Working time legislation has been in place since 1997. The basic thrust of the regulations is that workers may not work more than an average of 48 hours a week, are entitled to daily and weekly rest periods, and to 4 weeks’ paid holiday. Of course, no legislation, particularly coming from Europe, is ever quite so simple. The average hours are calculated over a 4 month period; young workers can only work 40 hours a week, certain sectors of workers are excluded; and the definition of what constitutes work is open to disagreement.

Despite the regulations going to the heart of what every worker does with their time, and of how good or bad the regulations are, you might be forgiven for asking: “What regulations?” The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation so far doesn’t seem to have demonstrated that it has teeth. If someone is in breach, what happens? At the moment most companies are not considering it to be a problem. It would appear that the regulations are not high on anyone’s priority list.

Our “48 Hours” software packeage gives the average hours worked in a seven day period over four months. This payroll data may be kept for as long as is deemed necessary. With the aid of a “Calendar Function” a designated user may interrogate the database to look for information with respect to a particular day or period either in total or for a particular job or cost centre. The “48 Hours” package works in conjunction with EuroPayX our irish payroll package, into which it feeds hours worked.

This is our latest software package designed for companies to manage the requirements of the “Working Time Act 1997”. The payroll system records all hours worked, all breaks taken, holidays taken, all absences, and ensures that the company and it’s employees are in adherence to the Act.