The Council of Ministers adopted a bill on working time for inland waterway vessels, submitted by the minister of maritime and inland waterway transport.
The aim of adopting the new regulations will be the implementation of the requirements of the EU directive 2014/112/EU, which complement the regulations of the Labour Code in relation to workers employed on inland waterway vessels.
As it is clear from the statement of the Government Information Centre - the inclusion of the requirements of the directive to Polish law should ensure, that Polish shipowners have the same conditions for the organization of work on inland waterway vessels as the owners of other European countries. In practice, this means standardization of treatment of the inland waterway employees in the European Union, as well as improving the system of working hours on inland waterway vessels in Poland and, consequently, strengthen the protection of workers in this sector.
According to the bill, working time on an inland waterway vessel will include work performed on a ship at the employer's request. Standby to work on an inland waterway vessel will be counted as working time. It's about the time, e.g. when the ship is at standstill in relation to unscheduled maintenance work and repairs, while waiting for the ship lockage and loading or unloading.
According to the bill, working time in inland navigation is to include limits on total hours with overtime. Moreover, unlike in relation to the Labour Code, the "night time" has been defined. It was assumed that inland waterway night time is 7 hours between 23.00 and 6.00. At the same time an adequate protection of workers has been offered to those deemed unfit to perform night work on the basis of health certificate (to be transferred to work in line with the position held outside the night time).
The proposed regulations also include more favourable rules for granting rest days to employees of inland waterway transport than it is provided for in the Labour Code. Employers on the other hand will keep records of working time on an inland waterway vessel separately for each employee.
The Act will come into force after 14 days from the date of publication in the Journal of Laws.
Source:
PAP
- Piotr Jędrusiak