Working time legislation belongs to the oldest parts of labour law protection worldwide. However, the digitalization of work has led to significant transformations in how, when, and where work is performed. The traditional boundaries between working time and private life are increasingly blurred, raising pressing legal, social, and regulatory questions. This workshop will explore how current legal frameworks — particularly the EU Working Time Directive (WTD) and CJEU jurisprudence — are adapting to/ or are challenged by these changes.

This workshop will explore the following questions:

• How do the different rest periods under the WTD — daily rest, weekly rest, breaks during the working day, and annual leave — relate to actual work practices and empirical research on rest?
• To what extent do CJEU interpretations align with the lived experiences of workers and empirical data on rest and recovery?
• What are the effects of CJEU rulings on the regulation of stand-by time, especially in collective agreements? Can the impact of these rulings extend beyond official stand-by time into other forms of (digitally enabled) availability?
• How does the (potential) right to disconnect fit within the existing EU-level legal framework? What are the experiences of countries that have already introduced such a right?
• Is the current approach to hyperconnection through regulatory tools (such as the right to disconnect) sufficient?
• How should the law protect workers’ free time in the future?The workshop is intended to connect scholars and practitioners working on these and related topics. We aim for a lively workshop, organized around different presentations with ample scope for discussion and feedback from fellow experts.

Confirmed speakers

• Daniel Ulber (Universität Trier)
• Agnieszka Piasna (European Trade Union Institute, Brussels)
• Gábor Kártyás (Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest)
• Nastazja Potocka-Sionek (Université du Luxembourg)
• Nuna Zekić (University of Amsterdam)

Organized by

AIAS-HSI (Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies – Hugo Sinzheimer Institute), part of the Amsterdam Law School, University of Amsterdam.

For any questions, please contact: n.zekic@uva.nl.

Register

Participation is free of charge, but please register by sending an e-mail to aias-hsi@uva.nl.