Quick note on the European WTD.
Leave: the minimum leave to be taken is 28 days, not 20.
The fines of £1000 for each offence are applicable to both the individual and the company.
The WTD came into effect on 13th April 2004, not this year.
There are to be no opt outs, as far as I know.
There is some discussion at the moment between the lawyers in the DfT, CAA and various employers as to some of the definitions laid out in the Statutory Instrument (SI). This may lead to a revised version being issued in due course. It is possible that some current CAA variations may be permitted, ie: counting standby time between 2200 and 0800 at half rate (a 24 hr duty, without night callout, being logged as 19 hrs).
The draft SI was actually published in 2003, so all the European companies, including those in Eire, have had more than ample notice of the changes. Few, if any, seem to have addressed the situation until now, thus creating a panic, as usual.
bondu
