Inland waterway staff
Working time
Your staff (crew or shipboard personnel) can work 8 hours a day. You can request that your employees work longer if they respect an average of 48 hours of work per week within 12 months. Over the course of a 12-month period, your employees can work for a maximum of 2 304 hours. If you employ them for less than 12 months, you must calculate the maximum permissible working time on a pro-rata basis.
Example
Maria runs a passenger ferry service on the Rhine. During the busy tourist season Maria asks her crew to work 10-hour days. However, she carefully monitors their working hours to ensure that over the course of the year, the average weekly working time does not exceed 48 hours. She adjusts the schedule during the off-peak season, reducing their working hours to balance the overall average. This way, the crew meets the increased demand without violating working time regulations.
Example
Piotr hires a crew for a 6-month project on the Danube. He calculates the pro-rata maximum working hours for his crew based on a 6-month employment period. Since 2,304 hours is the maximum for 12 months, his crew can work up to 1,152 hours over the 6-month period (2,304 hours / 12 months * 6 months). By ensuring that the crew’s total working hours do not exceed this limit, he stays within regulatory bounds.
Your workers cannot work more than 14 hours in any 24-hour period and 84 hours in any 7-day period. If you consider a 4-month period and there are more working days than rest days according to the work schedule, your workers must respect the average weekly working time of 72 hours.
Example
Bianca leads a team of barge workers operating on a tight schedule. She has a busy month ahead with many deliveries. She schedules her crew to work 14-hour days for 6 days in a row, taking Sunday off. This means each week they work:
14 hours/day x 6 days = 84 hours/week
This schedule meets the daily and weekly limits, but it is at the maximum weekly limit. Over the next 4 months, Bianca knows the crew will have more working days than rest days. She needs to ensure that, on average, they don’t exceed 72 hours per week.
To manage this, she plans:
- 4 weeks with heavy workloads (84 hours/week)
- 4 weeks with lighter workloads (60 hours/week)
Over an 8-week period:
- (84 hours/week x 4 weeks) + (60 hours/week x 4 weeks) = 336 hours + 240 hours = 576 hours
- Average weekly hours over 8 weeks = 576 hours / 8 weeks = 72 hours/week
By alternating the workload, Bianca ensures the crew averages no more than 72 hours per week over the 4-month period.
Paid annual leave
You must give your staff paid annual leave of at least 4 weeks or a corresponding proportion if you employ them for less than one year. You cannot replace the minimum period of paid annual leave by an allowance, except when their employment ends.
Night shifts
Based on a night period of 7 hours, your staff can work a maximum of 42 hours a week during the night– between 11 pm and 6 am.
Rest periods
Your employees cannot work for more than 31 days consecutively.
If the work schedule indicates that your workers have fewer working days than rest days, you must give them as many consecutive rest days as the days as they worked consecutively. For example, if your staff work 10 consecutive days, you must give them 10 consecutive rest days. You can give your staff fewer consecutive rest days, starting immediately after the consecutive working days, if you respect the following conditions:
- you respect the maximum number of 31 consecutive working days
- you respect the minimum number of consecutive rest days indicated in the table below
- the extended or exchanged period of working days is balanced out within the reference period
If your staff have more working days than rest days according to the work schedule, you must allocate a minimum number of consecutive rest days according to the table below:
| Consecutive working days | Rest days |
| From 1 to 10 | 0.2 rest days per consecutive working day |
| From 11 to 20 | 0.3 rest days per consecutive working day |
| From 21 to 31 | 0.4 rest days per consecutive working day |
You must add up partial rest days earned but rest days can only be taken as full days. For example, if an employee works 12 days consecutively, they are entitled to 3.6 rest days. They can rest for 3 full days and add 0.6 days to their next rest period.
Your staff must rest at least:
- 10 hours in each 24-period, of which at least 6 hours are uninterrupted
- 84 hours in any 7-day period
Seasonal work
If you employ workers on board a passenger vessel during a season (period of no more than 9 consecutive months during a 12-month period) you must respect the following limits for working hours:
- 12 hours in any 24-hour period
- 72 hours in any 7-day period
You must give your staff 0.2 rest days per working day. During every period of 31 days, your staff must rest at least 2 days.
Example
Elisa works on a river cruise ship, operating both regular and seasonal schedules.
Regular work schedule
Crew members, like Elisa cannot work more than 14 hours in a 24-hour period and must have 10 hours of rest, with at least 6 uninterrupted. Over a week, Elisa cannot exceed 84 working hours and must have 84 hours of rest.
Elisa works for 15 consecutive days. According to the table, she needs 15 days x 0.3 rest days = 4.5 rest days. She takes 4 full rest days and carries over 0.5 to her next rest period.
Seasonal work schedule
During the busy tourist season (not exceeding 9 months), Elisa works up to 12 hours a day and 72 hours a week.
If Elisa works 10 days during this period, she earns 10 days x 0.2 rest days = 2 rest days.
Over any 31-day period, Elisa must have at least 2 full rest days.
Keeping records
As an employer, you must keep a record of each worker's daily working hours and rest time.
You must include at least the following information:
- name of the vessel
- name of the worker
- name of the competent boatmaster
- date
- working day or rest day
- beginning and end of the daily working or rest periods
These records must be kept on board until at least the end of the reference period and checked regularly with the members of staff. You must also provide your staff with a copy of the records which they must keep for at least one year.
Health assessments
You must provide all your workers with a free annual health assessment, in compliance with medical confidentiality. If a night worker suffers from health problems related to night shifts, you must transfer him/her, when possible, to day work.
Mutual recognition of certificates of competency
When you hire staff, they must provide you with a certificate of competency (CoC) to demonstrate that they have the necessary skills and knowledge for the specific role. You cannot refuse to accept CoCs that have been issued in another EU country.
If you are employing a crew member from a non-EU country, you must ensure their qualifications are recognised under EU rules by having the qualifications assessed for equivalence and obtaining necessary approvals.
Several EU countries have introduced electronic verification of CoCs as a safe, quick and cost-effective way of making sure that you are hiring qualified crew members.
Training requirements
You must ensure that all workers receive mandatory health and safety training. This includes specific training on emergency procedures, first aid, and fire safety. EU guidelines also strongly encourage Continuing Professional Development (CPD). In some EU countries CPD it is mandatory, so check with your national authorities to see what is required.
Age and language requirements
EU rules set minimum age and experience requirements for different roles. However, EU countries can decide to set higher age limits based on their specific safety and operational needs. You must also ensure that workers meet the necessary language proficiency requirements for their job and the regions where they work.
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