannot deprive
a

worker
of other rights which that d
irect
iv
e
confers on him or her, and
in particular

of
the right to daily rest.

Therefore,
daily rest must be granted
irrespective of the length of the weekly rest period provided for by the applicable national legislation
.

NOTE:

A reference for a preliminary rulin
g allows the courts and tribunals of the Member States, in disputes which
Union law or the validity of a European Union act. The Court of Justice

does not decide the dispute itself. It is for the
national court or tribunal to dispose of the case in accordance with the Courtâ??s decision, which is similarly binding on

Communications Directorate

Press a
nd Information Unit

curia.europa.eu

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other national courts or tribunals before which a similar issue is raised.

Unofficia
l document for media use, not binding on the Court of Justice.

The
full text

of the judgment is published on the CURIA website on the day of delivery.

Press contact: Jacques René Zam
mit
â??
(+352) 4303 3355

Pictures of the delivery of the judgment are available from ”
Europe by Satellite
”
â??
(+32) 2 2964106