Request for a preliminary ruling from the Cour du travail de Mons (Belgium) lodged on 28 September 2020 – Centre d’enseignement secondaire Saint-Vincent de Soignies ASBL v FS

(Case C-471/20)

Language of the case: French

Referring court

Cour du travail de Mons

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Centre d’enseignement secondaire Saint-Vincent de Soignies ASBL

Defendant: FS

Questions referred

Can the work of a teacher at a boarding school, who works, inter alia, at night, be covered by the derogations provided for in Article 17(3)(b) of Directive 2003/88/EC? ¹

Can it be considered, without depriving the rights conferred by Directive 2003/88/EC of practical effect, that, in the context of Article 18 of Directive 2003/88/EC, with respect to a reference period of 12 months, it is permissible for compensatory rest not to be granted expressly and that compensatory rest is, where applicable, granted automatically to a worker in the education sector, such as a teacher at a boarding school, who works, inter alia, at night, on the understanding that periods of school holiday, in particular those in the summer, compensate even for the most extensive extra work carried out by that worker?

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¹     Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time (OJ 2003 L 299, p. 9).