Pravni vjesnik, Vol. 42 No. 2, 2026.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.25234/pv/40521
CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION OF WORKING TIME AND REST PERIODS UNDER DIRECTIVE 2003/88 AND THE CASE LAW OF THE COURT OF JUSTICE
Kristian Turkalj
orcid.org/0000-0001-6391-4983
; Faculty of Law, Catholic University of Croatia, Ilica 244, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
*
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
The paper focuses on the qualification of working time as one of the crucial elements in the protection of workers’ safety and health. In particular, it examines situations in which workers are required to remain at their workplace, including during periods of inactivity. This is common in occupations such as doctors, police officers, firefighters, and members of other public services, who may be required to be available for duty without being actively engaged in the performance of their tasks. Such situations often pose challenges in determining whether they constitute working time or rest periods, as periods of inactivity are combined with the requirement of physical presence at the workplace. The paper undertakes a comparative assessment of the case law of Croatian courts and that of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concerning the interpretation of “working time” and “rest periods”. It concludes that the approaches adopted by Croatian courts and the CJEU differ significantly. Consequently, this divergence in interpretation results in different levels of protection of workers’ safety and health under the respective bodies of case-law.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
349539
URI
Publication date:
19.7.2026.
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